Bye Bye SmokeFire - Issues Update for Weber SmokeFire and Why I Sent it Back 

Don't thank us. You deserve all the credit and thanks for sharing your real world experiences. I am holding off on getting a Weber Smokefire thanks to you and folks like you on RU-vid. It takes a lot of time and effort to capture and document your experiences on RU-vid and it is greatly appreciated. I was hoping Weber might have come up with some more fixes for you but it sounds like they still playing catchup. Good Luck to you and keep the great information coming.

I love Weber grills. I have 40 years of experience with them. I couldn't say a bad word about them... until now. My wife bought me the Gen 2 Smokefire. Just put it together yesterday and attempted to season it today. On the first attempt, the grill made it to 400F, then smoke started to pour out of the pellet hopper. I poked around the pellets in the hopper and a bunch of them dropped down into the auger feed. Then, the temperature started to drop, and eventually, the grill went into automatic shut-down because the fire went out. I let the unit cool down, cleaned out the firepot, and tried again. On the second attempt, the grill only went up to about 200F and went into shut-down mode. I let it cool down until the app told me it was OK to power off. I then took everything out of the cooking pot, thoroughly cleaned the burn pot, emptied the pellet hopper, blew out the auger tube with compressed air, vacuumed out all of the ash, and unburned pellets from the bottom of the cooking pot and the grease tray and then made my third attempt at seasoning the grill. Third attempt...ditto second attempt. At this point, I just allowed the unit to cool, powered down, unplugged, and covered to protect from expected showers. I don't want to deal with this thing anymore. I'm calling Weber on Monday morning and looking into returning this poor excuse for a grill for a refund. I'll base my future opinion of Weber on how they deal with this. I don't want to hate on Weber. I have a 12-year-old Weber Spirit gas grill that still operates and cooks perfectly. I've replaced parts here and there over the years, but that's to be expected because I use it a lot. I have a WSM I bought used from a neighbor. It heats up quickly and once you get the air vents adjusted, it holds temperature rock solid and smokes to perfection. I've literally taken Weber grills out of the trash and used them for years with no issues. Everybody fucks up. I'm cool with that, but I'm counting on Weber to do the right thing... We shall see.

I was so bummed after buying my Traeger, only to have this Weber announced about 2-week later. I was so jazzed about the Weber, but after watching the similar fails that people are reporting, I think there are MAJOR design flaws with this thing. Number one, there is no way to spread the heat out evenly - especially across such a wide cooking surface. And I'm not really sure what the flavor bars add. With my Traeger and other manufacturers products, I think the slopping drip pan helps distribute the heat, plus, the grease never gets anywhere near the flame. Also on the Weber the pellet hopper is not steep enough to evenly distribute the pellets toward the auger. I think the software stuff is a pretty easy fix. But the rest of it just looks wrong. Sorry I prematurely bashed my Traeger - perfect cook every time! Thanks for the patient review without bashing Webber.

Smart move Weber makes some great grills and for the most part all of us have one to several , but the mark was missed this time

I found the power cord to be really stiff in cool weather but that is easy fix. My replacement auger was a little longer coming out the tube but haven't tried it yet. If the do make a GEN2 I hope they do something for us Beta testers.

If you are still interested in a pellet grill / smoker, go look at Grilla Grills or Rec Tec. I went with Grilla Grills because of the accessories, pro cart, and a little cheaper. However Rec Tec is an excellent choice as well. I do believe these two are the best on the market.

I did look at his grill but had concerns over the rear hopper and seeing your experience I’m glad I went with Coyote .

Sounds like you gave it a good chance. I have known about Pellet Smokers for years. Never had an interest really. Until this year. I saw Weber had the SmokeFire. I am a Weber Fan having had a Kettle for 30 plus years and the WSM for nearly 20 now. Talked with a couple co-workers who have a pellet smoker and they were very pleased. They like the set it and forget concept and the quality of the cooked foods. I was leaning towards the SmokeFire EX 4. Then found a Pit Boss 850 pro series with a strong recommmendation from a co-worker who recentlly bought one. This was 1/2 the price of the Weber with some special pricing not available to all. So it was a great deal. Have only used it a few times and not real impressed at this point. But hopefully my issues will get fixed. I don't think it produces a lot of smoke so the flavor is just a hint of smokey flavor. That was on Brats, so it was a fast cook for smoke cooking. Maybe a big meat cook and some other changes will produce better results. The Pit Boss was a good choice for me in that it fits better under my soffits then the Weber would. I agree the temperature range across the cookng surface needs to be more consistent. Sorry this did not work out for you. Hopefully, your issues can be addressed and improved upon in an upgraded version.

