1 year with the SmokeFire EX4 (2nd Gen) Wood Fired Pellet Grill: Have already gone through three glow plugs, each of which failed in the middle of cooks. I clean this grill very well after every use, and I have never finished a longer cook without the pellets forming a dome and failing to feed. And I am RELIGIOUS about using fresh, bone dry pellets. The lower the temp, the more the problems. The #1 probe socket doesn't work. The grill blows ash everywhere. Any pellets get down in the drip tray WILL catch on fire, and if you got a fire in the drip tray, don't go grabbing that drawer with your bare hands! The cord plugs up into the socket and can (did) easily fall out. The app DOES work great and always syncs with my grill. Easy to control or monitor remotely BUT ... More1 year with the SmokeFire EX4 (2nd Gen) Wood Fired Pellet Grill: Have already gone through three glow plugs, each of which failed in the middle of cooks. I clean this grill very well after every use, and I have never finished a longer cook without the pellets forming a dome and failing to feed. And I am RELIGIOUS about using fresh, bone dry pellets. The lower the temp, the more the problems. The #1 probe socket doesn't work. The grill blows ash everywhere. Any pellets get down in the drip tray WILL catch on fire, and if you got a fire in the drip tray, don't go grabbing that drawer with your bare hands! The cord plugs up into the socket and can (did) easily fall out. The app DOES work great and always syncs with my grill. Easy to control or monitor remotely BUT don't be too far away cause the glow plug will fail on you eventually and the pellets will dome up.

An honest review of a stellar grill

Bought this grill Christmas 2022 and its been about a month of cooking on it. I knew I would be doing a lot of smoking on my break so I decided to purchase it then. I cooked pork back ribs the first day and they were amazing. Very easy to use, the app is neat although I prefer to change temperatures at the grill, and the space is great. I was worried that it would be too small but I have not run into that issue yet. If I decided to save more and wait a few months I would have definitely bought the bigger ex6 but I don't regret my purchase seeing how much food I cooked in the first week. The size of the top rack in comparison to similar price range grills is a luxury that I fully appreciate. There is lots of space from the second rack to the top of the cook chamber, ... MoreBought this grill Christmas 2022 and its been about a month of cooking on it. I knew I would be doing a lot of smoking on my break so I decided to purchase it then. I cooked pork back ribs the first day and they were amazing. Very easy to use, the app is neat although I prefer to change temperatures at the grill, and the space is great. I was worried that it would be too small but I have not run into that issue yet. If I decided to save more and wait a few months I would have definitely bought the bigger ex6 but I don't regret my purchase seeing how much food I cooked in the first week. The size of the top rack in comparison to similar price range grills is a luxury that I fully appreciate. There is lots of space from the second rack to the top of the cook chamber, allowing easy access to whatever you are smoking. I have not fully tested out the sear potential on the pit (mainly because I do all my searing on my weber master touch kettle which I also highly recommend) but I have seen people do it and think it is possible to get that high heat. Build quality is super, and I don't worry about damaging the enamel coating. Lastly, the grill is very very easy to clean due to everything coming out with no screws or clips.Ok, now its time for the negatives and, while I don't have anything major, here are some things to consider. If you will feed a 15 plus crowd on a fairly regular basis, purchase the larger ex6. You can get away with a big crowd every now and then on the ex4 but its not ideal. The front shelf does not come with the grill, making it a little annoying to take things on and off. Don't let this stop you from buying it, but be aware that more surfaces will be an extra 100 bucks. Also, the grill's "shut down" procedure requires it to burn off everything in the burn box and completely cool before asking you to switch the grill off. This is not a problem for me because once I'm done cooking I don't mind the grill doing its thing while I eat. Do bear in mind this process takes about 15 minutes which is ridiculous.One Finally very important remark...I was in the middle of a big cook for a lot of people and when I opened the app, it prompted me to do a firmware update. DO NOT DO THIS WHILE YOU ARE COOKING. I realized too late that when it was finished the update, the grill decided it needed to restart which is about a half hour ordeal that required the grill to COMPLETELY cool and then come back up to temperature. I did a little research and found out to bypass this very long shutting down and reheating process, kill the power to the grill at the switch and turn it back on. It wont harm any of the electronics and, although weber does not recommend it, it saved me a lot of time and I was able to get back to cooking a lot sooner.

