Weber smokefire shipped

You know what’s interesting is that a lot of pellet grill owners never follow the Owners Manual instructions to a tee and many will take shortcuts in the operation of their pellet grills... So when issues and problems occur, it’s easy to understand why. What’s baffling and perplexing is when the Owners Manual instructions are followed to a tee and still there’s grease fires, flame outs, auger lock ups and controller malfunctions... That’s not User error, that’s design error in a lot of different areas of manufacturing. Operating a pellet grill should be the easiest way to bbq... Pulling out your hair in frustration and having to arm yourself with a fire extinguisher is definitely not what owning a pellet grill should be like. I hope the SmokeFire version 1.2 or version 2 is a much better effort when Weber figures it out. I really hope they do. 2nd chances on a $1300.00 pellet grill is not going to be easy. 02.
 
A lot of things can contribute to failures , not testing with a lot of different pellets could cause a problem imo, every pellet is different and would have a different BTU and maybe size. hope they get the problems ironed out asap. Also we the end users put them to the real world test that's hard to recreate in a factory imo.
 
Fortunately Weber has only launched in the US. Looks like you fella's get to make this product mature before it comes downunder.. So thanks for your beta testing.

In all seriousness though, this is why you don't go Gen 1.

Simple machining tolerances change through a run. Hand making test units is wayyyy different from tooling up for a production run. Any manufacturing like that will give you a lucky dip of problems you can't tool for so easy. When we are talking mechanicals and fire and electricity... well that just makes it worse. Then you get people assembling it with different tools in different ways. There's no surprise you get different results. Weber has never made anything complicated like this. They are so good because they always kept it solid and simple. This is gonna hurt them a while but they will come out on top in the long run.

I'll buy a Gen 3 unit or a Traeger first. Saw them at Costco 2 weeks ago... Look pretty good... but still, even waiting 15 minutes to pull the plug is too long for me. I think I'll stick to a kettle and a WSM. Put the lid on and walk away....
 
Baby Back Maniac said:
I had a grease fire today at the end of my first cook. Unlike some of the others, my cooker ran pretty well except for the hopper not being slick/steep enough.

So frustrated.

Just throwing my 2 cents into the pile since I pretty much drank the koolaid based on what I was told at the launch event. What a mess.

Never again.
Click to expand...


Thanks for keeping it real Justin
 
One of the last projects I worked on as a Modelmaker was a futuristic hand welded multi angled tool storage cabinet with auto opening cover that hid a double computer terminal with multi media screens, environment data reports computer operated drawer openers, refrigerator in the bottom drawer, on and on.
It won the show best award at that years Chicago Hardware show.
My point is, there is no way in hell that unit could ever be made in a production status. It was so mechanically packed with one off goodies, the wiring terminal harnesses and spring loaded solenoids for the auto opening drawers took me three 40 hour weeks to build and tune.
Some times a great idea just cannot be built in mass numbers, first time.
Ed
 
This news isn’t good. I hope that they can get this grill up to running reliably and soon.

$1300.00 is a lot of coin to drop on a grill that doesn’t work right.
 
Intriguing issues plaguing this release.

Shame to see the flaws being pointed out are fairly consistent. Pellet flow, grease fires, app trouble.

I'm not in the market for a pellet cooker, but this one looked fairly promising.
Reviews on Weber.com are no Bueno.
 
Baby Back Maniac said:
I had a grease fire today at the end of my first cook. Unlike some of the others, my cooker ran pretty well except for the hopper not being slick/steep enough.

So frustrated.

Just throwing my 2 cents into the pile since I pretty much drank the koolaid based on what I was told at the launch event. What a mess.

Never again.
Click to expand...

Dang at 2:10 they even make you toast while drinking the koolaid https://youtu.be/cNdqeLsugsc
 
I just read an unbiased, non Weber bashing review of the Weber SmokeFire pellet grill on Amazon. It’s almost a page long, but the details are so informative. One detail that caught my attention was that the Reviewer, after also suffered a grease fire and upon inspection wondered why would Weber design the Grease Channel to flow right towards the Fire Pot and not away from it... Any cook longer then 8 hours will have a greater chance of a grease fire due to the ash and grease mixing together like a paste at the bottom of the cooking chamber and clogging up right at the fire pot. I would post the direct link to the Reviewers posting, but.... You already know. Just Google Amazon Weber SmokeFire Pellet Grill reviews... It’s a great read. I know it may seem like we’re all bashing Weber... We’re not. I think everyone is just asking how and why. It would be nice to hear something from Weber. If nothing else, at least a honest statement that the issues are being addressed. Silence is never a good thing...
 
Dang. So much for this being a good birthday present idea. Though I have a few more months for the kinks to be worked out.
 
I am definitely not trying to bash Weber. I still have a lot of hope for the $1200 pellet grill I just bought. I expected there to be a few problems with the software and such but that it would get worked out.

What bothers me is the problem with the hopper design and the reports of grease fires. I don't understand how you do as much testing as they supposedly did and don't realize these things are issues.

I am really interested to see what Weber has to say. I love Weber products and I want to love this pellet grill but if I am constantly worrying about a grease fire or flame out I don't really want to keep it.
 
What’s even more disturbing is that you can go to Weber’s site & still order one!
 
Honestly, for me, this is just solidifying my views of other pellet cooker brands. Companies who have gone through the R&D process, determined what works, and what absolutely doesn't work, and created a cooker that consistently performs. Weber is clearly late to the game here, and they (incorrectly) assumed that they were experts in pellet cooker technology, thus their cooker would be the cooker to put others to shame. They couldn't have been more wrong.

I believe they will likely get it "right" eventually, but not before many months of headaches from early adopters. If/when they do come out with a decent product, I question how it will compete with existing cookers like the Silverback, RecTec, and Mak (or others)? I'm guessing many will come to the conclusion that they should've just purchased one of those to begin with and could've had months of trouble-free cooks.
 
I think that the fails are amplified here because that's what we see/hear about the most. People also tend to become pretty passionate when they're frustrated. Those with problems think that Weber should stop selling them because their perception is that the grill doesn't work for anyone simply because theirs isn't working.

I have had phenomenal success with my Smokefire. Absolutely zero issues other than with the buggy app. I've run 40lb of pellets through and haven't had to touch the hopper other than to refill. I would expect a grease fire when dumping pounds of grease into the cooker. FEC 100 anyone?

Relatively speaking, it's cheap, and I didn't expect much but, as this is my first pellet grill, I'm very impressed. So impressed, in fact, that I'll eventually sell it and go with something higher end.

The only problem I'm going to have is deciding whether to Mak or Memphis. I'd Yoder, but I cannot deal with their trash paint.
 
Oy.............just called Weber and cancelled my order. I'm crazy, but not that crazy. Was supposed to arrive tomorrow, but they said they'd call SEKO and tell them not to deliver and I'll get a refund.

Got too many cookers (including pellet cookers) for this to not potentially work.
 
Jason TQ said:
Oy.............just called Weber and cancelled my order. I'm crazy, but not that crazy. Was supposed to arrive tomorrow, but they said they'd call SEKO and tell them not to deliver and I'll get a refund.

Got too many cookers (including pellet cookers) for this to not potentially work.
Click to expand...

Call em back. Tell em you’ll take 40, at a discount!
 
OneHump said:
. I would expect a grease fire when dumping pounds of grease into the cooker. FEC 100 anyone?
Click to expand...

I mean...it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion on a cooker of that size that if you mostly fill it up with low and slow barbecue cuts you’re going to get quite a bit of juices and fat. It’s how the system is designed to evacuate it that makes it more or less prone to grease fires.
 
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