I definitely don’t blame ya. You had more patience than me.

After getting your review I started looking around. What do you think of the Yoder 640s? It seems pretty versatile but the paint is what I am worried about.

Subscribed! I enjoyed your honesty, saw the EX4 at Lowe's not impressed with the quality to be honest very thin materials used, my Rec Tech Bull 700 is like a tank compared to the Smoke fire. Smoke Fire is 80% completed Weber needs to go back and fix it then it may be an amazing grill.

I’ve been cooking in the pellet world for a long time and the best I have found, so far, is the Ironwood 885 from Traeger.

Now go buy a nice RecTec. Great grills.

Ive done 2 times brisket, 4 times wings, 2 times spare ribs and 1 time short ribs and luckily have not seen problems you mentioned. Shame. Hope Weber solves these said issues. Im having great fun on mine.

Mine is going back next week. It's good to hear that they will pick it up as is, and they said they will do a full refund to my credit card.

Thankyou for doing the videos and enlightening everyone on the weber smokefire.

Great review. I took my Smokefire back to Lowes. Bridging of pellets in the hopper is the biggest issue causing it to flame-out and go into the 15 min. Shutdown Mode. Also, grease mixes with the ash and forms a flammable paste at the bottom of the grill. Buying a Yoder pellet grill.

Not convinced on the grill size to patio issue considering you have a pool. I'm assuming research was conducted before the purchase. Another 8-12 inches in width is not a big deal.

I’m sorry the Smokefire didn’t work out for you. I’ve had nothing but a great time with mine. I had a few minor issues, but Weber has been amazing in helping me out. But I’ve seen a lot of posts and videos of folks who haven’t had theirs work out. Not in any way saying y’all are wrong. In the long run, I just hope it all works out good. Weber’s a good company, and I hope they sort it all out and improve the design to solve whatever problems there are.

Check out REC TEC's RT-700 if your looking to buy another pellet smoker, awesome smoker I bought mine Monday had a REC TEC 590 Stampede before this one and their customer service is top notch and the RT-700 Bull is excellent all the way across the board. PID controller, 40lb hopper and much more.

I’m sorry you had problems... some people do... more don’t it seems like... I have not had any problems with my 4... knock on wood... grease fires happen... I use a drip pan personally. And the augers had motor problems on the earlier versions... the heat also evens out on low and slow. The 4 is a perfect size! Again sorry for your problems!

I hope they get it on track. Always been a weber fan. In 25 yrs I've only had 2 weber charcoal grills and they both were excellent. I had high Hope's for this. On the charcoal side they have it locked down, pellet wise they have some work to do.

My local Weber dealer tried to sway me towards this cooker, but I told her......naaaaaa! I love my Performer Wendy. Why fix something that ain't broke! I'm actually looking for a nice copper kettle just to have on the side of my emerald green kettle. The Performer is where it's at! Grab some grill grates and a slow and sear, and your ready to rock and roll!

My much cheaper Pitt Boss has performed awesome over the last couple years. I just don’t get how the flavorizer bars are supposed to work with the fire only in the middle? I have a Weber Genesis gas grill with flavorizer bars that works great! It has a burner under each flavorizer bar!

Exact same issues on the EX4. It works well when it works but very frustrating overall.

Whatever was wrong is fixed now at least on mine got it 3 weeks ago needed updates immediately upon start up but works flawlessly

For the test of temps across the grill, the goto many of us use is slices of bread from a cheap grocery store loaf. Lay the slices out across the entire grill surface. Want to do kinda fast so most get started at the same time. Deal those slices! :-) You’ll shortly get a very vivid display of your grill surface. Another seeming danger is having butcher paper wrapped meat on a grill with an open flame. Grease filled butcher paper is a favorite fire starter for stick burners and quarter log ovens. You would need to go the foil wrapped route which is responsible for many differences in outcome of a cook. Let a pellet grill be a pellet grill. Don’t make a hybrid that does neither well. Just by a SearzAll for that final finish.

$1300 tax included is no small change. It should work as Weber stated.

Thanks for your video. I purchased mine yesterday. First cook today and had the same issues. After looking at all the reviews on this grill I'm going to return it. I should've waited.

Interesting. I just bought one off Facebook for $500, brand new ex4 , never used. Gonna give this a shot anyway. Some of the replacement parts have already arrived from Weber as I’ve replaced the glow plug. Burn in went just fine and all the software updated no problem. Hopin for the best. Harry Soo seems to love his, as he has 2 now. I think drip pans are your friend with this grill when going low and slow. Even the manual tells one to use drip pans.

