Weber smokefire shipped

OneHump said:
Yeah, I'm not sure. The lady with whom I spoke was clearly very knowledgeable and forthright. That's not to say that Weber either isn't aware of a bigger issue, or not cover something up. She did, however, say that grease fires are not an issue that they've identified and they disagree with what's being posted/published.

Just so everyone is clear, you can open your lid, put your probe in, etc. What Weber is saying in the manual is that they recommend a drip pan and they do not recommend cooking with the lid open. I didn't like that when I saw it either, as I prefer grilling without a lid.

For me, the biggest takeaway is that I'm now a huge pellet grill fan. I'm very much looking forward to getting a Mak. For those who don't want to drop a ton of coin on a higher end cooker, I think the Smokefire is a tremendous value. It doesn't have the paint problems of a Yoder, probably cooks hotter than a Mak and smokes better than a Memphis, all without the massive price tag. Is it a better cooker? Probably not, at least not right now, but it is probably a much better value and will improve in short order.

Those of you who find yourselves angry, frustrated and disappointed might want to avoid early adoption in the future. I had no expectations of this grill and, for that reason, have not found myself disappointed. I actually chuckled last night when my cooker died mid-cook and I had to move my lamb chops to a skillet.
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Buddy, it seems like you keep on saying the same thing over and over, and you're refusing to listen to what people are explicitly showing you. The drip pan is recommended....IN THE GREASE SYSTEM. What this means is that they recommend a drip pan in the drawer. NOWHERE in that manual, or in any video put out by Weber, does it say they recommend a drip tray INSIDE the cooking chamber. If you actually watched BabyBackManiac's video he CLEARLY has a drip pan inside the drawer as recommended by Weber.

Do you mean to tell us that on the phone with Weber they explicitly stated that you should have a drip tray INSIDE the smoke chamber?

Here's what it says in the "warnings" part of the manual :

"WARNING! Never operate this grill without the
ash and grease system in place. Always use a
drip pan to collect grease within the drawer."

That manual NEVER states to use a drip pan INSIDE the smoke chamber. Each and every time this manual uses the words "drip pan" it is linked directly to "grease system." Their grease system is the method of diverting the grease into the drawer. Unfortunately, as has been shown in many videos, the grease can't drain properly because there is more ash than was designed to be inside the bottom of the cook chamber.

Good luck with your SmokeFire and putting in the new auger (it was the auger, right?). I'm not trying to be rude here but I just wanted to emphasize that you're misunderstanding Weber when they say the words "drip pan" in regards to the SmokeFire. It is part of the grease system which means the the drip pan needs to be in the drawer...NOT the cook chamber.

Also, here's what the manual says about the grease system :

"Easy-Clean Ash and Grease System
With superior ash and grease removal, the ash and grease are channeled into an external, contained drawer for a quick and easy cleanup. This means not having to look at all that nasty grease in a bucket hanging from the side of your beautiful new pellet grill. This unique system also prevents ash from blowing up into the cookbox and onto your food. "
 
Well if you trim all the fat off before you cook it may not catch on fire, might not be able to eat it but no fire lol. Sad situation and hopefully they will get it corrected quickly, imo even on their gas grills the drip pan is way to close to the heat and have had grease i fires in mine, another 3-4” drop would solve the problem
 
Wonder how long until these hit the used market cheap.
Just thinking I might pick one up used and make some mods to use it. I am thinking $100.00 is all the more I would give anyone for one. Just me thinking aloud.
 
Rusty Kettle said:
Wonder how long until these hit the used market cheap.
Just thinking I might pick one up used and make some mods to use it. I am thinking $100.00 is all the more I would give anyone for one. Just me thinking aloud.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking. Aside from the software end of things, we could probably make corrections to make it usable. :wacko:
 
NickTheGreat said:
That's what I'm thinking. Aside from the software end of things, we could probably make corrections to make it usable. :wacko:
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Probably an aftermarket controller will come out and fix it. So if I see one cheap I would buy it and hang on to it.
The grease fire issue can be fixed.
 
Rusty Kettle said:
Probably an aftermarket controller will come out and fix it. So if I see one cheap I would buy it and hang on to it.
The grease fire issue can be fixed.
Click to expand...


A controller can't fix gopher holes, pellets not feeding, and a poor drainage system.
 
Baby Back Maniac said:
The lid was down both times the fires started.