Best pellet grill I have used

I had a working pellet grill when I came across this one in a store as a scratch and dent model heavily discounted. I purchased it because it looked like a good grill and my other one was getting old. I am very pleasantly surprised. My other pellet grill was great, I had no issues. But this grill puts out a much better smokey flavor profile. The meat just truly tastes better when I cook on the Weber. I cant tell you why, but it just smokes better. It is also much easier to clean. I was skeptical at first because the drippings just fall to the bottom. But it is much easier than the foil pan i had to put down on my other pellet grill. The one negative thing I have to say is it seems like it might eat pellets a little faster than my other one because of the way they ... MoreI had a working pellet grill when I came across this one in a store as a scratch and dent model heavily discounted. I purchased it because it looked like a good grill and my other one was getting old. I am very pleasantly surprised. My other pellet grill was great, I had no issues. But this grill puts out a much better smokey flavor profile. The meat just truly tastes better when I cook on the Weber. I cant tell you why, but it just smokes better. It is also much easier to clean. I was skeptical at first because the drippings just fall to the bottom. But it is much easier than the foil pan i had to put down on my other pellet grill. The one negative thing I have to say is it seems like it might eat pellets a little faster than my other one because of the way they drop out of the firebox when they still may have a little burn left. But this is a minimal complaint and isn't all that noticeable. I'm overall very happy with it and the way the app allows you to change temp and see your meat temp as well.

Decent pellet smoker. Not recommended for grilling

The grill is built with quality material. The design fits well with my covered porch. I have had issues with the temperature randomly jumping up 150+ degrees when I’m smoking at 200 F. It has happened multiple times. Customer service has been very helpful when the grill was delivered damaged. Unfortunately, instead of replacing the Smokefire, they delivered a whole new smoking chamber which required 4hrs of having to take the parts off one smoker and reattach them to a whole new smoking chamber. Now, I’m waiting for a new lid because it is severely warped and doesn’t close. It burns through a lot of pellets Way more than it should. I hope the issues are resolved with the temperature fluctuations in the future. I don’t want to have to sit next to my smoker for 10hrs ... MoreThe grill is built with quality material. The design fits well with my covered porch. I have had issues with the temperature randomly jumping up 150+ degrees when I’m smoking at 200 F. It has happened multiple times. Customer service has been very helpful when the grill was delivered damaged. Unfortunately, instead of replacing the Smokefire, they delivered a whole new smoking chamber which required 4hrs of having to take the parts off one smoker and reattach them to a whole new smoking chamber. Now, I’m waiting for a new lid because it is severely warped and doesn’t close. It burns through a lot of pellets Way more than it should. I hope the issues are resolved with the temperature fluctuations in the future. I don’t want to have to sit next to my smoker for 10hrs waiting for it to randomly spike. Overall, it’s a good smoker. But as a grill it produces a massive flame that throws ash all over the cooking grates and throws ash outside the ash tray. It’s a fairly messy smoker/grill. It’s a very pricey smoker and I took a gamble because I have used a Weber Kettle my whole life. I like the Weber brand but so far I’m not enjoying the SmokeFire yet.

Excited to use it every time!

Excellent grill all the way around. Right from delivery, follow the instructions on the box, some of the packaging is used to make the assembly easier. I purchased the smaller EX4 and added the front SS Shelf, this is a must have in my opinion and should simply be included. The EX4 is the perfect size for smaller number of mouths to feed and fits a larger brisket just perfectly. One issue for me is the finger guard in the pellet hopper, it is noted in the customer forums of being an issue of preventing pellet flow, something I experienced on my first cook. I have also been using this grill in some of the cold temperatures here in Canada - I cook on the grill year round - and I found the grill to be impressively efficient on fuel and temperature regulation. I didn't ... MoreExcellent grill all the way around. Right from delivery, follow the instructions on the box, some of the packaging is used to make the assembly easier. I purchased the smaller EX4 and added the front SS Shelf, this is a must have in my opinion and should simply be included. The EX4 is the perfect size for smaller number of mouths to feed and fits a larger brisket just perfectly. One issue for me is the finger guard in the pellet hopper, it is noted in the customer forums of being an issue of preventing pellet flow, something I experienced on my first cook. I have also been using this grill in some of the cold temperatures here in Canada - I cook on the grill year round - and I found the grill to be impressively efficient on fuel and temperature regulation. I didn't go shopping for a new pellet grill/smoker thinking I'd be buying a Weber, so glad that I made that choice and excited to FIRE it up each time!