It’s such a bummer that this came out in the shape it was sent out in. Hopefully v2 will fix all the issues. Pellets dropping correctly, a proper grease control plan, better heat distribution, etc. I love all my Weber cookers, and will stay loyal to Weber. I want a pellet cooker, and I was hoping this cooker was going to make the best one. I am patient and will wait for Weber’s v2. Until then I will continue loving my 22” kettle and my 18” WSM for smoking food!

I've been having a great time with mine. I've posted a few videos. Bummer it didn't workout for you. You did a great job trying to work with Weber and giving them an opportunity to help. Looking forward to your future videos. 🤜🤛

Seems lots of people have had problems with these , I have a half dozen Weber grills, gas and charcoal and the smoke fire has been on my radar to get this year but I’m thinking I’ll wait for Weber’s response to all the problems maybe next generation before I pull the trigger

As a long time Weber supporter, it's a shame the pellet grill didn't do as well as expected. One thing is for sure, any time i used them, customer service was there to back things up. Hopefully they figure it out!

I've done 8 cooks on mine. Not one issue. Sorry you had issues.

You should try the Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560. It's an amazing grill. I reverse seared a ribeye with it and it was awesome

I’ve had only one issue and that was the pellets hanging up. Sorry yours didn’t work out for you.

You definitely gave it a very fair trial. I agree with your decision. Appreciate you sharing your experience, your integrity saved A LOT of consumers frustration and a nasty grease fires that could be disastrous.

If you are still in the market for a pellet grill, I would highly recommend Smokin Brothers pellet grills. Best grill I have ever owned.

I have the same grill. My experice has been favorable. Have you tried to put a drip or water pan in between the grill grate and flavorizer bars? I feel that would eliminate the grease fire problem and possibly improve the cook by adding moisture. It’s a common practice with other styles of smoking. I tested some pans and they do fit. It’s my plan to test as soon as some of this snow melts...

you have more patience than my wife. she put our Traeger on the curb after one day! but on a serious note, I really had some high hopes for this but looks like i'll have to wait. thanks for the videos

I have been following your review of this pellet grill as I was super excited to get one. Between you and Justin @ Baby Back Maniac, you guys really provided an in-depth review of all the issues. I was so willing to plunk down $1199 for this with no questions asked and you guys really helped save me some cash. I’m now looking at the rec etc 700, but am holding off for a few weeks to see if weber comes through with a miracle save... I raise a glass of bourbon to you my new friend...

I really hope they get this figured out, because like you I am a Weber fan. I really think they just messed up with this design, and I think you made the right decision. Hopefully version 2 will be better.

Get a rec tec and do a review. I am confident you will love it.

The problem stems from Weber not being a Pellet smoker company and therefore not having the knowledge and expertise in designing an on par product. They need to stick with BBQ grills and not give in to greed and trying to capitalize on the reputation they deservedly earned while manufacturing great BBQ grills. Please make a video returning the Grill back to Lowe's, That would be priceless...

They are fine. It's not a pellet grill. It's a combination gas ( similar to) grill and smoker. Just like any gas grill, grease going to build up unless you clean it. Put pan under meat for Smoking, or deal with mess, just like a gas grill. Great smoke. Only issue not fixed is pellet hopper. Better, not perfect. I use it 75% of time as a gas type grill for steaks, chicken, burgers. Just like any gas grill. Gets very hot fire searing . Will flare up just like gas grill. I am happy with it.

Great video, and thank you for going thru all of this for the rest of us!

Weber already makes a great charcoal unit....they didn't need to make this.

You gave it a hell of a shot! Thanks for your patience!

Look into the Camp Chef Woodwind 36. I love mine!

Thank you for your videos on this product. The information you shared help me with my decision on which pellet smoker to purchase.

I took my 6 back to Lowe’s. No fuss from Lowe’s. If I go back to Weber, I would go to the 24’’ to get more even heat. PLEASE Weber fix the 4 and 6. Thank you for your Time.

Good job, I appreciated seeing your videos on the subject.

Thanks for all of the updates! I wanted one. Not now. Really disappointed in Weber. I’m a long time Weber guy. Weber should be having a recall & not selling these units but continue to do so. That’s the biggest disappointment right there.

I had high hopes for the Weber. Thanks for taking the time to give your input on it. Time for a MAK now...

