What's new

Weber Smoke Fire

Never thought much about pellet smokers until the new Weber showed up. Anyone have first hand knowledge of these. Rave reviews abound on other sites.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I have no experience with the SmokeFire, and I was skeptical when I heard it was coming (I am skeptical of any pellet/smoker/grill combo). However, THIS REVIEW cured a great deal of my skepticism about the SmokeFire. If anyone can make something like this work, Weber can. The price also doesn't look terrible when compared to purchasing a pellet smoker and grill separately. It's still cheaper to get them separately, but not by as much. If I were in the market for such an animal, the SmokeFire is the only one I would even consider.

That said, I am still happier with having separate items, as I find myself using both at the same time often enough (and I have no space concern). The greatest drawback of the combo is that it can do only one thing at a time.

The second most significant drawback is that a standalone grill still is a better grill than any existing combo. While the SmokeFire does seem to do a fine job of searing, lump charcoal still does it better as a grill.
 
I’ve been following and reading about this grill for about a year since I first heard rumblings that it was in the works. They are just starting to get in the hands of consumers and that is when we will get a real idea of how it performs. One of my biggest concerns about this grill is a condition which exists in many combination grills, and that is the risk of a fire flaring up when cooking at high temps because the drip tray is directly over the fire. The grill I have has solved the issue by separating the fire compartment from the smoking/drip tray compartment, but Weber has taken a different approach to its design in regards to this. I’m anxious to see the real world reviews, but what I’ve read so far is good.
 
I have no experience with the SmokeFire, and I was skeptical when I heard it was coming (I am skeptical of any pellet/smoker/grill combo). However, THIS REVIEW cured a great deal of my skepticism about the SmokeFire. If anyone can make something like this work, Weber can. The price also doesn't look terrible when compared to purchasing a pellet smoker and grill separately. It's still cheaper to get them separately, but not by as much. If I were in the market for such an animal, the SmokeFire is the only one I would even consider.

That said, I am still happier with having separate items, as I find myself using both at the same time often enough (and I have no space concern). The greatest drawback of the combo is that it can do only one thing at a time.

The second most significant drawback is that a standalone grill still is a better grill than any existing combo. While the SmokeFire does seem to do a fine job of searing, lump charcoal still does it better as a grill.

Yes, that review sparked my interest. I will be interested in his full-test review.
 
I don't take amazing ribs reviews too serious as he's a big name guy and makes big bucks and promoted brands in his books etc.

I'll take a B&B review from someone who paid for it himself after saving up for a couple years over his reviews.

Looking forward to reading some reviews from users here. But I have a feeling a couple dedicated units will be better than any combo, if you have the space for it.
 

kelbro

Alfred Spatchcock
When I spend that much money, I expect the item to last a long time. I just don't see it with these new Chinese made pellet grills and their electronics. I am a big Weber fan too.
 
I don't take amazing ribs reviews too serious as he's a big name guy and makes big bucks and promoted brands in his books etc.

I'll take a B&B review from someone who paid for it himself after saving up for a couple years over his reviews.

Agree 100%. I’m active on a pellet grill forum and there are a couple of members who have just recently gotten their hands on them (and spent their own $ on them) and are currently doing some testing and cooks with them. One of the guys has had many different makes and models from very basic to super high end so I am especially looking forward to hear how he thinks it compares.
 
Agree 100%. I’m active on a pellet grill forum and there are a couple of members who have just recently gotten their hands on them (and spent their own $ on them) and are currently doing some testing and cooks with them. One of the guys has had many different makes and models from very basic to super high end so I am especially looking forward to hear how he thinks it compares.

Let us know the results.
 
I look forward to reading more about it, whether here or on the BBQ Brethren forum I follow.
However, I already have a Big Green Egg, Blackstone griddle, and a Lone Star Grillz offset smoker, so if I got the Weber, one of the others would have to go or my wife would kill me.
 
Starting see some negative reviews and problems pop up. Several people have had problems with the pellet hopper creating bridges and running out of pellets on long cooks even though there are plenty of pellets still in the hopper. That leads to the having to go through a complete shutdown cycle, because apparently it doesn’t have an automatic re-light programmed if the temperature drops low enough. The re-light issue could be addressed by an software upgrade, the hopper is a design issue and would be harder to address. One of the biggest selling points of a pellet grill is the ability to set and forget, its negated if you have to go check to make sure the pellets aren’t hanging up in the hopper. Also have read some are having issues achieving high temps, but at this point I willing to believe that could be weather related. I have faith that Weber will work to get the issues ironed out but I will wait a while and see.
 
Starting see some negative reviews and problems pop up. Several people have had problems with the pellet hopper creating bridges and running out of pellets on long cooks even though there are plenty of pellets still in the hopper. That leads to the having to go through a complete shutdown cycle, because apparently it doesn’t have an automatic re-light programmed if the temperature drops low enough. The re-light issue could be addressed by an software upgrade, the hopper is a design issue and would be harder to address. One of the biggest selling points of a pellet grill is the ability to set and forget, its negated if you have to go check to make sure the pellets aren’t hanging up in the hopper. Also have read some are having issues achieving high temps, but at this point I willing to believe that could be weather related. I have faith that Weber will work to get the issues ironed out but I will wait a while and see.

Thanks for the update. I noticed some negative reviews on the Lowes.com site.
 
Looks like my previously mentioned concerns regarding grease fires are unfortunately becoming validated. This is a quite long YouTube review that discusses it.

The very experienced member from the pellet forum I belong to has been using one for a couple of weeks now, and he has resorted to putting his own drip trays in and is considering returning the grill based on his experiences so far. Not looking promising. Kind of surprised considering Weber’s reputation and the fact that they did not rush this to the market that there are such glaring design issues.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Looks like my previously mentioned concerns regarding grease fires are unfortunately becoming validated

That's too bad. I actually was kinda rooting for this one.

I guess it's still true that you funny want to grill over flames. 😉
 
18EC1332-096D-40AA-AF9A-3C2EC17532E1.jpeg

Methinks I'll stick with old school.
 
Top Bottom