Everyone needs to calm down

[ktskas]

I feel that everyone needs to calm down and relax a little.

Yes, I am 100% sure that some people are having issues.
We are seeing a few dozen people having issues, however I am sure that they have already shipped thousands.
If 50 people are reporting problems and they have sold 5000, that is only 1% defect rate.
That is outstanding for a brand new product to market.

People watching these forums need to remember is that this is a brand new release for Weber so all eyes are on them.
When Camp Chef released the new Woodwind, the world was not watching.
When Rec Tec released a new model, the world was not watching.
Thousands were not rushing to buy their new model as it was released.

EVERY BRAND has issues.

Camp chef and RecTec have jammed augers, auger fires, pellet hopper fires, grease fires, controller issues, auger failures, fan failures, etc.

Search any brand you are thinking about getting using keywords such as issues, problems, stuck, broken, etc.
I have found pages for all.

I think people need to remember that this is a multiple purpose unit.
When I have cooked greasy burgers and stuff on my Genesis there were some flare ups.

If you put a probe in your oven, it will swing 20-30 degrees, this is normal even though the display says the temp stays constant.

The pellet grills that have a huge heat shield/drip pan don't have flare ups/fires because the flames never touch the grease.
With a quick search, I found that Camp Chef, Pit Boss, Rec Tec all can have this problem if the heat shield is pulled back and the grease comes in contact with the flame.

Search google with any brand and grease fire, ie. Rec Tec grease fire.

Mine showed a date of 11/26/19.
I've made pork butt (12hr smoke) checked pellets once or twice during smoke. Longest unattended time was 5 hrs.
spatchcock chicken
hamburgers
sausage
pork chops
chocolate chip cookies!

Nothing I would consider a major issue.


Remember, more people will be posting complaints than successes.
Keep that in mind.

 

[CEd4jets]

I had the firmware issue at first but I attribute that to my not having th latest version of the app. Every cook I have done has been perfect so.......

 

[ROZ!]

Agreed. Bummer to see folks bow out so early. I am new to the smoking game but have been a weber griller for years. Never had problems with charcoal or gas. That said it's been their jam for years.

Early adoption comes with risk but ya gotta have faith that in the product and company to make it right. For example take electric cars in general ha.

That said outside of needing to repair the app and stir my pellets ( likely not needed but just precaution) Iv had no real problems, and smoked to my heart content

Though I do appreciate the folks sharing their problems (so I can be on the lookout for them as well) it is a bummer to read a post every other day with folks saying their too scared to take it out of the box.

 

[CEd4jets]

I have owned Weber Grills for years and currently have a Performer and a Summit gas along with my new EX4. I also have an offset smoker that works well but requires constant monitoring to maintain temp. My EX4 is replacing that. Weber is a great company and I am confident that they will fix these early problems. I did the best beef ribs I have ever done on my new grill the other night. The grill did the work, I just checked in once in a while. My wife said they were insane. That's success to me.

 

[SmokeMeister]

I made some seared tuna steaks on mine tonight, they turned out great!

Hopefully the issues are addressed by Weber, but there are also some determined people out there who are going to experiment and bounce ideas around, and get this stuff solved.

 

[ingiro22]

It’s easy to get caught up in it all. I was surprised that some people didn’t even give it a chance or try before canceling. I had a couple hiccups, but so far the cooks have been great! Ribeye first and some burgers tonight. It is messier then I thought it would be, but I can live with that. I’m going to keep trying it and see how it goes. I do hope they make a lot of changes to the app, nothing really of use there.

 

[tigermikie]

Amen. Did some poking around on the internet for some solutions. Discovered that these are issues with most smokers.
So far my SmokeFire has worked like it should. It’s not perfect, but I believe Weber will work to get it right.

