Questions and thoughts ablut Weber Smokefire

[Majk.Lavett]

Hi everyone!
Im brand new to this forum. But since im about to buy a Weber Smokefire EX4. I know that Weber preduce really good grills with high quality. But still have a few questions before i purchase one since i never have had a pellet grill before and i hope to find the answers here.

1. How is the level of noise from the fan, is it something that bothers you, does anyone find it annoying?
2. Is it a good grill to use instead when you are used to a charcol grill, is it easy to achive a high temperature?
3. How long does it take to get it upp too a descent temperature to sear your meet?
4. Can you with ease make smashed burgers on a Smokefire?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

//Mikael

 

[MJ_SFEX6GEN2]

1. Noise Level has never bothered me, but there is a mod to change out the type of fan on this forum.

2. The pellets and your cleaning maintenance are the key to achieving 600 degrees. If you are wanting to grill use Royal Oak Charcoal Pellets. Great for high heat grilling. Get them at Walmart. Keeping the fire pot clean is key to consistent high temperatures. I clean it out after 3-4 cooks.

3. I would say around 12 - 15 minutes to reach 600 degrees. But again refer to answer in 2.

4. I do smash burgers all the time. I use a cast iron griddle, 450 degrees, let the griddle get hot, use charcoal pellets. Turn out great.

Remember you have to keep it clean to get the best performance. And which pellets matter.

 

[BBQ-496]

Hi everyone!
Im brand new to this forum. But since im about to buy a Weber Smokefire EX4. I know that Weber preduce really good grills with high quality. But still have a few questions before i purchase one since i never have had a pellet grill before and i hope to find the answers here.

1. How is the level of noise from the fan, is it something that bothers you, does anyone find it annoying?
2. Is it a good grill to use instead when you are used to a charcol grill, is it easy to achive a high temperature?
3. How long does it take to get it upp too a descent temperature to sear your meet?
4. Can you with ease make smashed burgers on a Smokefire?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

//Mikael

I have a Smokefire EPX6 Stealth and have had a number of problems with it. After about a year working with Weber customer service the problems and a lot of part replacements have been resolved and the unit works quite well.
1. I find the fan noise to be a quite bothersome and am planning on replacing it with the mod referenced on this forum
2. I also have a Weber kettle and have been using that for high temp applications. As a smoker the EXP6 is now great as a high temp grill, not so much.
3. I also have a Weber gas grill, I do low and slow on the smoker and fire up the gas grill and sear on that.
4. Nope

My advice, get a kettle and learn how to use that, you will be much happier in the long run. I like the my smoker but in the long run it's a single purpose appliance. The kettle is much more versatile and it use it far more than the smoker. It's a lot cheaper as well

 

[GRT1959]

Hi everyone!
Im brand new to this forum. But since im about to buy a Weber Smokefire EX4. I know that Weber preduce really good grills with high quality. But still have a few questions before i purchase one since i never have had a pellet grill before and i hope to find the answers here.

1. How is the level of noise from the fan, is it something that bothers you, does anyone find it annoying?
2. Is it a good grill to use instead when you are used to a charcol grill, is it easy to achive a high temperature?
3. How long does it take to get it upp too a descent temperature to sear your meet?
4. Can you with ease make smashed burgers on a Smokefire?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

//Mikael

Hi everyone!
Im brand new to this forum. But since im about to buy a Weber Smokefire EX4. I know that Weber preduce really good grills with high quality. But still have a few questions before i purchase one since i never have had a pellet grill before and i hope to find the answers here.

1. How is the level of noise from the fan, is it something that bothers you, does anyone find it annoying?
2. Is it a good grill to use instead when you are used to a charcol grill, is it easy to achive a high temperature?
3. How long does it take to get it upp too a descent temperature to sear your meet?
4. Can you with ease make smashed burgers on a Smokefire?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

//Mikael

My EX6 will be three years old on Memorial Day weekend and with over three hundred cooks the only issue I've had is that my glow plug went out in January, but that's an easy fix and Weber provided three extra glow plugs with the rig. I got the larger size EX6 with the intent of only using the top rack to cook on and the bottom rack to hold drip pans. This has worked out as planned for me as cleanup consists of using a small broom to sweep ash out the grease drain. What little grease does end up on the bottom of the grill gets soaked up by ash and is easily swept out.

