I really like the performance and results from the grill, but am strongly considering returning mine. I’ve had one flame out already and saw a couple more in the making checking in every couple hours. My water pan caught almost all of my brisket grease, so I kept that out of the chamber. Grease fires make me angry, I just don’t have patience for them. I don’t want to have to stir the hopper every hour. Weber support has been outstanding in the past, but not sure I want to test it here. Will they really send redesigned hoppers and barrels to existing customers? It could be 6-12 months waiting even if they did go that far. I don’t want to run drip pans under everything greasy, nor give up space to them on the smaller model.

Shame this was to be a good grill or so I thought. 

Been looking seems this grill was NOT tested like it should have been.  I think Weber had the right idea but just didn't do enough research to make it happen

I might keep mine in the box when it gets here tomorrow, I don’t need the headache.  I will consider returning after brewing over the weekend.

I might keep mine in the box when it gets here tomorrow, I don’t need the headache.  I will consider returning after brewing over the weekend.

Good luck with your decision. I'm still going back and forth on mine. It just cooks the best food I've made on a pellet grill. However, the hopper issues are just sad and I'm not sure the grilling ability is worth the hassle of having to use drip pans with everything greasy. Gasp, I'm actually considering buying a Traeger Ironwood. I was so frustrated with Traeger over the Pro D2 temp issues, but seeing how Weber has admitted nothing so far, I guess that's just the corporate way, keep silent until it's fixed.

I know, I know, why not a RecTec? Or a Grilla, Blaz'n, etc.? I'm just really leery of very expensive products you can only get directly from them. At least with Traeger, Weber, Camp Chef etc. you can find the grills to see beforehand and get parts and accessories from other outlets too. I'd probably stretch the budget again and go Pitts and Spitts if they had a normal stainless rod rack instead of that chicken wire stuff. That pit looks like a tank.

I'd probably stretch the budget again and go Pitts and Spitts if they had a normal stainless rod rack instead of that chicken wire stuff. That pit looks like a tank.

Mine is built like a tank and extremely heavy.  I could hardly get it back into the barn after a cook because it is so heavy it would sink into the crushed granite outside.  Never had that problem with the GMG.  I had to build a patio out of paving stones level with the concrete floor of the barn. 

It's about three years old and has the stainless steel rod lower grill and regular expanded metal one on the top.  The guy I got it from said that's how it came.  I guess the older ones were like that.  I'm going to spring for the two piece drip tray so I can have direct flame and maybe get some grill grates so nothing drips down into the burn pot area.  Although I think I could sear on the SS grate with no problem.  It stinks the Weber isn't as advertised.  I had high hopes for you.

I know, I know, why not a RecTec? Or a Grilla, Blaz'n, etc.? I'm just really leery of very expensive products you can only get directly from them. At least with Traeger, Weber, Camp Chef etc. you can find the grills to see beforehand and get parts and accessories from other outlets too. I'd probably stretch the budget again and go Pitts and Spitts if they had a normal stainless rod rack instead of that chicken wire stuff. That pit looks like a tank.

I can understand that, it was a leap of faith to buy a grill from a company that curates their reviews because returning a grill after assembly is no simple thing.  The build quality of my RT-590 did not meet expectations.  But all in all, when I look at other cookers in stores, I'm still happy with it.  It's performed very well.

Traeger seems to have improved as of late, and being able to buy not just the grill but also parts and accessories locally is a big plus. The updated Camp Chef models are looking pretty good too.  You still get more for your money with the online manufacturers, but that's not the whole picture. 

I might keep mine in the box when it gets here tomorrow, I don’t need the headache.  I will consider returning after brewing over the weekend.

Good luck with your decision. I'm still going back and forth on mine. It just cooks the best food I've made on a pellet grill. However, the hopper issues are just sad and I'm not sure the grilling ability is worth the hassle of having to use drip pans with everything greasy. Gasp, I'm actually considering buying a Traeger Ironwood. I was so frustrated with Traeger over the Pro D2 temp issues, but seeing how Weber has admitted nothing so far, I guess that's just the corporate way, keep silent until it's fixed.

I know, I know, why not a RecTec? Or a Grilla, Blaz'n, etc.? I'm just really leery of very expensive products you can only get directly from them. At least with Traeger, Weber, Camp Chef etc. you can find the grills to see beforehand and get parts and accessories from other outlets too. I'd probably stretch the budget again and go Pitts and Spitts if they had a normal stainless rod rack instead of that chicken wire stuff. That pit looks like a tank.