Over the years, Weber has built a reputation of providing consistent performance in products that last and can be easily maintained. This time, they found themselves in a market where others were already doing different versions of that at different price points. When you enter late, you better have all the major performance aspects on point. They did not get their design properly beta tested and now they will have to decide if they even have enough of a reputation left to survive a second round. Competitors are sure to offer huge deals when Weber's version 2.0 launches to rain on their parade. I have a Weber Genesis gas grill and a Weber Jumbo Joe, but my REC TEC RT680 will still be out-performing anything Weber is likely to bring to market in the pellet grill arena for years to come and with customer service that has been very impressive, including personal assistance from Ron Cundy (co-owner of the company). It's tough to be late to the party.

Thx for your Video. Was looking for a Pellet Smoker and the SmokeFire was one Option. I think it will be a Traeger Ironwood 885 at the end. Regards from Germany Marcus

I have been looking at these, my question to you is for a person like me that would use this as more of a smoker than a griller, do the grease and ash build up during the one long cook? or what this a problem over multiple cooks? I thought the grilling feature was nice but wouldn't utilize it as I have a large grill already. Just looking to replace my older Traeger and didn't want to spend the $1400 - 1900 to do so.

I am happy I waited to buy one. I end up buying rec tec rt700.

Thx for your review. U saved some peeps hard earned cash!

Have you tried Gen 2 version yet? That’s the one I’m planning to go with over the Rec Tec

Went to buy a Traeger last year this time ... no Traeger's available for 2 months while they shift over to new products. So the sales guy talked me into a Memphis Pro, best grill I have ever had. Give them a shake, best pellet grill and none of that flaking paint on the inside of the box, it's ALL stainless steel.

Keep up the good video! Sorry to hear the grill is going back. I will hope the next version is fixed.

Thank you Jesus that I waited

your honesty is appreciated. #keepSMOKING

The 2nd gen of this grill seems interesting to me. Seems they fixed most issues. Unfortunately there's not a lot of reviews yet. Think I'm going to get a rec teq

Did you have any issues cooking a low temp and having a warning sign off that the grill is shutting down multiple times

You gave it a fair shot.

You've done a great job with this. I appreciate all you've done. Thank you.

So what grill are you going to get? I was going to get this one but after all the reviews ended up getting a Traeger last weekend.

You said you got full credit from Weber. Does that mean you were refunded your money, or did they just give you store credit? What good is store credit if they don't have anything you would want to spend your money on? Thanks!

I have seen so many videos saying the same thing. At what point does Weber step up and do the right thing

Happy you made this decision, they are a good company but in my humble opinion, they blew it with this release for all of you who purchased it...They should have used all of you who grill/BBQ here on RU-vid test their product prior to launch...Maybe next time they will.

They probably works ok as a traditional higher temp grill for things like steak and burgers. But not something you can trust on long slow cooks. Ill stick to my traditional style pellet grill and Weber charcoal grills.

Its amazing to me that some hate the grill, some gave it a good go but in the end, sent it back. and then some LOVE this thing. Facebook has some of those groups that seem almost paid. who knows. what I know is this thing aint worth 1300. no way, no how.

Thank you for your review.

I looked at them in lowes and was not impressed with the build quality compared to the gassers. Hopefully they can work the kinks out

The two channels ive been watching who havent had any issues were both using non webber pellets. in both cases they are getting what appears to be like 10% of the ash that you and other people were getting who were having trouble with grease fires. i wonder if less ash would make it less likely to cause the grease to build up.

I am having much of the same problems. I am returning mine if they will let me.

Sorry man, I know what it feels like looking forward to getting something and then it doesn't work. But it doesn't look like you're alone, a lot of people have been returning them. And I have to say, that you gave that Smokefire a longer chance to work than me or a lot of people would've! Good luck in the future, I hope you can find one that you like and works for you!

Weber Smokefire reminds me of Ford’s Pinto…same result. Ball of Fire!!!

Its already assembled, it's huge. I'm curious, how do you "send it back"?

Take a good look at the Cuisinart Woodcreek, it blows away the Weber, Traiger and Pit Boss witch I’ve owned. Thanks for your video my friend!!

considering returning mine too. what is your favorite pellet smoker? Also how is the return process?

Great insight. I just bought an EX6. Am i doomed?

Is this a return back to Lowe's??? What if one's local Lowe won't accept a Weber SmokeFire return within a Lowe's 30 days window. 29 days or less. Where is your purchase return to at. Which store.

