I have owned 6 name brand pellet grills. With the smoke fire being my current one. It is the best one I have ever owned. Every single one of them has had issues but I would never get rid of my smoke fire. They all have had flame outs, pellet issues, auger issues, grease management issues, fan issues etc. All of the others have been sold or given away to family or friends. I am excited about the sear wood, I seen it last year in person and it looks great. But from now on any other pellet grill I buy will be another one to sit next to my smoke fire. Will get to test the sear wood in a couple weeks. That will determine if I buy one.
Damon, thanks for checking in. You are fortunate to not have to wait. Please post thoughts on the Searwood. There seems to be no bridge between the love/hate camps of the SmokeFire and I unfortunately continue to have issues, when I maintain everything to as new as possible. Enjoy your cooks!
I have the woodwind pro also and yes the firebox gives offset flavor to all my cooks, I also bought the Sidekick with mini flattop to sear steaks and burgers. I will never go back to a regular pellet grill that does not have this firebox for woodchunks/charcoal feature. This grill is a game changer.
Thank you for your honest input. I'm new to pellet grills awaiting delivery of my foray into the set and forget adventure. I own a Weber Genesis II E-325 and have a Broilmaster P3 at our beach house in Avalon, NJ. I learned the hard way about non-stainless steel or cast aluminum constructed grills the hard way down there. Im selling my Kamado for a Nexgrill Oakford 580 which should arrived as early as tomorrow. The food from the Kamado is excellent but it's labor intensive from start to finish. The Nexgrill Oakford is definitely a Chinese manufactured grill but it looks very well made and has WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Looks to be a good starter pellet grill for me. I've followed folk's posts on the big Weber forum(TVWBB) and issues with the Smokefire abound...unfortunately, you're not alone with the myriad of issues with the Smokefire. Good luck with the replacement, Sir!
Toros, thanks for checking in!! Good luck on your foray into pellet grilling. After 5 years experience, there is a learning curve, albeit, a fun one of learning the nuances if you enjoy the cook process. Pellet grills can be fussy. Keep them cleaned out, especially dump your unused pellets after a cook, especially if the grill will be along the humid shores of Avalon. The pellets tend to degrade quickly in humid conditions and clog the auger, TYPICALLY, at the most inconvenient time. They can be temperamental, but once you know the nuances of your pit, you’ll never go back to gas. If you like the flavor of charcoal, you’ll love the smoke signature of a pellet grill. One thing I have to emphasize from learning, is that unless your pellet grill has an open flame for searing, you’re basically attempting to sear a cut in an oven. I am hopeful that the new Weber can actually “flame sear”. I have yet to accomplish that with the SmokeFire. In fact, most of my chops and steaks were smoked on the Weber this summer, and reverse sear finished over the flames, on my OK Joe’s FireCraft pit. If you do not have an instant read, digital thermometer or a Meater wifi meat probe, I highly suggest investing in both. Good luck with your cooks!
@@sambosplace ...The pellet grill will live in PA... outside of Philly. It will sit down on the grass next to our deck. The Weber Genesis II is on the deck and I'll use that for searing before the cuts head inside. I have a Thermapen and a wireless thermometer but I'm hoping the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi works well enough on the Oakford. Thanks for your suggestions!
Toros, sounds like a solid plan. Do try to dump your pellets often, especially in the summer months where grass holds moisture. Covered grills can hold that humidity and moisture in, as well as they keep it out. OK Joe’s has a pellet storage container with a wire mesh filter at the bottom to allow sawdust to drop out of the pellets. To me, pellets do matter. There’s several reviews on YT but here’s my $.02. Type does matter. Traeger was allegedly involved in a lawsuit regarding additive oils in their pellets for flavor. I have found Lumberjack to be a great choice. Their dark pellets show more bark inclusion and more smoke signature. It is rumored that Lumberjack makes Weber pellets. If Weber fumbled on pellet grill production, they scored big on pellets IMHO. In fact they look just like lumberjack and are as dark as them as well. Weber also puts their ingredient % right on the bag. Could they be the same? Keep in mind pellets at big box stores are jostled around more than smaller outlets or from direct, which results in less damaged pellet debris. Good luck with your cooks!
@@sambosplace ...I've not bought pellets yet. I've read good things about the Tractor Supply house brand...might give those a try or B&B from the local Ace. I've read bad things about Costco Kirkland pellets. I'm going to have to come up with a system...a Homer bucket most likely, to dump the hopper pellets after a cook based on your suggestions. Thank you, Sir!
I sold my SmokeFire EX6 and replaced it with a Recteq Flagship 1100 for smoking and a Recteq Bullseye Deluxe for grilling. Sounds like you have made your decision but if it changes I would consider Recteq.
Chris, that sounds like an awesome combo!! Yeah, gonna give Weber one more shot. I still have my OK Joe’s Firecraft for over the flames grilling and searing. Enjoy your cooks!
Steve, thanks for checking in. Apparently there’s 2 camps. The love camp with zero issues and the lemon camp. I wish we all had the crystal ball. Hopefully the SearWood will be here for active review soon. Good luck with your choice!
Just a tip from a smoke fire guy. Had a lot of issues. If you seal them up for smoke leaks… then they struggle to get to searing temps. So it’s a trade off.
