Please help me choose my next smoker

The SmokeFire does have a great smoke profile for a pellet grill. There’s supposedly a new model coming next month. The rumors are it’s mostly cosmetic with a couple part tweaks. If they’ve done anything to fix the hopper and have the firmware stable now, it could be a pretty nice grill for that price range. The smoke profile is WAY better than you’ll get from CampChef, Traeger, i.e. all the cookie cutter pellet grills.

I had one for about 8 months and if Weber hadn’t messed up the firmware in fall of 2020 and left it bad 4 months I would probably still own it. If you’re used to slinging logs, you might be tolerant of the few quirks that make it special. The biggest I found was making sure anything more than a light breeze was not blowing at the back of it.

If you do go pellets, know that only a few companies make hickory pellets that are 100% hickory. Most are 60-80% oak or alder. CookinPellets, Kingsford, Smokin Brothers, and Lumberjack are the ones I know and LJ actually makes both 100% and a 60/40 or 70/30 blend. It makes a big difference if you’re a ‘hickory’ guy. There not hard to get, but if you go to your local hardware store and buy another brand of pellets you’re most likely buying 70-80% oak.

pduck said:

Thanks Glitchy. That was very helpful.

I'm a little surprised that more people haven't chimed in about the SmokeFire, especially after seeing Mad Scientist's video comparing four pellet smokers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmCibXcfmqY&t=619s). It has its problems, but these guys picked it head and shoulders above the rest for taste.

I'm leaning towards the Char Griller 980 because it looks relatively easy to use, set and forget if you will, and the problems it does have look to be avoidable.

Click to expand...

The SmokeFire had a very poor (and deceptive) marketing campaign, and people had plenty of issues with the 1st generation. This being said LOTS of people have no idea how to use a pellet smoker, so I firmly believe those initial problems were exacerbated by people doing things like leaving the door open for long periods of time, not checking the pellet hopper, not updating the firmware, and not cleaning the smoker. All that being said Weber didn't respond well, and neither did some of the "BBQ Personalities" who were trusted in the community. This led to a pretty aggressive
anti-SmokeFire campaign on YouTube and plenty of BBQ forums (this one included to some extent).

I'm sure the Chargriller will give you the desired product you're wanting to achieve. Outside of running a stickburner it's really hard to beat charcoal + wood chunks for a good smoke flavor. Good luck with your smoker and I hope it all works out.

Some Lowes have had the SmokeFire at half price. My local Lowes had the EX6 for $600 and the EX4 for $500, just a couple weeks ago. I had to beat down the urge to buy.

Just went thru something similar and ordered an original Grilla. May fit the bill for your budget and needs. Smaller footprint for when I don’t have time for the Lonestar. Good luck with your search!

https://store.grillagrills.com/products/grilla-alpha

Get an extra 10% off by signing up for Academy emails ... must spend over $200

Very happy with my 980, I think you'll like it. Only issue I had was a melted fan, 100% user fault, they still replaced it in about a week for no charge.

teamwhidbey said:

I haven't put chunks in the ash pan due to the horror stories of melted flaps and fans. I layer some briquettes or lump, followed by a couple of fist size chunks with another layer of briquettes/lump...depending on the length of cook determines how many layers I do.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I don't visit any 980 forums/FB pages and hadn't heard about those issues. I'll be trying this out the next time.

Hello.


I'm also in a similar position to the original poster "pduck".


I never thought I'd say this, but I'm in the process of putting up my Klose 20x36 stickburner for sale as well as my Pit Barrel, but life changes ... .sometimes for the better, and sometimes not ... so I'm considering a Yoder Pellet Smoker, but the cost is more than I should be spending, unless I sell my Klose smoker.



I've had 2 children in the last 4 years and haven't ran my Klose but twice in the last 2 years as my 4yr old is mildly autistic and requires constant supervision .... which makes it very difficult to tend to a stickburner.


So that's my dilemma.


Solution seems to be a pellet smoker, and I've read about, watched youtube vids and looked at many in person in stores .... pretty much all of the makes/models mentioned above and none of them really appealed to me "construction-wise" when use to smoking with a 600lb hunk of steel.


So I looked at others ..... and arrived at the Yoder YS480s or YS640s, as they are much more solidly built than the others mentioned.


So ignoring the price, does anyone have any real experience with the Yoder Pellet Smokers .... and can truly recommend them?


It's really hard to come up with that kind of money .... but if it means that I don't have to spend nearly as much time tending to the smoker .... and produces very good to excellent results, I'm giving it serious consideration.


Several of the others already mentioned would probably suit my needs, but I don't like buying things twice, and smokers like Klose, Lang, Jambo, etc will last a lifetime if taken care of, and that's what I'm looking for in a Pellet Grill if I'm to purchase one at all.


Thank you in advance to any thoughts and constructive feedback.


Jay