Mine is going back, gave it a fair shot. The grease fire was my breaking point. Flame out then grease fire with $100 worth of meat 6 hours into a cook. Total sh*t show. Went into shut down mode then and wouldn't start back up. Refused to sync with my Wi-Fi no matter what. The flavorizer bars detached and fell from the right side during every cool down. The construction is NOT Weber quality at all. The control unit must have cost a fortune because the rest is.... for $1300.... I think they need to slope the outer walls towards the middle. It will help with grease drain and distribute heat evenly across the grate. I think they should do an ash catcher around the fire box wider than the heat deflector and the heat deflector should slide onto it preventing any misplacing. Maybe even a lip around the newly designed ash catcher. Raise the fire pot or run the walls lower to have some separation. You want to keep the grilling feature. And then widen the grease deflector above the heat deflector to wider width than that of the new ash catching fire box. Obviously the hopper walls need to be steeper. And seal the ash drawer. Magnetically and a seal of some sort. Watched ember after ember shoot out of the upper corners of drawer while cooking. I think if they do those things the 2nd generation will be the game changer we all thought this one was.

I'm curious if the fan blows toward the hot end.

mine works fine, so far no problems

Shame, big fan of Weber, had a Summit for 8 years before upgrading. Do yourself a favor, skip a Traeger and go right to a Yoder YS. Had 2 Traegers and sent them back. Yoder is way better.

Definitely should look at the Rectec Rt 700 for the same 1199 price.

So, I wrote to Weber regarding the concerns about grease fires--NOT A YUPPIE PROBLEM ONLY. Since I like to be helpful rather than insulting to everyone's intelligence & not being a RU-vid comment troll, here is the response I just received from Weber, for which those who can tie their own shoes should be interested: (Weber Grills) Jan 2, 2021, 12:09 CST Hello,Thank you for reaching out to Weber. I am very sorry to hear of your concerns regarding our SmokeFire, but I'd be happy to clarify. A sustained grease fire will typically raise the temperature inside of the grill to 700 degrees or more; a flare up will not raise the temperature in this manner. We take grilling safety very seriously, and we've engineered the Smoke Fire to automatically engage in a safety shut down in the rare event this were to happen. A sustained grease fire would trigger an E5 error code on your grill.When cooking fattier foods on any type of grill, flare ups might occur as grease hits the heat source. We recommend the use of drip pans for longer cooks with all of our products, just like a smoker, charcoal, and gas grill. This information can be found in your owners manual typically on page 14. The recommend drip pan would be Part#6416 - Foil Pans...We do not recommend placing these at the bottom of the cook box, nor lining the inside of the SmokeFire with foil. Maintenance is key with the SmokeFire models. That starts with doing a complete shutdown after each use, and cleaning the coobox and burn box of any excess grease/ash debris with your scraper before you start the grill each time. Doing the shutdown and cleaning before each use will set your grill up for success. After longer low and slow cooks, it is recommended that a more thorough cleaning be done. Also the owner's guide mentions using a drip/water pan in your cookbox for longer cooks as well.As long as you keep up with maintenance like any grill, you should not run into these issues. Let us know if you have any further questions. Thank you, Patric B Weber-Stephen Products LLC"

I just disposed of a newer Summit 670. Impossible to sear a ribeye without creating a fireball within seconds. Replaced with Napoleon version, no problems, because of larger "flavorizer" bars, like Weber had many years ago. I have a Yoder YS640s on order, never even thought to consider a Weber, and nothing said in this video surprises me. Weber is yet another has-been company living off of a once solid household name. Whenever looking to purchase a new product of any kind, always focus on the product or model itself, not the name. The name is irrelevant.

Good thing I watched Harry Soo's video's before I got mine. Love mine, just just don't be a weener!

There’s no way they are being honest about their advertisement of the extensive research and development and then turn out a product that has had all these problems. So somebody is lying to somebody somewhere in this equation. I mean come on you don’t notice that the pellets don’t slide down the pellet hopper in any of your trials you’re not noticing the grease buildup in any of your trials. I think Weber gets five Pinocchios for this one. Thanks for your review I’m going to buy the camp chef ww wifi Or rec tech I don’t find much bad about them but I have heard rec tech hides are bad reviews so I don’t know all my other camp chef stuff seems to hold up pretty good thanks again for your review good job

That’s disappointing Weber’s pellet grill is a bust. Check out Rec Tec Grills.

Thank you for sharing your videos. You saved me from headaches... I will get a Traeger..... I can say I love my GS4 Webber, but as for a Smoker, I will get something else....

Should have stuck it out. With the multiple software upgrades, the Smokefire has become epic.

To me, it is such a bad idea to have the grease run AT the firepot instead of to the ends of the thing.

Saw this grill today at lowes 200$ off. Never seen a product in my life where every single review is a bad one