 

[Dubs]

When pros like Baby Back Maniac and Everyday BBQ, to name a few, recommend not buying it, that is enough for me. I bought into the advertising as soon as I saw it, which is not Weber's fault as that is what any good marketing campaign should do. Sure other grills may have issues, but Weber touted that they did the research and addressed those issues. However there is at least two big issues with this grill that appear design related for which the fixes make this grill no better than any other one out there. I hope that Weber quickly learns from this and offers a viable solution to fix the problems, then I will be inclined to give it another look, as I REALLY loved the look and functionality this grill was sold as. We (as consumers) shouldn't have to come up with our own workarounds and accept issues as "everyone else has them", when we are told this grill was going to be different.

Just my $0.02.

 

[UGator]

I see both sides of the coin here. As Dubs stated, Weber did market the SmokeFire as the solution to all common smoker issues and they reinforced the amount of research that went into creating and testing before they reached production. This led to many buyers, myself included, to be more inclined to take the plunge on a pellet cooker. We all bought in to the marketing, and that is our fault. But when some of the same issues that have plagued pellet cookers continue to crop up, it is disappointing. That said, I also agree that Weber is a great company, and I am more inclined to accept and overlook some initial issues, knowing their track record and trusting that they will put in the time and resources to provide solutions to the real-world problems that are rearing their ugly heads. I also feel that many of the complaints are coming from people like myself that do not have pellet cooker experience and have no point of reference - we just expect everything to work perfectly...

I say all of that and continue to love my EX6 and take solace in SmokeMeisters experience with Weber's CS, when things do go catastrophically wrong. I also agree with cEd4jets - my wife and kids loved the beef ribs I made - that makes it worth it for me

 

[timhorn]

I think everybody needs to just have a little perspective. I love Weber and have used their products for years, but like the Baby Back guy said, it's a company, not a friend. Just because they've churned out quality products for decades doesn't mean they are immune from churning out a bad one, especially in a new product category. This is a $1200 cooker that has several major problems that even $400 pellet grills don't typically have. I've used many pellet grills over the years and yes, auger problems are common, control problems can pop up, but grease fires after 1-2 cooks at low temps are not a common issue. Some of the other issues that people have called out on this product are also not common to other products. There's no need to defend Weber. It's not an attack on them or customers who like them to simply say they need to do some work on this one and maybe people should wait to buy the Rev 2.0 or even 3.0. If you watch a lot of the review videos, you can tell it pains these folks to have to say there are problems. Everybody wanted it to work, sometimes the first launch just misses the mark. If you've got one and it works great, that's awesome! Negative reviews aren't saying you're wrong, they're just saying they had a different experience. None of it is personal and lots of folks seem to be taking it that way.

 

[tigermikie]

I know I will pay the price for this, but I think that some of the problems people are having is just inherent in pellet grills. Poke around the internet and you will see these same conversations about other pellet grills. Those things you just have to work through. I believe that in this case the "end justifies the means," I've really enjoyed my SmokeFire and eaten some outstanding protein. I will say that the only angst it has given me is seeing and reading the real issues others have been having, and waiting for my setback to occur.

I know Weber did extensive testing, but perhaps they should have sent a few hundred out to be assembled and tested by the weekend smoker. I just can't believe that this Company would rush out a device that they knew was not ready. This smoker is not a "set it and forget it" piece of equipment. It needs to be tended when cooking and tidied up afterwards. To me that is part of the enjoyment of any grill.
Like Dubs said...
"Just my $0.02 ".

 

[ROZ!]

I think everybody needs to just have a little perspective. I love Weber and have used their products for years, but like the Baby Back guy said, it's a company, not a friend. Just because they've churned out quality products for decades doesn't mean they are immune from churning out a bad one, especially in a new product category. This is a $1200 cooker that has several major problems that even $400 pellet grills don't typically have. I've used many pellet grills over the years and yes, auger problems are common, control problems can pop up, but grease fires after 1-2 cooks at low temps are not a common issue. Some of the other issues that people have called out on this product are also not common to other products. There's no need to defend Weber. It's not an attack on them or customers who like them to simply say they need to do some work on this one and maybe people should wait to buy the Rev 2.0 or even 3.0. If you watch a lot of the review videos, you can tell it pains these folks to have to say there are problems. Everybody wanted it to work, sometimes the first launch just misses the mark. If you've got one and it works great, that's awesome! Negative reviews aren't saying you're wrong, they're just saying they had a different experience. None of it is personal and lots of folks seem to be taking it that way.

