Overselling Searwood XL Grilling Ability?

[GrillinSmoke]

I purchased an XL in November. I've confirmed with 3rd party ambient temp probes that it's getting up to 500+ degrees when set on manual LVL 10. When set that high, the firebox gets smoking hot, you can see it turn red.

However...I'm finding it's ability to grill lackluster. I tried to do burgers and brats on it just like I would my Genesis gas grill. Put them on, flip after 3-4 minutes, put cheese on the burgers, maybe flip the brats again to keep skin from burning, take off after a total of 8-10 minutes.

What I encountered in that experiment was two-fold:

1. The casing on the brats didn't really brown up. They got up to temp internally, but the casing chewy and, honestly, kind of gross. Definitely not what I'm used to or would ever want.
2. I got good grill marks and browning on one or two burgers in the upper right corner. Everything else was unbrowned.

I had to finish it all on the gas grill which worked for the burgers but the brats were ruined due to the way the casing got cooked.

I've tried to "grill" a few other things on this Searwood and, with the exception of some chicken breasts, I find it mostly worthless in terms of grilling/searing. I did a very large batch of kabobs and had a few turn out depending on location in the grill but it was mostly a futile effort. I was fighting a lack of grilling ability the whole time.

I did a decent amount of research, watched videos before buying, etc. I've seen some people say they got rid of their gas grill with this thing. I really don't see how that's possible unless their grill is operating different from mine or they just don't really care about grilling/searing and are content with "baked" food instead of grilled food. Given the number of reviews / comments from people who seem like they know what they are doing, the latter seems implausible.

It also seems implausible there is something wrong with this particular grill. The firebox stays red hot when I'm trying to grill, I don't see how it could get any hotter. Yet the radiant heat from the drip shield just isn't cutting it with the exception of 2-3 hot spots the grill has.

The only thing I can think of is that many of the reviews I watched when evaluating it's grilling ability were for the normal size, not the XL. Maybe the normal size does really work well as a grill and that message gets mixed in for both sizes when the XL isn't nearly as good. Especially when grilling something like kabobs or a large batch of burgers/brats where you are going to need to keep opening the lid. I just don't think there is enough BTUs there to keep the radient heat up enough to keep cooking with the lid open.

I'm still within the 100 day evaluation window and am leaning towards returning it. Am I missing something?

 

[Wrigley]

I bought the smaller size. Same issues you described with burgers. Works great as a smoker, which is what I was really interested in, but the grilling is not so hot (pun intended). On manual level 7, I get well over 500 degrees. It's more of an oven.

 

[Condor413]

I purchased an XL in November. I've confirmed with 3rd party ambient temp probes that it's getting up to 500+ degrees when set on manual LVL 10. When set that high, the firebox gets smoking hot, you can see it turn red.

However...I'm finding it's ability to grill lackluster. I tried to do burgers and brats on it just like I would my Genesis gas grill. Put them on, flip after 3-4 minutes, put cheese on the burgers, maybe flip the brats again to keep skin from burning, take off after a total of 8-10 minutes.

What I encountered in that experiment was two-fold:

1. The casing on the brats didn't really brown up. They got up to temp internally, but the casing chewy and, honestly, kind of gross. Definitely not what I'm used to or would ever want.
2. I got good grill marks and browning on one or two burgers in the upper right corner. Everything else was unbrowned.

I had to finish it all on the gas grill which worked for the burgers but the brats were ruined due to the way the casing got cooked.

I've tried to "grill" a few other things on this Searwood and, with the exception of some chicken breasts, I find it mostly worthless in terms of grilling/searing. I did a very large batch of kabobs and had a few turn out depending on location in the grill but it was mostly a futile effort. I was fighting a lack of grilling ability the whole time.

I did a decent amount of research, watched videos before buying, etc. I've seen some people say they got rid of their gas grill with this thing. I really don't see how that's possible unless their grill is operating different from mine or they just don't really care about grilling/searing and are content with "baked" food instead of grilled food. Given the number of reviews / comments from people who seem like they know what they are doing, the latter seems implausible.

It also seems implausible there is something wrong with this particular grill. The firebox stays red hot when I'm trying to grill, I don't see how it could get any hotter. Yet the radiant heat from the drip shield just isn't cutting it with the exception of 2-3 hot spots the grill has.

