Weber SmokeFire

[chopsaw]

Waiting for the review.

Seems 2 of the casters were threaded before lunch , and 2 were threaded after lunch . Called Weber , but I'll probably go buy 4 casters in the morning .

 

[chef jimmyj]

Best of luck with the new Toy. The following is a Gen 2 review after a disappointing test of the Gen1. I questioned the guy about addressing every fix but the Grease Fire issue. He replied that Weber fixed that as well. Looking forward to your thoughts...JJ


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[rexster314]

Seems 2 of the casters were threaded before lunch , and 2 were threaded after lunch . Called Weber , but I'll probably go buy 4 casters in the morning .

I've read of several instances of different threading. Makes no sense.

 

[chopsaw]

Best of luck with the new Toy. The following is a Gen 2 review after a disappointing test of the Gen1. I questioned the guy about addressing every fix but the Grease Fire issue. He replied that Weber fixed that as well. Looking forward to your thoughts...JJ

I watched that a few weeks ago . It's a good video . Interesting enough to watch the whole thing . He steps right over the " grease fire issue " for sure . At this point I have no worries about any of it . I use a drip tray in all my cookers , except my Genesis 310 , or when I grill on the 22 . If you don't keep the Genesis clean you will have a fire . I've had the 22 " kettle catch drippings on fire also . Not a worry on the kettle really , but the gas or pellet grill where you are still feeding the fire can be a disaster . No question about that .
There is a great idea somewhere in the design of the grease drain / trap on the Smokefire . It falls short because of the pellet dust . If they can figure that part out , they'll have something .
The fit and finish on this thing is top shelf . Going to go ahead and put it together , and hope to get the firmware updated and pair my phone today .

 

[chopsaw]

I've read of several instances of different threading. Makes no sense.

Seems simple . No words really . None you can say here anyway . I thought for sure they would be metric . Good for a change . I have a full tap and die set .
Nope . Didn't have that size die in SAE .
They aren't wrong , just bad . After several thousand cuts , change the damn die .
Anyway . I was going to change the casters anyway , so I have a nice set on the way . Dual locking , quick release with a 5 " non skip wheel .
Just didn't plan on it right out of the box .

 

[sawhorseray]

Be interesting to see how this works out Rich, I remember they were pretty controversial when round one came out, reckon they've made some fairly major adjustments. Not having the casters work right out of the box would be kind of a pisser, good luck, I'm going to be watching. Hell, soon you'll own the entire Weber product line! RAY

 

[chopsaw]

Be interesting to see how this works out

Gonna work out just fine . It's already 90 + and climbing . 60 % humidity .
Not sure I'll survive the assembly in that heat . If I had help I'd bring it in the house to finish it up .

 

[sawhorseray]

Save it for when your son gets home Rich! We're retired, that means no pressure to get a job done ever. RAY

 

[chef jimmyj]

We're retired, that means no pressure to get a job done ever

Does that include Givin' and Gettin' LOVIN'?...JJ

 

[chopsaw]

Save it for when your son gets home Rich! We're retired, that means no pressure to get a job done ever. RAY

I can't have a beer until I get this done , and he don't get off until 3 !!
Key is to stay in the heat . No in and out of the house . I'm almost done .

 

[sawhorseray]

No, the key is not to wake up on the garage floor Rich, be careful! RAY

 

[bill1]

...They aren't wrong , just bad...

That's not a bug ChopSaw, that's a feature--self-locking threads!
You're a vanishing breed...a person with their own tap and die set. I'm amazed at how knowledge of basic shop practice is disappearing in America. And no one seems to care. And at a time when decent hand tools are dirt cheap!

Oh well, off my technology soapbox and onto my biz one...any company, esp one as large and with a ($-valuable) reputation like Weber's, is crazy to let products like this ship with their name on it. People expect things to work right the first time and the clearly-identified, bargain-priced, "made in China" companies continue to up their game...including clean threads and good welds. At least I'm impressed. (And even happy for them...the most-recently Human Development Index shows they're the most improved country.)

Weber needs to be VERY careful about what they're shipping or they'll not have a market within a decade.

99% of all casters probably come from China today. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if there's not a little subtle sabotage going on by giving the "American Brands" substandard stuff. Hey, it's business. And Weber is just plain stupid if they're not at least aware of the possibility and have an ongoing quality program involving ALL of their suppliers to spot this early and nip it in the bud.

 

[chopsaw]

the key is not to wake up on the garage floor

All went well . I will admit , I had to refer to the directions a couple times .
Did the initial start up , burn in and shut down . I have to say I'm impressed .
I'll clean in the morning , and then we'll see how a first cook goes .

a person with their own tap and die set.

Heck if you like that , you might like this too .
Never know when you might need to do some pipe work .

 

[BT_TX]

I think some people are calling flareups during high temp grilling a grease fire.

No, they are legit blazing fires at 225. I have had a Gen 1 EX 4 since last July. I had issues with the auger and that was replaced with the new version. No issues from that in a while now. However, I have always used drip pans and had no problems until recently. Now embers from the firepot fly into the drip pan and start a fire. The last one took about 30 minutes to finally go out. There was so much smoke, my neighbor came by to ask if something was on fire. I am going to try using drip pans with lids and cut a slit into them to see if that stops the issue. I really want to love this grill because when the cook goes smoothly, the food is amazing.

 

[2fatpugs]

According to Harry Soo the reason why the SmokeFire produces more smoke flavor than other pellet smokers is because it uses vents instead of a chimney. This keeps the smoke in the cooking chamber longer and allowing the meat to absorb more smoke.

 

[bill1]

I think if it were that easy no one would use a chimney.

 

[2fatpugs]

I think if it were that easy no one would use a chimney.

I am just repeating what Harry said in his video. They are doing something right because Harry said the SmokeFire gave him the best result from any pellet smoker.

Here's the video, he says it around 5:30 minutes in.

 

[chopsaw]

I have several cooks on mine so far . This is the only pellet grill I've been around , so I don't have a comparison to other pellet cookers .
I will say that this EX4 has good clean smoke flavor profile . I think most of that comes from the vented bottom of the burn pot and the drop style auger chute .
After start up and reaching cook temp , it trickles pellets slowly during the whole cook . It seems to me that fuel use is high . Like I said I have no other to compare to . Pretty much TBS at all times after reaching temps .
Normal temp set .


Smoke Boost

 

[rexster314]

I've had the SF EX6 now since last December. I've run the gamut of poultry, beef, pork, pizza. Brisket slow smoked. Greasy duck smoked. Ribs both beef and pork. Chicken of all cuts. With the exception of the briskets and duck, I never use a drip pan.
Never have had any type fire except that flame that gets kicked out running over 500f. Whoever is complaining of unwanted fires is using the grill wrong.

 

[2fatpugs]

@chopsaw How does the SmokeFire compare to your other smokers? I am looking to upgrade and I can't decide between the EX6 or the Char Griller 980.