I dont think people are taking it personal (at least I'm not) More along the lines of for some it seems to work and I personally hoped to use this forum for best practices / tips / ect surrounding the smoker and smoking in general. Not sifting through every couple threads of folks who all saw a video online / never used it, but feel the need to state that they dont like its performance.

Maybe just need a month for those folks to tone down a bit, or perhaps just go to a random smoker forum vs. A weber specific one when 50% dont own it or use it.

I'm by no means a veteran to this game so maybe ignorance is bliss and I just dont know any better ha.

 

[depends]

I'm perfectly calm, and I'm going to return my Smokefire because Weber has absolutely failed to live up to the expectations they set for the Smokefire and I don't believe I can trust it. I don't regret taking the chance, but I have realized that, due to the failure to deliver promised features, there are better solutions out there for me. Especially given the price point. I also understand it may work perfectly fine for others.

I will primarily use it for low and slow cooks, and was looking for something hands off as I am tired of tending the stick burner all night. Given the pellet and potential grease fire issues, Weber has failed to deliver that. Adding a water pan for every long cook is not, to me a real solution - I might choose to add a water pan for cooks, but that does change other aspects of the cook (affects bark, not sure how it affects airflow, etc.), and I don't know what the long term effect on the longevity of the Smokefire this will have. These problems almost certainly require a hardware fix.

Additionally, significant buying points for me were the smoke boost mode, ability to control grill from my phone, etc. These are promised via a future software update, but frankly should have been ready for launch. It's also unacceptable that Weber only refers to future updates without providing a target timeframe - if it says it does something on the box, they should at least give us an idea of when it will do it.

Finally I have some fit and finish issues - the brackets for the handle weren't included in the box and Weber is separately shipping them. Lid doesn't fit right (is aligned slightly to the right, making it difficult to close). This is atypical of the Weber brand and leaves the impression that they either rushed/cut corners, or they don't consider this one of their premier items commensurate with the price point.

 

[timhorn]

I dont think people are taking it personal (at least I'm not) More along the lines of for some it seems to work and I personally hoped to use this forum for best practices / tips / ect surrounding the smoker and smoking in general. Not sifting through every couple threads of folks who all saw a video online / never used it, but feel the need to state that they dont like its performance.

Maybe just need a month for those folks to tone down a bit, or perhaps just go to a random smoker forum vs. A weber specific one when 50% dont own it or use it.

I'm by no means a veteran to this game so maybe ignorance is bliss and I just dont know any better ha.

That's totally fair, and some of my comment was directed at commentary I've seen elsewhere where people are claiming these youtubers and bloggers are trying to destroy Weber to build their own fame (which is ridiculous). I think you're right about it toning down a bit though. My guess is that within a couple months, Weber will have tooled up a tray/pan that fits in the smoker and can mostly resolve the greasefire issue, and then it will be a much better product. Until then though, I think all of the critiques and criticism are valid. If this was NexGrill or Dynaglo or some other cheapo grill brand just entering pellets, it's a "get what you pay for" type of deal, but Weber is held to a much higher standard and this is a premium price, so people expected perfection right out of the box. Unfortunately, it may take some time to get there.

 

[SmokeMeister]

I dont think people are taking it personal (at least I'm not) More along the lines of for some it seems to work and I personally hoped to use this forum for best practices / tips / ect surrounding the smoker and smoking in general. Not sifting through every couple threads of folks who all saw a video online / never used it, but feel the need to state that they dont like its performance.

Maybe just need a month for those folks to tone down a bit, or perhaps just go to a random smoker forum vs. A weber specific one when 50% dont own it or use it.

I'm by no means a veteran to this game so maybe ignorance is bliss and I just dont know any better ha.

I hope we'll get to that point soon. I think there are just so many people getting them at once that want to share their experiences, especially first-time pellet grill owners like me that it will take a little time to die down.

Personally, I hope everyone sticks with it (this forum) and we can turn it into exactly what you are expecting.