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[glitchy]

Kristin, I think that feeling about Weber is completely reasonable. They are going to bully their way into the market and likely hurt a lot of companies that built what it’s become. That being said, I like Traeger products, but really think the company deserves a beat down. Joe Traeger no, the company today, yes. When I had that Pro 575 last Spring, I was never so insulted as a customer. Hours on hold, told I was an idiot, no responses to emails, weeks to get parts that didn’t fix the problem. Facebook groups and other forums were full of people with the exact same problem and getting the exact same treatment. The day after I returned mine, the released firmware to fix it, but refused to acknowledge the issue before it came out.

GMG and Memphis on the other hand have exceptional customer service from experience. It’s hard to say what impact Weber will have on Memphis, but it will probably hurt GMG, RecTec, Grilla, and most of the others in that sell pellet grills under $999.

[rdsbucks]

I don't know Kristin, does this mean they should never have joined the pellet smoking world? Mercedes joined the car manufacturing world 20 years after Ford really began the car industry in earnest. I think Mercedes has added a lot to that world. Tesla has really made the auto industry pay attention to the power of electric cars. Now every company is doing it and probably doing it better than Tesla. It's just the way of things... the ones who invent something new are rarely the ones who make the ultimate version of their invention. And if this pit is all it appears to be, Weber may have made the ultimate version of the pellet smoker. As someone who loves pellets, I am glad they did. And now it is in the court of those who launched this genre to come back with something better. I hope they do. Competition makes us all better.

[Kristin Meredith]

I think that is fine to join the pellet smoking world, but why not invite pellet users or pellet pit comp teams to your launch if you believe you have made a superior pellet pit?  Maybe because they would go back and say that this is nothing new, just another guy jumping in because people are starting to purchase and you want a share of the market. 

Again, I don't have a problem with wanting a market share or highlighting something unique you bring to the table.  But brisket -- and direct flame cooking of a steak -- and making a point to say your grill gets to 600 degress?  Our Memphis Pro, which is 10 years old gets to 900 degrees.  As I said, it is somewhat irrational, but I hate johnny come latelys who try to act like they have just invented something new and awesome.  I don't know anything about cars -- maybe Mercedes did the same thing. Sorry, but I have yet to be at all impressed by Tesla!

[Bentley]

Yeah, they should have invited me, I am not affiliated with any manufacture.  And if they didn't know how great I am I could have told them when I got
there!

I think their only concern will be the 1st time buyer.  If they are the $900 gas Weber owner, they may not have any issue.  If they are the $275 Performer owner, they may find it a tougher sell.

[MustangBob]

Looks like the grease dripping into the same pot as the pellet ash is a guarantee for grease fire.  Especially on a long low-slow.  :2cents:I would certainly wait and see before jumped into any commitment .

In addition to pellet grills, I also have a traditional Weber kettle charcoal grill with the ash catcher attachment.  The ashes fall to the bottom of the kettle along with any grease drippings.  It seems to me that the combination of powdery ashes (some still glowing) and drippings result in a somewhat dry 'easy to clean' mixture that can fall through the air vents at the bottom of the kettle. The ashes seem to absorb the grease. The manually controllable air vent control (3-vane 'spider') scrapes along the bottom of the kettle to help move the ash/drippings mixture through the air vents and into the 'ash catcher' removable pan. I've never had a grease flareup from that ash mixture at the bottom of the kettle, although I used to have a flare up when grease dripped directly onto the burning charcoal load.  Since I started using GrillGrates, I haven't had any grease flareups in the Weber kettle.

[okie smokie]

Just spoke to the Weber customer service people and asked about the ash/grease tray setup.  He said that the ash is segregated from the grease so that the ash falls into one area and the grease into another.  I guess the grease goes into the disposable drip pan and the ash into the bottom of the drawer or visa versa.  Anyhow he said that it was carefully designed with fire avoidance in mind.  If that works out well, they will have lots of orders from current Weber fans. btw the starter rod is steel gloplug.  I do like the design,   

[pmillen]

You can stay busy for the better part of a day by watching the YouTube weber pellet videos.

