Summary Needed - Where are we now?

[gemini929]

I have been following the reviews for the smokefire and I am aware of a number of issues/complaints. For example:

1. Pellets not continually moving down the chute
2. Uneven heating - stronger heat on the right side of the grill
3. Challenges getting to/maintaining 600 degrees
4. Grease fires
5. Various application issues
5. etc.

It seems that some of these issues may have been addressed with the updated pellet ramp and the new auger assembly. The challenge I am having is trying to tell if these issues have been addressed or not. Can someone briefly summarize where we are based on the changes that weber has provided?

 

[bbq4ever]

Hi gemini929,

From my own experience and this may differ with other smokefire users.

1. No issue on my grill, mine SF EX6 came with the adapted ramp. Dit also long runs, longest cook 15+ hours with the fingergurard in place. no issues at all.
2. True, but it is not an issue at all for me. I even like it as I posission the CBS insert on this spot. helps with searing and if you know you can even use it to work in your favoure.
3. No issue at all, go's up and down as desired. But, again my own experience, resist to open the lid, always takes between 15-20 minutes to get from outside tempature to 600F/315C. But I want to make a note. I always fully clean the grill. including the hopper and after removing the pellets i use the shop vacum to clean the auger. There is alwayst a lot of dust comming from the pellets but also from the shutdown procedure where pellets are grinded into dust.
4. I always use alloy dishes between the grates and the flavor bar. And when I do not use them I have no issues as I alwasys clean my grill.
5. Clear that the app is still in development, personnelly I do not yet see this as an issue as it is software. But what does suck is that the iPhone app is much better then the android one. again it is software so i'm not yet worried.
6. only 2g WiFi, had to create a specific 2g network to maintain connectivity. my home network was a combined 2g/5g WiFi with one ssid but the SF EX can't cope with that. After I made the change, connection is rock solid as long as you setup the WiFi connection with the iPhone app. I was not able to configer the SF EX6 WiFi connection successfully with the Android app see point 5.
7. one thing that i find anoying is the noice of the van. I do not have a comperission with other brand pellet grils. But personnely would like the have it more silence. But I do not know the noise level of other pelet grils.
8. Flame out also no issue, note and it is again the same as above I always clean the gril after the cook. And when I have the shop vac at hand annyhow it is is just a few second to clean it.

again personel and based on own experience. I have some wishes but that's on the software side.

 

[dudemcnally]

1. Pellets not continually moving down the chute

I've had 5 or 6 cooks now >12 hours, with 3 or 4 going as long as 19 hours...(I'm losing exact count) I've had zero issues with pellet feeding. I've left it alone for as long as 12 hours and I've had no temperature variation or pellet starvation. I do not have the ramp insert and have no plans to get one. In my experience after 10+hrs it can look like it may be having problems feeding (just the appearance of pellets stacking up on one side) but it fed easily enough to keep the fire going. I don't find it objectionable to look at the condition of the hopper and pellets every 12 hours or so.
I attribute my success to having removed the finger guard when I put together the grill, it's not needed and only seems to cause problems

2. Uneven heating - stronger heat on the right side of the grill

Mine is hotter on the right compared to the left. I don't find this to be a problem, once the lid is closed and temps stabilize the delta is approx 25 degrees or so from one side to the other...I'm not concerned by that

3. Challenges getting to/maintaining 600 degrees

Mine has reached 600 within 15-20 minutes every time I've asked it to

4. Grease fires

I have had zero concern or problems with grease fires and I've put roughly 350lbs of pellets through mine so far with no drip trays. I'm using the grill as it was designed and it's awesome

5. Various application issues

The app is the weakest part of the experience to me. Weber deserves a 'F' for it. The app is, at best, barely functional as a temperature monitor. I will have to have the ability to change temps from the app before I'll consider changing the grade. As it stands I use an inkbird to monitor temps and that works well

5. etc.

I bought my smokefire EX6 at the last of February and I love it. I've cooked on it at least 4 nights per week including long smoke sessions on the weekends AND it's given me the ability to cook brisket on a weekday! I absolutely love my smokefire, it sucks some people have had so many problems. I think some are people being nitpicky, and others are legitimate concerns that, it seems to me, weber is addressing correctly. They seem to have been quick to send out parts and responsive. I have not had to deal with their customer service so I can't comment on that aspect

 

[abmet]

1. Pellets not continually moving down the chute - I removed the finger guard and haven’t had any issues. I have an EX4 and went ahead and installed the ramp. I stir the pellets on occasion when I check to make sure have enough pellets.
2. Uneven heating - stronger heat on the right side of the grill - I haven’t measured it but my right side seems to cook faster but not drastically.
3. Challenges getting to/maintaining 600 degrees - never had this issue. Got to 600 in 20 minutes for my burn in and it was 10 degrees F out. I went ahead and installed the welded hopper and hit 600 in 14 minutes at 60 degrees outside. I wasn’t having issues but the design of the welded hooper seemed better to me and thought might prevent motor issues.
4. Grease fires - no issues. Haven’t seen a flair up either. I clean my grill after each cook generally unless very short. I did use drip tray when I did two pork butts but more cleanup than grease fire concerns.
5. Various application issues - I had issues connecting to WiFi at first and I thought might be due to Eero not having separate 2.4 vs 5ghz SSIDs but I think was signal because I built it in my detached garage. ConnectEd fine next day when moved it out. I did have the temp probes freeze up and stop increasing temp even if tried different ports. Grill temp was fine and held steady for rest of cook. Hasn’t happened since fortunately.

I know people have had very frustrating experiences but I luckily have not. I really like the food I’ve made with mine. I like to tinker and accessorize things so didn’t bother me to install the new welded auger assembly. It also needs more table space i feel. I also swapped out the casters for total lock ones recommended by Bruno. Not necessary but makes the grill much more stable.

 

[OakBarrelBBQ]

1. Pellets not continually moving down the chute>>>> Yes, with or without the slide.
2. Uneven heating - stronger heat on the right side of the grill>>>> Yep, even with the lid closed.
3. Challenges getting to/maintaining 600 degrees>>>> Yep, sometimes it does get there, sometimes not. Pain in the butt when you are going for a reverse searlike last night. I set to 550 from 350 and it never got there.
4. Grease fires>>>> No, As with any cooker, who would dump a lot of grease in their cooker to have to clean up later anyway?
5. Various application issues Yep, Android phone and Verizon Fios. I realize the hurdles that combination presents, so I dont even bother anymore. If everything else was right, I would address that at that time.
5. etc. >>>> On my third glow plug.... Never had a flame out though! Weber is sending a glow plug bracket when the are off back order...

When it works, it works well. But no way I can do a long unattended cook due to the pellets not feeding because of a horizontal hopper. I cant believe anyone who is saying theirs is feeding without helping them along. By the way, I only use Weber pellets. In my opion its great as a grill, just not as a smoker which is the sole reason I purchased it. Ive had mine since early February with more than 300 pounds of pellets through it.