Good Grill but...

I am new to using a pellet grill and I bought this grill because it was on sale. At first, I would say it was worth it for two reasons. It brought technology to grilling and it was $800, $600 off. But I have had ignition problems, firmware update issues, and frustrating connectivity problems. My router (Asus AX11000) is 15 feet away from the window and the grill constantly has issues connecting. I have resorted to moving the router right beside the window 3 feet from the grill. I had to do the same firmware update 4 times. During the update, it constantly flipped back and forth between "Updating firmware" and "Failed Update" for the entire process. I am also not sure why it has to update via Bluetooth when there is Wifi. It takes 20 to 30 minutes. So if you have to ... MoreI am new to using a pellet grill and I bought this grill because it was on sale. At first, I would say it was worth it for two reasons. It brought technology to grilling and it was $800, $600 off. But I have had ignition problems, firmware update issues, and frustrating connectivity problems. My router (Asus AX11000) is 15 feet away from the window and the grill constantly has issues connecting. I have resorted to moving the router right beside the window 3 feet from the grill. I had to do the same firmware update 4 times. During the update, it constantly flipped back and forth between "Updating firmware" and "Failed Update" for the entire process. I am also not sure why it has to update via Bluetooth when there is Wifi. It takes 20 to 30 minutes. So if you have to do this 4 times, you can imagine what kind of time waste this is. There are some positives with the grill but they don't out way the negative so there is no point discussing them. If it wasn't for sale the price, I would have boughten a more known brand to pellet grilling. If Weber fixes these issues and I am able to get updates via software or free parts, it would change my opinion on the grill. But as it stands right now, even if the EX4 is on sale.

It’s almost right

It does both smoking and grilling but neither very well. I’d rather it do one thing extremely well than two functions okay-ish. The right side of the grill is much hotter than the left which provides uneven cooking. The hopper doesn’t have good angles to keep the pellets flowing, you will need to open occasionally and move the mound of pellets around. There are some nice features to the grill, the crafted system is nice but ended up spending an additional $400 for it. The Weber connect works pretty smoothly, I wish the app for recipes would take into consideration what grill you have and not suggest things your grill cannot do. Clean up is fairly easy. Just know that there will be ash everywhere.

Just get it

I've used pellet grills for years and I'm beyond impressed with Weber's offering in this very competitive category. The #1 drawback of a pellet grill is they are more "oven" than grill and lack access to direct radiant heat. The SmokeFire addresses this by discarding the traditional heat baffle/drip plate and replacing it with the familiar Weber Flavorizer bars, allowing the flame to peek through on high-temp cooks. It also has a novel pellet delivery system that uses an inclined auger to drops pellets into the firepot to avoid the dereaded auger/hopper burnback. I admit I was skeptical how this would work as grease would undoubtedly mingle with ash in the bottom of the cooker.So did Weber engineers pull it off? After a few months of use, I can emphatically say ... MoreI've used pellet grills for years and I'm beyond impressed with Weber's offering in this very competitive category. The #1 drawback of a pellet grill is they are more "oven" than grill and lack access to direct radiant heat. The SmokeFire addresses this by discarding the traditional heat baffle/drip plate and replacing it with the familiar Weber Flavorizer bars, allowing the flame to peek through on high-temp cooks. It also has a novel pellet delivery system that uses an inclined auger to drops pellets into the firepot to avoid the dereaded auger/hopper burnback. I admit I was skeptical how this would work as grease would undoubtedly mingle with ash in the bottom of the cooker.So did Weber engineers pull it off? After a few months of use, I can emphatically say that they did. The gas grill no longer gets touched. The food that comes off of the SmokeFire is astonishingly good. The reverse-sear technique for steak is a must-try with this cooker.You'll be good to go if you keep it clean, use Weber pellets (or at least the Lumberjack ones that have a smaller diameter), mix up the pellets in the hopper every now and then during a long cook to avoid tunneling, and place a drip/water pan below fatty foods like briskets or pork butts.Weber could have just copied other manufacturers' time-tested designs. Instead it created a truly innovative cooker that is a step forward for the pellet grill category. I know there have been some very high-profile negative reviews by YouTube boobs but I don't think they're on point with the updated Gen2. You're getting all the bells and whistles with this thing at a great price ... plus you're buying from a company that will stand behind its product. If you're on the fence, just go for it.

