How’s inside of your SmokeFire?

[Differentdrummer]

Yeah it mostly seems like surface rust at this point but was surprised to see some on the flavorizer bars since I thought they were stainless.

They are stainless per mfg, yes, but there is a small amount of ferrous content for them to have rusted. Try taking a magnet to them? If it barely sticks, low iron. If it sticks tight, they are low grade SS.
FWIW, True (surgical and food grade) Stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat compared to, say, cast iron or mild steel.

 

[Dassman5]

View attachment 1509Beers empty, going inside!!

That’s how you know it is done.

 

[Bruno]

Listen to none of the advice about sourcing new parts as bow.
As you (Hopefully) already know, your EX is still very much under factory warranty.
Do NOT buy anything for it, and IF you do, be careful if you are not buying OEM! If you are concerned, reach out to Weber.

Yeah Carl has to go!

 

[Bruno]

That’s how you know it is done.

Seriously, thermapen my ass, beer says time to eat.

 

[7un47im3s]

I've always used acidic marinades and I don't care whether you have SS, Enameled or Cast Iron you're going to eat up the flavorizer bars, grates, etc. on a WSM, EX, Gasser or Charcoal Que. My EX4 doesn't look quite as rusty as abmet's yet, but I did notice that before I got a cover for the EX, the first light rain we had I wound up with a grease pan full of water and a fair amount of rust on the fire pot shield. Water was able to enter through the top of the hinge I guess, but keeping covered fixes all that. I do try to clean the inside of the smoker every few uses but usually a light scrape, and de-ashing followed by a paper towel wipe down of the flavorizer bars, heat deflector and the lower half of the smoker and we're good to go. I'd like to think a nice build up of grease would help prevent the rust but there's probably a fine line between a nicely seasoned box and a high temp sear turning into a grease fire. I think as long as you wipe things down you're still keeping a somewhat greasy surface behind (at least greasy to touch) but i think we can all agree, some of the hardware will eventually need to be replaced.

 

[7un47im3s]

View attachment 1509Beers empty, going inside!!

Nice looking skirt steak or is that flap? Aren't they both the same cut anyway?

 

[Bruno]

Nice looking skirt steak or is that flap? Aren't they both the same cut anyway?

It was labeled skirt but google says they are the same.
It’s pretty good stuff for sure!!

 

[Dassman5]

I've always used acidic marinades and I don't care whether you have SS, Enameled or Cast Iron you're going to eat up the flavorizer bars, grates, etc. on a WSM, EX, Gasser or Charcoal Que. My EX4 doesn't look quite as rusty as abmet's yet, but I did notice that before I got a cover for the EX, the first light rain we had I wound up with a grease pan full of water and a fair amount of rust on the fire pot shield. Water was able to enter through the top of the hinge I guess, but keeping covered fixes all that. I do try to clean the inside of the smoker every few uses but usually a light scrape, and de-ashing followed by a paper towel wipe down of the flavorizer bars, heat deflector and the lower half of the smoker and we're good to go. I'd like to think a nice build up of grease would help prevent the rust but there's probably a fine line between a nicely seasoned box and a high temp sear turning into a grease fire. I think as long as you wipe things down you're still keeping a somewhat greasy surface behind (at least greasy to touch) but i think we can all agree, some of the hardware will eventually need to be replaced.

I agree with you. I have 3 Weber units in semi-rotating service of at least once a week for each — a 22” WSM that is 5 years old, a Summit 670 that is 4 years old, and a 2 month old WSF ex4 — and none of them have any rust on them, either on the flavorizer bars, the grates, or inside the bodies. Have I had to replace burners and flavorizer bars periodically? Of course, but I consider those parts to be consumables, just any moving part.

I can’t speak to the types of marinade you are using, but the combination of keeping them in periodic use, never burning off in after a cook/smoke order to leave grease and coating in place and minimal scraping has served me well for almost 30 years. However, the two things I do religiously are: (1) inspect, clean and polish the outside of my grills after each use, and (2) for sanitary reasons, pre-heat them to between 300F and 400F for at least 10 minutes prior to allowing them to settle down to operating temperature and then begin cooking.

With regard to the WSM and WSF, I treat them the way most BBQ restaurants and eateries do and let the residual smoke and grease protect the surfaces with only periodic tear-downs for inspection and removal of excess gunk. Kind of like household ovens.

 

[abmet]

Agreed, I‘m not really concerned with what I’m seeing just curious if similar to how others’ SmokeFires look at this point. I am pushing the ash down and not doing any major cleaning on the inside though I’m sure when I do higher heat cooks some fo the grease is getting burned off. I expect the flavorizer bars and heat deflector to be somewhat consumable based on my other Weber grills. I had a kettle for over twenty years that I finally had to get rid of when one of the leg brackets gave way. I also have Genesis that is over 10 years old and I’ve replaced the grates and flavorizer bars on. Besides those it is holding up great! I scrape the drip pan occasionally to help prevent flair ups. I do wipe down the outside of my grills down.

 

[AP_Jake]

This looks terrible, it means your barbecue accessories need to be replaced, I am using the Weber series of products now, there is no major problem at the moment, the quality is still very good, I bought it here-https://grillpartsreplacement.com/search?q=Weber&options[prefix]=last&type=product , If you encounter some problems and need to replace your grill, you can see if there are any products you need here, I hope my answer can help you, good luck!

This has to be the worst sales attempt I've seen in months.....

 

[AP_Jake]

And I do not burn off my SF.

I got the SF to be able to smoke and grill. I grilled this week after a 24hr smoke of a brisket and butt.... The grease fire steralized the inside and cleaned up a good portion of the SF seasoning I had going....

 

[Dassman5]

This has to be the worst sales attempt I've seen in months.....

You are right...every post is the same on every site he attempts to make his pitch.

 

[AHoneyman]

I got the SF to be able to smoke and grill. I grilled this week after a 24hr smoke of a brisket and butt.... The grease fire steralized the inside and cleaned up a good portion of the SF seasoning I had going....

You have to make sure that the ash does not block the grease drains. If not, the results can be dramatic.

 

[JpsBBQ]

I did have to scrape down my lid. The creosote was built up an starting to flake off into the food. Not a big deal just something I will keep an eye on every couple months or so. 5 minute fix and I’ll just do it during routine cleanings now that I’m aware.

 

[Bruno]

I did have to scrape down my lid. The creosote was built up an starting to flake off into the food. Not a big deal just something I will keep an eye on every couple months or so. 5 minute fix and I’ll just do it during routine cleanings now that I’m aware.

Dropped my lid on accident while closing and a bunch of it fell on my food. So annoying! I need to keep an eye on that.