[pbison]

I really don't see any reason to be irritated by this.  They had no business reason to get into this market until pellet grills started offering the performance, reliability, and value to start cutting into their market.  They didn't have some moral obligation to put their name on products that until recently weren't exactly renowned for their quality and would have cannibalized their existing grills.  Inviting a bunch of YouTubers to check it out months before it hits stores was a nice move.   

I think it's great that they didn't just copy what was out there.  This is a genuinely innovative design with performance that's hard to believe.  0-600 degrees in 15 minutes?  Made in USA?  Right around $1000? Available from local merchants?  Yes, yes, yes, yes, as Freddie said, I want it all!  Or, I would if I were going to be in the market next spring.  As it is, I'm hoping to get 10 years or more out of my RecTec. 

I do have some skepticism that it will work as well as advertised, particularly cleaning and the lack of stainless steel parts.   And like others I think the website review posted seems a bit hyperbolic.  Looking forward to more reviews.

[Bentley]

And that is why I like to Performance Test a product.  They have set the parameter, the Performance Test verify it.  It either hit 600° in 15 minutes or it does not.  It either uses X amount of pellets at Y temperature or it does not.  It either holds X° when set at Y or not!

I do have some skepticism that it will work as well as advertised, particularly cleaning and the lack of stainless steel parts.   And like others I think the website review posted seems a bit hyperbolic.  Looking forward to more reviews.

[pmillen]

And that is why I like to Performance Test a product.  They have set the parameter, the Performance Test verify it.  It either hit 600° in 15 minutes or it does not.  It either uses X amount of pellets at Y temperature or it does not.  It either holds X° when set at Y or not!

That's valuable information.  It beats the heck out of spending $1,000 and finding out that the pit doesn't meet the manufacturer's claims.

[Bar-B-Lew]

And that is why I like to Performance Test a product.  They have set the parameter, the Performance Test verify it.  It either hit 600° in 15 minutes or it does not.  It either uses X amount of pellets at Y temperature or it does not.  It either holds X° when set at Y or not!

That's valuable information.  It beats the heck out of spending $1,000 and finding out that the pit doesn't meet the manufacturer's claims.

Those test costs me over $5k convincing me to buy a Memphis and a MAK.

[dk117]

And that is why I like to Performance Test a product.  They have set the parameter, the Performance Test verify it.  It either hit 600° in 15 minutes or it does not.  It either uses X amount of pellets at Y temperature or it does not.  It either holds X° when set at Y or not!

That's valuable information.  It beats the heck out of spending $1,000 and finding out that the pit doesn't meet the manufacturer's claims.

Those test costs me over $5k convincing me to buy a Memphis and a MAK.

I love PF, I loved PH, but this quote is priceless.  This forum has cost me many thousands of dollars.  And years of great food to go along with it. 

[GatorDave]

This question is for anyone that has a pit that vents the same way as the weber does.  How much grease drips down the back of the units out of these vents?

[glitchy]

This question is for anyone that has a pit that vents the same way as the weber does.  How much grease drips down the back of the units out of these vents?

Traeger Juniors vent this way. I don't remember any grease dripping down the back of mine...but it's been a few years now.

[glitchy]

If any of you listen to the BBQ Central Show, Kevin Kolman from Weber does an interview during the second hour this past Tuesday night. I'm in the middle of it right now and it's a decent interview so far. He claims he has 800 hours logged on the SmokeFire prototypes and that he had 'almost every' other pellet grill in his back yard at one point doing research beforehand. They are still claiming some of the features are unique, so if that bothers you, I'd recommend passing. If you just curious about the product it's a good listen.

One thing that was interesting was the talk about some of the predictive cooking - like steak carryover to get the perfect steak by pulling it X degrees below desired based upon the cut and thinkness. Not that anyone here would ever need something like that, but would be interesting to see how accurate that could possibly be. Also, the Meater already has this too, so they aren't the first