Overall a good grill with a couple of nuances

I bought this from Home Depot about a month ago and have used it for several long cooks prior to rating it. I have cooked 2 Pork Shoulders and 3 Briskets plus a few other short cook items. There are several great things about the grill and a few minor flaws.Pros- it heats up fast. It takes no time to get to temp.- It is easy to clean. It's design is nice to allow someone to easily take the grates off, flavor bars off and ash drawer out to clean it very quickly.- It has a good app to allow you to set a temp, and temperature probe alert to help to decide to take the food off the grill- It is great quality, parts are sturdy and not rickety and cheap feeling.- It withstands the weather. A thunderstorm came through while I was cooking and it kept on going ... MoreI bought this from Home Depot about a month ago and have used it for several long cooks prior to rating it. I have cooked 2 Pork Shoulders and 3 Briskets plus a few other short cook items. There are several great things about the grill and a few minor flaws.Pros- it heats up fast. It takes no time to get to temp.- It is easy to clean. It's design is nice to allow someone to easily take the grates off, flavor bars off and ash drawer out to clean it very quickly.- It has a good app to allow you to set a temp, and temperature probe alert to help to decide to take the food off the grill- It is great quality, parts are sturdy and not rickety and cheap feeling.- It withstands the weather. A thunderstorm came through while I was cooking and it kept on going without a hitch.- Made By Weber in the USA, great Warranty and reputation behind the product by American workersCons- you MUST take the finger guard off of the auger feed hole if you want to use a variety of pellets. The finger guard prevents people that aren't very smart to do the incredibly stupid thing of sticking their finger in the rotating auger while the machine is operating. Some pellets will cause the grill to cut off if they can't pass through the auger hole to the auger because they bunch up over the finger guard and won't drop from the hole to the auger.- It blew a fuse a little quickly (3rd smoke). This could have been from an improper shutdown so it may have been my fault. The problem is the fuses are hard to find. I ordered a 4 pack from Amazon for about 6 bucks.- The phone app has a few minor problems. There are recipes that try to feed you through the process of setting up your grill and there are software issues ( i.e it will ask what probe are you using and even though it shows that the grill recognizes the probe it won't let you proceed forward because another part of the app doesn't recognize it.Overall good grill. I would recommend this to a friend.

Worst item I’ve ever purchased. STAY AWAY

STAY AWAY! I’ve historically loved Weber grill so I was super excited that I could have Weber and pellet. But this is the absolute worst product I have ever owned period. Worked fine for the first couple weeks and then the augur stopped working. Ruining one dinner. Shipping a new augur took 2 months, without a grill. The instructions for the next augur were oddly incorrect but I was able to get the piece to work. Seemed ok for a grill or two but then just started consistently losing temperature, and ruining meals as I had hungry mouths and I watched the temp drop desperately heating the oven and trying to save the meal. In the mean time the actual grill is literally falling apart from corrosion less then a year old. To get additional support I had to disassemble the ... MoreSTAY AWAY! I’ve historically loved Weber grill so I was super excited that I could have Weber and pellet. But this is the absolute worst product I have ever owned period. Worked fine for the first couple weeks and then the augur stopped working. Ruining one dinner. Shipping a new augur took 2 months, without a grill. The instructions for the next augur were oddly incorrect but I was able to get the piece to work. Seemed ok for a grill or two but then just started consistently losing temperature, and ruining meals as I had hungry mouths and I watched the temp drop desperately heating the oven and trying to save the meal. In the mean time the actual grill is literally falling apart from corrosion less then a year old. To get additional support I had to disassemble the grill, nearly completely and then get a new “thermocoupler” we will see if that helps but took 3 different tools to disassemble the whole thing and re install a small thermometer… now we will see again but I’m told it’s expected for me to pull the augur out every 2 weeks… if that was really the design of the product it wouldn’t take 6 screws to do this and weak electrical link that is going to break. Terrible product, might try to sell it use and cut my losses but I don’t want to extend this curse on anyone else. Stick to what you know Weber.