They don’t encourage a drip pan. They encourage a water pan and it has nothing to do with preventing fires. It has to do with consumers asking for it (mimicking the water pans of the WSM). The guy that built the cooker really dislikes the idea because the whole point in how they designed the cooker was to not need it... or else they would have put one in there. I can not stress enough how proud they are of the drip-panless design. It’s one of the main features they were trying to innovate with and there are a lot of benefits of NOT having one.

With that said...I’ll be using a drip pan in the future. Lol.

There are a several videos of grease fires now. I’m not the only one. I’m glad yours is running so well. Wish mine was.
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BBM - I've been watching your videos for years and have always enjoyed them.


The last 3 or 4 minutes of your Smokefire overnight video were some of the most honest and refreshing that I've seen in a while. I've been a fan for awhile, but the integrity and willingness to step up and admit you could have handled it better is a pretty rare thing these days.



So thanks.
 
SmokyDick said:
A controller can't fix gopher holes, pellets not feeding, and a poor drainage system.
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I would be willing to risk $100 to buy used and see if I can make it useable for myself. I would never buy new though. I am not saying buy it new. Not sure what you mean by gopher holes. Pellets not feeding is tunneling just take a piece of pvc pipe and put it above the auger and fill it. Should not be an issue then. I bet you could modify how it drains and add a larger drain tube and modify it to drain away from the fire pot. Nothing is impossible to fix. Now that being said for the price you shouldnt have to modify it. I would deal with it if I got it used for $100 not a penny more though.
 
Baby Back Maniac said:
That's the way it should be. Makes me wonder if there is something different about the material inside. Is there something on there that shouldn't be...or vice versa.
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I also had the Smokefire. I believe the pellet ridge inside the hopper from the pellet dump access combined with the couple of black screw heads also contribute to the failure to flow down the ramp. I also had a Memphis, very shiny steel (stainless). I think it was way more slick than the Weber
 
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Dang hadn't checked this thread in a week or so and sorry y'all are having all these issues. Hopefully Weber does right by everyone.

They should change the spelling of the name to SmokeFyre.
 
SmoothBoarBBQ said:
Buddy, it seems like you keep on saying the same thing over and over, and you're refusing to listen to what people are explicitly showing you. The drip pan is recommended....IN THE GREASE SYSTEM.
Click to expand...

This onehump guy is never gonna answer you or anyone. He is obviously a troll. And sounds like a Weber plant almost. His comments have been proven wrong countless times and you hear crickets back from him. Easiest just to ignore.
 
If people like BBM and other enthusiasts have a "greasefire" with this grill, then I shudder to think what could happen with someone who is not knowledgeable that buys one. It would be easy to look upon this thing as an appliance, similar to a crock pot, an oven, or an automated cooker that does not require your full attention when in operation. Heck, they even tell you to adjust it from offsite with an app! :shocked:

I could be wrong of course, because all I know so far is what is posted in this forum and also on youtube, having said that, the liability seems great due to fire risk from what I have seen demonstrated and I would not be surprised to witness a recall on this product in the coming days. It's basically a time bomb when slow cooking fatty meats- which is the primary use of this crazy thing. As others have said they are channeling fuel (grease) to a high temp fan fired pot that is throwing sparks everywhere.

I wish I could believe that these things are safe to leave unattended, but I just don't. Again, I read all these comments etc. An uninformed buyer could really set themselves, their home and family up for a real tradgedy.

The company will not have a leg to stand on when it is revealed they have it set up to run when no one is around and even provide an internet app to encourage the behavior.

If I was CEO of Weber- that thing would not be available and a complete recall would already have been in progress.

Pretty soon Kramer will buy one, burn down the apartment complex and this is one legal battle that he and Jackie Chiles will win!
 
PUSMMA said:
This onehump guy is never gonna answer you or anyone. He is obviously a troll. And sounds like a Weber plant almost. His comments have been proven wrong countless times and you hear crickets back from him. Easiest just to ignore.
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No, I don’t think he is. He’s been around here for quite a while and I think his posts have been fine. Not sure why he came out swinging quite so enthusiastically here.
 
Mod Note:

Let’s keep it civil gang! Accusations of trolling are not the way we do things. If you see a post that violates our rules, please report it to us, but if you don’t like what someone has posted or how they posted it, just move on. If you can’t do that, use the ignore feature and you won’t have to see that person’s posts again :thumb:
 
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