The only thing I can think of is that many of the reviews I watched when evaluating it's grilling ability were for the normal size, not the XL. Maybe the normal size does really work well as a grill and that message gets mixed in for both sizes when the XL isn't nearly as good. Especially when grilling something like kabobs or a large batch of burgers/brats where you are going to need to keep opening the lid. I just don't think there is enough BTUs there to keep the radient heat up enough to keep cooking with the lid open.

I'm still within the 100 day evaluation window and am leaning towards returning it. Am I missing something?

I purchased an XL in November. I've confirmed with 3rd party ambient temp probes that it's getting up to 500+ degrees when set on manual LVL 10. When set that high, the firebox gets smoking hot, you can see it turn red.

However...I'm finding it's ability to grill lackluster. I tried to do burgers and brats on it just like I would my Genesis gas grill. Put them on, flip after 3-4 minutes, put cheese on the burgers, maybe flip the brats again to keep skin from burning, take off after a total of 8-10 minutes.

What I encountered in that experiment was two-fold:

1. The casing on the brats didn't really brown up. They got up to temp internally, but the casing chewy and, honestly, kind of gross. Definitely not what I'm used to or would ever want.
2. I got good grill marks and browning on one or two burgers in the upper right corner. Everything else was unbrowned.

I had to finish it all on the gas grill which worked for the burgers but the brats were ruined due to the way the casing got cooked.

I've tried to "grill" a few other things on this Searwood and, with the exception of some chicken breasts, I find it mostly worthless in terms of grilling/searing. I did a very large batch of kabobs and had a few turn out depending on location in the grill but it was mostly a futile effort. I was fighting a lack of grilling ability the whole time.

I did a decent amount of research, watched videos before buying, etc. I've seen some people say they got rid of their gas grill with this thing. I really don't see how that's possible unless their grill is operating different from mine or they just don't really care about grilling/searing and are content with "baked" food instead of grilled food. Given the number of reviews / comments from people who seem like they know what they are doing, the latter seems implausible.

It also seems implausible there is something wrong with this particular grill. The firebox stays red hot when I'm trying to grill, I don't see how it could get any hotter. Yet the radiant heat from the drip shield just isn't cutting it with the exception of 2-3 hot spots the grill has.

The only thing I can think of is that many of the reviews I watched when evaluating it's grilling ability were for the normal size, not the XL. Maybe the normal size does really work well as a grill and that message gets mixed in for both sizes when the XL isn't nearly as good. Especially when grilling something like kabobs or a large batch of burgers/brats where you are going to need to keep opening the lid. I just don't think there is enough BTUs there to keep the radient heat up enough to keep cooking with the lid open.

I'm still within the 100 day evaluation window and am leaning towards returning it. Am I missing something?

I purchased the XL last month and also the sear grate for it. I grilled burgers on it last weekend for the first time and got good grill marks, etc. (and the burgers were fantastic!). Would recommend you look into getting the sear grate for it.

 

[BlackAcid]

I have the regular 600 model.. just my take / opinion:

The capabilities of high-heat pellet grills are still a work in progress. I think the biggest problem with the Searwood is the lack of direct heat / flame to put whatever you are cooking directly over top of. That gigantic flavorizer bar, which you described correctly as a "heat shield" makes the majority of the grill unusable for high heat cooking / searing. it's thin, flimsy, and doesn't retain any radiant heat. At the same time it prevents grease fires which can be catastrophic in pellet grills. I think the offset design of the heat diffuser and the fan placement cause the heat to circulate to from right to left, which makes the right side and right rear area of the grill your best options for getting a good sear. I have had plenty of success doing burgers and steaks using these "hotter" areas of the grill, but the cooking space is limited. I've seen a lot of demo videos where people cooking multiple pieces of meat will rotate the cuts to get a sear on everything they are doing. It has been recommended to leave the lid open during cooking when the grill is at higher temp settings in manual mode.. the food looks to turn out well.. just takes a little more work. If I am cooking for a larger group or just quick weeknight burgers and brats, I will usually just fire up my Genesis.

Additionally, I have been using a blend of wood and charcoal pellets for high temp cooking.. the charcoal seems to help maintain the higher temps better than using all wood pellets.. I've seen people cook on the Searwood using only charcoal pellets as well.. just something you could try out.

Finally.. I think the grates that come with the Searwood are shit.. especially for searing.. and anybody from Weber reading this post.. I am not spending the small fortune to buy that cooking system you are selling just to get that little circular sear grate insert.. throw your customers a bone and make some good, cross-hatch, cast-iron sear grates that will fit in the Searwood. In my opinion, this would be a game changer for high heat grilling. I'm currently working with a fabrication company to make me a set of carbon steel grates that will fit.

