Weber smokefire shipped

Baychilla said:

Maybe I'm missing something but isn't a K probe a K probe regardless of year (or were previous probes not K? but lesser?)
/the MAK review soured me on BBM and MAK - give a 3500 grill to a YT influencer get 1 video that doesn't cover most of the grill and the reviewer is splooging over it? (combine that with his reviews of the Weber Egg knock off culminating in a personal call from the president of Weber). That being said - I thought he still produced entertaining videos and his handling of the Weber pellet thing was bar none one of the most exemplary cases of honesty/integrity I've seen in a YouTube review.
//still amused by his approach to his Mak video - if I ever meet him I'd definitely buy him a drink (or more)

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WBDubya said:

BBM video had older style pin probes on that version of the MAK. Where are you coming up with $3,500? MAK 2 Star is $2,800 including shipping. Yeah, I give BBM credit for calling out the Weber SmokeFire for what it is - a dumpster fire.

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Baychilla said:

The $3500 was the base cost + the WiFi module (which he tested - had issues with - never followed up on) + taxes + w/e other things he got with the unit that didn't make the video.



Credit where credit is do - I think his coverage of the Weber dumpster fire has been on point.

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rwalters said:

Yep, MAK’s ain’t cheap. It’s an investment, not a purchase

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Baychilla said:

How does the smoke profile compare to other smokers/grills you've owned?

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Baychilla said:

Maybe I'm missing something but isn't a K probe a K probe regardless of year (or were previous probes not K? but lesser?)
/the MAK review soured me on BBM and MAK - give a 3500 grill to a YT influencer get 1 video that doesn't cover most of the grill and the reviewer is splooging over it? (combine that with his reviews of the Weber Egg knock off culminating in a personal call from the president of Weber). That being said - I thought he still produced entertaining videos and his handling of the Weber pellet thing was bar none one of the most exemplary cases of honesty/integrity I've seen in a YouTube review.
//still amused by his approach to his Mak video - if I ever meet him I'd definitely buy him a drink (or more)

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Baychilla said:

Hence why I'd like to try what they can put out before potentially going that route.

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4ever3 said:

So I ordered a SmokeFire, before I got it, problems started arising, then I get the call mine was in and I turned it down. I just didn’t see a reason to pay to be a crash test dummy!

My thought was version 2.0 would be ready to cook on and I’d buy one then.

After the way the problems of the grill were handled, or not handled, however you wanna look at it, pretty sure I wouldn’t buy version 2.0 no matter what.

Back to pondering between MAK and Yoder, but for now the GMG just keeps puffin’.

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Shadowdog500 said:

+1. For a homeowner to invest in a $3k pellet grill it would be nice to have a way to at least try one before they buy it. Do they have a dealer network where you can go and at least use the demo model.

Chris

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rwalters said:

They used to have dealers, but went direct a few years ago. You can either buy direct from MAK or online through Big Poppa Smokers.

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Shadowdog500 said:

+1. For a homeowner to invest in a $3k pellet grill it would be nice to have a way to at least try one before they buy it. Do they have a dealer network where you can go and at least use the demo model.

Chris

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sudsandswine said:

I agree that trying the food produced by a $3K pellet grill before dropping that kind of coin is prudent. I've owned a few different pellet grills (2 Traegers and Char Griller) before owning my Mak. I didn't care for the food put out by any of those....but, that's also before I owned a stick burner where I may have grown more accustomed to a lighter smoke profile that results from running a clean fire.

BUT

I bought my Mak 2* used and it's an early serial number. It was incredibly dirty...maybe never had been cleaned? I spent quite a bit of time cleaning it out and bringing it back to its former glory over several weeks...maybe months...and it was basically perfect under all that neglect. It's been dead nuts reliable since I bought it almost a year ago. I had one weird temp fluctuation issue due to a dirty temp probe but it was easily fixed. Someday I'll probably buy a new one that has some of the updated features but I'm very happy with it as is.

It doesn't have quite the character of the food I cook on my stick burner, if I had to place a number on it I'd say like 85%, but 85% of a Shirley is still pretty darn good and it lets me cook when I otherwise might not be able to.

The point to my rambling is this - while I think my Mak 2* puts out food that really works for my preferences, that price tag buys a quality built cooker that will tolerate _a lot_ of abuse (hopefully you dont) and keep on ticking. If you want to see what my 2* looked like before and after as a testament to their quality, click here.

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barrettd said:

What makes you want to switch from GMG? I'm pondering a new grill purchase and am leaning towards a GMG for my budget. I realize mak/Yoder are in a whole other class, I'm just curious what's pushing you towards a big upgrade.

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4ever3 said:

Other than more cooking space in basically the same footprint because of the racks that can be added, it’s and upgrade on everything. Hopper, auger, hot rod, controller, wifi, app, stainless steel and powdercoating. I’m in no way knocking the GMG, we’ve cooked a ton of great food on it but we bought it to see what we thought of pellet cooking and we’re sold on it!

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barrettd said:

That's what I figured. I love the YS640S, just can't afford one, which is why the GMG has my interest.

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RCAlan said:

For those that have the Weber SF Pellet Grill and if I had one and really wanted to keep it, the Modifications I would definitely do to solve/fix the grease fire issues are these.
1. I would use a heat diffuser plate similar to the style/design that is used in the Pit Boss Pellet grills... They’re actually the length of the cooking chamber and sits at the bottom of the cooking chamber and directly on the Fire Pot... To give you an idea, here’s a couple of pics.


2. I would then modify the diffuser plate to have it slanted downwards on both sides to channel the grease flow away from the fire pot. I would then have 2 exit holes at the opposite ends of the grill and attach a grease bucket their to collect the grease runoff. I also would still use the OEM Weber SF heat diffuser and place it inside the modified diffuser plate and centered covering the fire pot. I know those that don’t have Pellet Grills may not have a clue of what I’m trying to describe, but those that have one should.
3. I know the Pit Boss Heat Diffusers dimensions wouldn’t fit inside the Weber SF, but the idea/logic is to have a diffuser plate that is able to channel the grease flow runoff away from the fire pot... and I’m sure any local Machine Shop could do it if given the dimensions of your Weber SF grill. If done correctly, there would be no need to add a drip pan to collect the grease runoff and the Flavorizer bars can still perform their intended functions as well as high temp grilling and searing. Is it extra work to modify it?? Yes... Can it work? Yes. I’m just thinking outside the box and something the Engineers at Weber should have thought of in the first place. To bad I can’t patent this idea... Pit Boss already beat me to it years ago and I guess Weber engineers weren’t paying attention, but I was. Weber could still use it and call it their grease runoff plate for the SmokeFire v2 remix... If there is one...

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