Have you tried a food grade silicon spray for the hopper? I just had my first cook on my smokefire last night (chicken) and it dropped temp 4 times which was resolved each time when I ran my hand through the hopper. I'm going to try a silicon spray to see if it helps (probably do a cook this friday).

The build quality of my RT-590 did not meet expectations.

What did you not like about the build quality of the 590?

Have you tried a food grade silicon spray for the hopper? I just had my first cook on my smokefire last night (chicken) and it dropped temp 4 times which was resolved each time when I ran my hand through the hopper. I'm going to try a silicon spray to see if it helps (probably do a cook this friday).

I've heard that is working, but is kinda why I am really, really struggling. $1000 is a lot of money for a grill, although not as insane for us BBQ junkies here as most other people. How many extra hoops should you have to jump through to get a $1000 product to work as advertised? I've thought about getting the spray and removing the little guard and seeing if my pellet problems disappear. However, how often to I need to reapply the spray, once a year, once a month? Will I know before I have a flameout, have to go through the mandatory shutdown cycle mid cook, empty all my pellets, re-silicone the hopper, refill it and then start cooking again at 3:30 AM?

Add that to their response to the fire issue (from Amazon EX6 Q&A - and no, I did not ask this question):
Q: What do you do when this catches on fire from lack of grease tray?
A: Hello! Our SmokeFire models feature a well engineered grease management system, with a drip pan for grease, and collection chambers for ash. Provided they are properly cleaned and maintained, and used as outlined in the owner's guide, they will provide excellent grilling results and a great user experience. Thanks!
By Weber Grills on February 17, 2020

My first post. Been reading the Weber conversation with interest. Currently I have a Blazn Grand Slam and a co-worker has the Gridiron. We haven't had any of the issues talked about with the Weber. Glitchy, don't be leery of buying a Blazn, there built well and made in America. Had a rectec prior and highly recommend either but prefer the Blazn

My first post.

Welcome to Pellet Fan.  I see that you registered three months ago.  Now that you've posted something, post more.

Stop by the "Introduce Yourself" section and tell us about you and your pit.  Post some cooks, publish recipes and always include photographs.  Photographs are proof that it happened.

I wonder if the question and answer doesn't shed some light on their thinking. They are  grill maker not necessarily a smoker manufacturer. Most of the pre sale videos were all high heat cooks that I had seen, so the grease was dripping and burning up, now you toss a butt or 3 in there at low temp and it doesn't burn away it pools and runs places.

The hopper thing, maybe a good coat of wax inside.

For grease if they took the flavorizer bars and put a small flat say 1/2 inch wide with a lip so it made a trough at the bottom of the bar on each side, made one end of the perches the bars sit on higher so it drains to one end and then into a trough to a pan.

I suspect that unlike FC, that went belly up, Weber will re-engineer, and improve their product. However, they will have to produce mods, to correct the problems in existing pits.  I am surprised, however, that they were not aware of the flaws before release of the pit. Certainly they did lots of low slow high fat cooks during the testing?  Also, should have had beta testing by real experts. Meantime I can imagine two correction mods:
1.  Steeper incline for the right side of pellet hopper with a bit more fore/aft width to compensate for volume loss.
2.  A grease collection system that drains the extra fat away from the center of the bottom and uses a different collection container on either right or left sides.

As an aside, I see that their own brand of pellets are smaller in circumference which brings up other concerns. They will burn faster, and the ash and hot cinders will fall through the firepot differently than other commercial brands.  Perhaps that may have some effect on the problems that occurred?

The build quality of my RT-590 did not meet expectations.

What did you not like about the build quality of the 590?

I don't want to sidetrack too much, so I won't go into detail, but there were several scratches, the door wasn't straight, gaps in the sealant, broken deflector bracket rivet, and a couple other things.  I dealt with it myself and RecTec compensated me for it.  And of course they did not publish my 3 star review.

Back on track with the Weber, I did see where one guy took the auger screen out of the hopper and said that prevented the "hollowing out" pellet flow issue during his next cook. 

The build quality of my RT-590 did not meet expectations.

What did you not like about the build quality of the 590?

I don't want to sidetrack too much, so I won't go into detail, but there were several scratches, the door wasn't straight, gaps in the sealant, broken deflector bracket rivet, and a couple other things.  I dealt with it myself and RecTec compensated me for it.  And of course they did not publish my 3 star review.

Back on track with the Weber, I did see where one guy took the auger screen out of the hopper and said that prevented the "hollowing out" pellet flow issue during his next cook.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that was added last second post testing by lawyer directions.