Raleigh, thanks for checking in. It seems there’s a real divide. Those with zero issues and those like myself. Just know that if you do go the pre-owned route, their customer service is solid and have the parts you’ll need. Good luck with your decision.
@sambosplace Sam- you had a pitboss previously. Did you have any issues with it? Any flameouts? Same amount of ash that gets kicked around the cooking chamber as the Smokefire? Taking a hard look at the new Pitboss Titan.
Brian, yes. 4 years. Different animal completely. The firepit is much closer to the grates. You can flame sear!!! However, because the pot is so close, it creates a hot zone even when you close the gate. The conical dust guard keeps ash down, but you must take everything out when cleaning it. Mine was used 12 months a year, sometimes left uncovered and was subjected to the elements. It was a workhorse. I replaced an igniter at year 2 and year 4. Only had 2 auger jambs total. Replaced the fan motor and the control board at year 4. Did a video on this whole deal. It was a stout pit. You couldn’t use top rack much due to the tight headroom with the lid. I mainly did veggies up there and brisket. Too tight to do pork shoulders.
Excited for your next journey. Hope the Searwood knocks it out of the park. Weber can't afford not to if they want to stay a player in the pellet grill game. I am trying to run as many cooks as possible on my sear+ to figure out myself if I'm keeping it or not. I'm learning that this thing is high maintenance. Need to agitate the pellet hopper frequently to avoid bridging. Need to start with the right amount of pellets in the burn pot. Its tedious but so is running a charcoal grill. Wishing you the best buddy. If money isnt an issue, I'd go with the lonestar pellet grill. Nothing but praise from its owners but it's also twice as muchb lol. Give me a shout out on your next video! Take care Sambo
Brian, thanks for the kind words of support. For those of us who have a SmokeFire, the disappointment is hard to dismiss. And I agree, sans gas, other forms of fuel are more fussy. I’m not a complete narcist to the BBQ cooking process, you can’t get more tedious than “over the flames” cooking with a FireCraft pit by OK Joes. We do, however, in the real world of rushing around, become reliant on these pellet grills which include all the frills of an offset cooker/smoker and charcoal grill, with the convenience of a gas grill. That said, I’m remaining positive and loyal to my initial choice of a Weber. I will definitely be posting updates as they occur. Enjoy your cooks!
I've had a Sear+ for several months without issues. Not sure why you need pellets in the burn pot to start. Mine always starts up with none in the burn pot.
Greg, thanks for checking in. I had my ELX6 for 5.5 months that did everything I asked for but flame sear. The Weber shutdown procedure cools the pit and refills the burn pot for your next fire, as per Weber. Your glow plug only heats up for a short time. If the burn pot is not filled for next burn, you may not get enough pellets from the auger to start next fire at startup. So when I wanted to inspect the auger tunnel, additional pellets dropped into the pot. You don’t want it overflowing for the next burn either. Had to clean them all out. Because I wanted to inspect everything. Yes, your burn pot, per Jesse C at Weber, does fill with pellets at shutdown for your next burn. Enjoy your cooks!
In my experience, the burn pot does not always start with pellets in it. That's why I consider it high maintenance. I clean the ash out after every cook to avoid extra ash flying around the cooking chamber. Before every cook, I make sure there is a handful of pellets in the burn pot. The burn pot itself needs sit correctly in place. I moved mine when cleaning and didn't realize it until after a few flameouts and closely inspecting things. No issue's after I put my procedures in place. If I continue to have successful cooks, I'll keep it although curious on the internals of the new Searwood...
Man that’s a bummer. I just got my ELX6 delivered and was about to assemble it. The main reason for pellets is convenience, if it’s unreliable and needs watched all the time I’m thinking I’ll just send it back and go with something with proven reliability. Thanks for all the info.
Ryan, there’s no harm in assembling it and trying it. You have 100 days as per their policy. Yesterday I was smoking pork tenderloins and started to hear the “grating” noise from the auger I started to hear about a week before the shear pin failed…. I tore everything apart last night (again), and after dumping the pellets and pulling the auger to inspect, I decided to slide the auger back in and inspect the auger tunnel with a flashlight. What I saw was misalignment. Apparently it’s a production issue/ tolerance mistake. The auger is not clearance flush on all sides and hits the tunnel on the upper right portion of the tunnel. I believe the feeding pellets and auger friction is causing the issues and am sure another shear pin failure will happen. So…. Please grab a flashlight and inspect your auger in its tunnel for clearance issues before you add pellets and start a burn in. Good luck.
You’re really harsh on Weber and this product. They’ve gone beyond any reasonable expectation to appease you, and for the most part you’re getting great product off of it. Also, the new ones are nowhere near as good looking as this existing model.
Steve, thanks for checking in. I feel justified in my objective reviews after having spent $1600+ on an American manufactured pit, that had three issues after 6 months of garage kept ownership, vs 3 years of covered/uncovered, 12 month usage of a Pit Boss Pro. before any replacements or issues with a $600 pit. So…. That said, I have also praised their CS department and Jesse several times. It’s unprecedented. Better looking? I agree.., but what’s the sense of a pageant queen if it doesn’t perform? Enjoy your cooks!