I don't have any intention of getting rid of the Searwood.. I have had great success cooking and smoking on it.. just takes some time to figure out the best ways to do different types of cooking on it.. and maybe what not to cook on it.

 

[BlackAcid]

I purchased the XL last month and also the sear grate for it. I grilled burgers on it last weekend for the first time and got good grill marks, etc. (and the burgers were fantastic!). Would recommend you look into getting the sear grate for it.

Did you find a regular sear grate.. or that whole universal cooking thing they make with the sear grate, griddle, pizza cooking slab, etc..?

 

[Condor413]

Did you find a regular sear grate.. or that whole universal cooking thing they make with the sear grate, griddle, pizza cooking slab, etc..?

I did the universal thing, but I only bought the Weber frame kit and sear grate. I found the frame kit new on EBay for $26 and the sear grate on Amazon for $37.
Going to grill some more burgers today, and I’ll try to remember to take some pics and post them to this thread.

 

[Txbart]

Weber offers porcelain-enamel cast iron grates that replace the stock grates. They had straight cast iron but I don’t see them on their website now.

Weber Porcelain-Enameled Cast Iron Cooking Grate - SMOKEFIRE EX4/EX6/EPX6 & SPIRIT 300 | Cooking | Pellet Grill Accessories | Weber Grills

This porcelain-enameled cast iron cooking grate is ideal for grilling at high temperatures, as it evenly distributes and retains heat for enhanced flavors and perfect sear marks. Pair this single grate with the porcelain-enameled griddle accessory to up your grilling game and explore new...

www.weber.com

 

[GrillinSmoke]

Appreciate everyone who took the time to comment. I went to an Ace hardware store today and bought the cast iron cooking grates for this grill. It was cheaper than buying the "Weber Crafted" insert + sear grates.

I also picked up a bag of Traeger Hickory only pellets. While not necessarily the best pellet out there, I wanted something else to try besides the costco pellets I had. And oak/hickory are supposed to be some of the hottest burning.

I also made the burgers thicker. 1/2 lb fresh instead of thinner frozen ones. That way I could leave them on longer and get a better sear without getting internal temp too high.

Started on 180° for 15m until about 95° internal, then bumped heat to L10, then cooked another 13m as grill got up to temp and seared.

Not sure which piece of the puzzle was the most important. Maybe all together was the ticket. But it made a big difference and the burgers turned out as good as or arguably better than on the gas grill (due to smoke flavor).

May still return the XL and get the smaller version since I don't think I'm going to use all this space and can save some pellet costs.

Thanks again.

P.S. ambient temp outside was about 30°

 

[Condor413]

I did the universal thing, but I only bought the Weber frame kit and sear grate. I found the frame kit new on EBay for $26 and the sear grate on Amazon for $37.
Going to grill some more burgers today, and I’ll try to remember to take some pics and post them to this thread.

I did the universal thing, but I only bought the Weber frame kit and sear grate. I found the frame kit new on EBay for $26 and the sear grate on Amazon for $37.
Going to grill some more burgers today, and I’ll try to remember to take some pics and post them to this thread.

Here are pics of yesterday’s burgers. Heated the Searwood to 525 and grilled using Camp Chef oak pellets.

 

[BeardedRetroGuy]

Appreciate everyone who took the time to comment. I went to an Ace hardware store today and bought the cast iron cooking grates for this grill. It was cheaper than buying the "Weber Crafted" insert + sear grates.

I also picked up a bag of Traeger Hickory only pellets. While not necessarily the best pellet out there, I wanted something else to try besides the costco pellets I had. And oak/hickory are supposed to be some of the hottest burning.

I also made the burgers thicker. 1/2 lb fresh instead of thinner frozen ones. That way I could leave them on longer and get a better sear without getting internal temp too high.

Started on 180° for 15m until about 95° internal, then bumped heat to L10, then cooked another 13m as grill got up to temp and seared.

Not sure which piece of the puzzle was the most important. Maybe all together was the ticket. But it made a big difference and the burgers turned out as good as or arguably better than on the gas grill (due to smoke flavor).

May still return the XL and get the smaller version since I don't think I'm going to use all this space and can save some pellet costs.

Thanks again.

P.S. ambient temp outside was about 30°

Have you considered ordering some Royal Oak Charcoal Pellets? I hear they burn hotter.