Searwood Not Reaching Temp

[scouter882]

Hey folks. I recently purchased a searwood 600 and after a few cooking sessions have noticed that there appears to be a large discrepency in grill ambient temp on the display and actual temp inside the grill. Has anyone experienced this? For example at 400 degrees (as registered by the display) I'm only seeing 300 degrees inside the grill. I've reached out to Weber on this and am working through the process.

Thanks,
Brett

 

[scouter882]

 

[JpsBBQ]

First place it near the Weber probe. Second, I’d use multiple thermometers to verify it’s the grill and not your thermo. Lastly, if that bears out, I’m sure Weber will figure it out. Sorry to hear about your trouble. Hope it’s something small or easy.

 

[Bulkman]

View attachment 6461View attachment 6462

Controller shows 475. Thermometer shows 400. That's a bit more than I might expect, but even 50 deg. wouldn't be uncommon. Having said that, mine only varies about 20 deg. in all areas.

 

[scouter882]

First place it near the Weber probe. Second, I’d use multiple thermometers to verify it’s the grill and not your thermo. Lastly, if that bears out, I’m sure Weber will figure it out. Sorry to hear about your trouble. Hope it’s something small or easy.

Thanks for the reply! Yeah the photo was only a represenetive example of extensive testing. The temp differential is present at the thermocouple area. We verified with a square dot with an air temp prob and various water boil tests. In my friend group we have 3 of these all with this issue. I'll post up what I find out from Weber. Thanks!

 

[scouter882]

Controller shows 475. Thermometer shows 400. That's a bit more than I might expect, but even 50 deg. wouldn't be uncommon. Having said that, mine only varies about 20 deg. in all areas.

That was actually a photo from my buddies grill yesterday. His variation isn't as bad as mine. At 400 I'm running 275, maxed at 600 I'm running 400. His generally varies between 75 and 100 cold.

 

[JpsBBQ]

Thanks for the reply! Yeah the photo was only a represenetive example of extensive testing. The temp differential is present at the thermocouple area. We verified with a square dot with an air temp prob and various water boil tests. In my friend group we have 3 of these all with this issue. I'll post up what I find out from Weber. Thanks!

The variable temperature is what gives the bbq a smoke profile. The industry for the most part has abandon constant temperature with mean temperatures. If it’s 20 degrees and not 200 I’d say there is no issue. Adjust and continue. There are dozens of variables at play in bbq. Cheers

 

[scouter882]

There in lies the problem. My 600 degree advertised grill maxes at 400. I'll post up Weber's solution whatever it ends up being. Other than temp set point issues I love the grill.

 

[JpsBBQ]

Don’t have a Searwood yet but my smoke fire is so hot when I set it to 500 I can barely use my 16” tongs without darn near burning my fingers.

What brand of pellets do you use and how do you store them?

 

[scouter882]

I have used Weber and Traeger pellets in the searwood with identical results. Both bags were brand new. As you can see the oscillations below grill set point are concerning. The balance is not terrible, but way way worse than my other grills.

 

[abmet]

I’d expect some variation as normal, but 200 degrees is excessive. Definitely hit up Weber.

 

[JpsBBQ]

This is likely why the smoke profile of the Webers is far superior to anything else I’ve used. Traeger, camp chef, pit boss, Memphis etc. The industry has figured out that constant temp will not produce desirable results on pellet cookers. This is a huge departure from their thinking just a few years ago. Most are now intentionally programming fluctuations into the control module. Looks like you changed set point that caused the momentary spike? Looks like you did so just as the temps started to settle in? Huh. What does the time line represent as far as duration?

You can use both types of pellets, but they shouldn’t be exactly the same. They are different diameters. They should definitely combust differently. Game changer? Probably not.

Have you cooked on the grill or just testing it? If so, how are the results? I’ve never done any of those types of tests on my cookers. I have placed probes in cookers for brisket cooks before to allow me to adjust if I wanted. I personally don’t care what is going on minute by minute as long as I can produce top quality food. Obviously if you aren’t able to get results then I suppose it’s an issue.

 

[scouter882]

This is likely why the smoke profile of the Webers is far superior to anything else I’ve used. Traeger, camp chef, pit boss, Memphis etc. The industry has figured out that constant temp will not produce desirable results on pellet cookers. This is a huge departure from their thinking just a few years ago. Most are now intentionally programming fluctuations into the control module. Looks like you changed set point that caused the momentary spike? Looks like you did so just as the temps started to settle in? Huh. What does the time line represent as far as duration?

You can use both types of pellets, but they shouldn’t be exactly the same. They are different diameters. They should definitely combust differently. Game changer? Probably not.

Have you cooked on the grill or just testing it? If so, how are the results? I’ve never done any of those types of tests on my cookers. I have placed probes in cookers for brisket cooks before to allow me to adjust if I wanted. I personally don’t care what is going on minute by minute as long as I can produce top quality food. Obviously if you aren’t able to get results then I suppose it’s an issue.

Great discussion here thank you! I'm definitely good with a smoke profile vs. constant temp, but one would think Weber would attempt to oscillate around the temp setpoint. The last graph was cooking. We were doing a standard 3-2-1 on ribs and our 2 hours ended up being substantially longer due to the grill running colder than set point. Attached is about an hour sitting at 300 °F. On my traegar I could just adjust the PDI controller to dial this in closer. I guess on this one if I need a certain temp I'll just crank it up an additional 25 degrees. The whole point of this exersize is to get accurate cook times to ensure my food is coming out when I want it to.

 

[Bruno]

Great discussion here thank you! I'm definitely good with a smoke profile vs. constant temp, but one would think Weber would attempt to oscillate around the temp setpoint. The last graph was cooking. We were doing a standard 3-2-1 on ribs and our 2 hours ended up being substantially longer due to the grill running colder than set point. Attached is about an hour sitting at 300 °F. On my traegar I could just adjust the PDI controller to dial this in closer. I guess on this one if I need a certain temp I'll just crank it up an additional 25 degrees. The whole point of this exersize is to get accurate cook times to ensure my food is coming out when I want it to.

I have to be honest on this one, it’s my biggest issue with my SmokeFire, great smoke flavor, killer smoke rings but I end up cooking too low a temp and everything takes forever.

 

[SteveSeaton]

Did you ever get any feedback from Weber?

I have done 3 cooks on my Searwood and have noticed a similar issue, not as wide of swings though. My widest was 170 when set to 200. What seems to happen is that after a couple of hours into the cook the temperature variation will swing below the set point but not above the setpoint and thus the cook slows down. If I adjust the setpoint, then the temp swings above and then settles back down below. My results have been good but I am finding hard to get a good estimate when the cook will be done.