To your questions:
1) As someone has already mentioned, there's a mod for the fan but I haven't done that yet as I find the fan noise tolerable and in any case not any louder than any other brand of smoker I've seen in use.
2) A lot of people love to reverse sear steaks on their SmokeFires but I bought mine exclusively for grilling. For fast cooks like steak or indirect cooks like chicken wings, meatloaf and other things that take a little longer, I still always use my Weber kettle and add wood chips for smoke. Smokers are better for smoking and grills are better for grilling, and to be fair, I have found no advantage that reverse searing offers over the sear-first method. In fact I think it's easier to get the sear you want first, then pull the steaks aside to finish indirect to your desired temp.
3) My SmokeFire takes about 5-7 minutes to get to BBQ temps (250-325) and 8-12 minutes to reach temps from 250-600. But again, I only use it for smoking and the only times I've ever ran it up to 600 were to test it to see if it would get that hot, and a few times to burn off the grates. I have played around with higher heats to finish searing chicken if the skin doesn't crisp to my satisfaction.
4) I like my burgers better juicy and plump than smashed, but at 450 or higher all you need is a cast iron skillet or one of the Weber griddles. One of my favorite higher heat recipes is paella... grill has to run around 400 to cook the rice but you have to love how easy it is to control temps.

Think of a pellet grill as an oven that runs on pellet and gives smoke flavor. Literally anything you can do in your oven can be done on a pellet grill. You'd be surprised how much better a frozen pizza can be... anyway good luck and enjoy your new rig!

 

[MJ_SFEX6GEN2]

My EX6 will be three years old on Memorial Day weekend and with over three hundred cooks the only issue I've had is that my glow plug went out in January, but that's an easy fix and Weber provided three extra glow plugs with the rig. I got the larger size EX6 with the intent of only using the top rack to cook on and the bottom rack to hold drip pans. This has worked out as planned for me as cleanup consists of using a small broom to sweep ash out the grease drain. What little grease does end up on the bottom of the grill gets soaked up by ash and is easily swept out.

To your questions:
1) As someone has already mentioned, there's a mod for the fan but I haven't done that yet as I find the fan noise tolerable and in any case not any louder than any other brand of smoker I've seen in use.
2) A lot of people love to reverse sear steaks on their SmokeFires but I bought mine exclusively for grilling. For fast cooks like steak or indirect cooks like chicken wings, meatloaf and other things that take a little longer, I still always use my Weber kettle and add wood chips for smoke. Smokers are better for smoking and grills are better for grilling, and to be fair, I have found no advantage that reverse searing offers over the sear-first method. In fact I think it's easier to get the sear you want first, then pull the steaks aside to finish indirect to your desired temp.
3) My SmokeFire takes about 5-7 minutes to get to BBQ temps (250-325) and 8-12 minutes to reach temps from 250-600. But again, I only use it for smoking and the only times I've ever ran it up to 600 were to test it to see if it would get that hot, and a few times to burn off the grates. I have played around with higher heats to finish searing chicken if the skin doesn't crisp to my satisfaction.
4) I like my burgers better juicy and plump than smashed, but at 450 or higher all you need is a cast iron skillet or one of the Weber griddles. One of my favorite higher heat recipes is paella... grill has to run around 400 to cook the rice but you have to love how easy it is to control temps.

Think of a pellet grill as an oven that runs on pellet and gives smoke flavor. Literally anything you can do in your oven can be done on a pellet grill. You'd be surprised how much better a frozen pizza can be... anyway good luck and enjoy your new rig!

This past weekend I did reverse sear on my Weber SmokeFire EX6, both NY Strip and Filet. I put them on at 250 degrees until they reached an internal temperature of 128. Took them off and let them rest under tin foil. I then turned the SmokeFire to 600 degrees and put on a cast iron griddle. It only took another 10 minutes for the grill to get to 600 degrees. Perfect enough time for the steaks to rest and get to a 135 internal temperature. Then I put beef tallow on the griddle, and seared the steaks for one minute on each side (2x). The crust came out perfect, and the steaks had a wonderful flavor.

I also agree with frozen pizzas. The next day I put a pizza stone (made for grills not ovens) on the SmokeFire, set the temperature to 450 degrees. Took around 10 minutes, then took the pizza out of the freezer right on to the pizza stone. Within 9 - 10 minutes the cheese was bubbling and started to brown a little. The crust was perfect. If you have not tried frozen pizza on the Weber you must.