SmokeFire ribs and a Fornetto hung chicken

The troubleshooting of my SmokeFire temp swings continued today, with some progress! Weber Support noticed a small gap at the front of the firepot, which I corrected. They also sent some of their GrillMaster Blend pellets to use, even though I've used Weber pellets before and experienced the swings. The temp never dropped below the set temperature of 250 (previous cooks saw swings of over 100 degrees in both directions). It actually never got lower than 263, bouncing mostly between 280 and 340. At one point towards the end of the cook, it spiked to 403. The ribs came out great - SLC Durocs rubbed with Naturiffic's Sir Porkalot's Rib Rub, no wrap, glazed at the end with Heath Rile's Tangy Vinegar BBQ Sauce. If today's swings remain consistent, I can work with this. Next test will be an overnight pork butt, probably next weekend. Really long slow-and-low cooks are where the largest variances in temp showed up.

There was also a chicken hanging out in the fridge that needed cooked. Seemed like a good day to experiment with a Fornetto Basso hanging. Hit it with some duck fat and Oakridge SPOGOS. B&B all-natural briqs and cherry chunks. Smoker was running 275ish with no pan. The chicken turned out good, but the hanging system attached to the smoker lid proved to be as awkward as it sounds. I'll likely never try hanging in it again.

Apologies for the lack of pics, mine were terrible and my wife was under the weather today.

Happy Hapgood said:

Hey Friend, I just have to say a pellet prescription is Bull Chit.

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Agreed - the only reason I ran them was to prove the pellets weren't the issue, and they sent them for free. I'm sure it'll run fine with non-Weber pellets if/when its issue(s) get straightened out.

ronbrad62 said:

I would set up an alert to wake me up if the temp reached a certain point. Good luck and keep it away from anything combustible.

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Yup, there will be alarms and I'll be sleeping downstairs on the couch.

kevinstaggs said:

Only you know when you’re done. But troubleshooting has to end sometime. Good luck. Hope you get it solved or replaced with something you can be confident it. Smoking is supposed to be fun...

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I emailed support last night with the cook results, and they just sent an email that they're shipping a new controller and thermocouple. So, we'll see - but it's definitely approaching the limit of my willingness to deal with it.

It's great that Weber has such awesome support - would be even better if I didn't need them.

jzadski said:

Sounds like you have my luck. I truly hope they do the right thing very soon for you. Once taken care of I suggest a Rec Tec

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I have a Rec Tec - a 2013. Still works great and has been perfectly reliable, but I only use it for slow-and-low. The SmokeFire was purchased with the notion that if it worked out as a grill and a smoker, I'd sell the Rec Tec, Weber gasser, and MB560. Needless to say, I'm glad I wasn't quick to move those. The RT now won't be going anywhere.