OT. Pellet Grill

pgprescott

dstearn said:

My only issue with the Weber is the grease management system. The work around is to set up a drip pan on the lower rack and smoke your protein on the upper rack. But you lose grid space in the process. 

Also, if you lose power the system requires a complete shutdown before you can restart. 

This is a bit deceiving. There is no more potential for grease fires than any other pellet grill. If you get animal fat above 375 degrees it can ignite. I would contend that fat sitting on a semi flat surface directly above the heat source like all other pellet cookers is at least as potentially combustible as fat sitting at the bottom of the cooker below the heat source. Using pans is common in all pellet grills to reduce cleanup in general. Can you have a grease fire? sure. Can you with any pellet grill? yes. Just google it they all have fire issues if you aren’t paying attention to your previous cooks and your temps. Just saying. Happy shopping though. Lots of options out there. 

Photo Egg

dstearn said:

My only issue with the Weber is the grease management system. The work around is to set up a drip pan on the lower rack and smoke your protein on the upper rack. But you lose grid space in the process. 

Also, if you lose power the system requires a complete shutdown before you can restart. 

Weber does make a drip pan holder that goes below the lower grate so no cooking area is lost. Can also put drip pan on top of flavorizer bars, so no cooking space lost.
But because of the huge amount of cooking area on my EX6, I normally cook on the top grate and use a steamer pan lid as a drip pan laying on the lower grate as you mention above.
So far I have not lost power and had to do a complete restart. But just the shut down process on the Weber takes a very long time. I don’t know how this compares to other brands. So maybe it’s a long process for all them to shut down.
My biggest issues with pellet grills are the number of electrical and mechanical things that could fail and ruin your cook.

Canugghead

dstearn said:

My only issue with the Weber is the grease management system. The work around is to set up a drip pan on the lower rack and smoke your protein on the upper rack. But you lose grid space in the process. 

Also, if you lose power the system requires a complete shutdown before you can restart. 

Someone posted a hack in FB to bypass the 15-min complete shutdown cycle, after cleaning out the pellets if necessary.
1) power on, it'll  enter shutdown mode due to previous improper shutdown (flameout or power failure)
2) pay close attention with your ears,  about 30 to 50 secs after shutdown initiated, when you hear a single beep flip the power switch  off
3) flip power switch back on and you should be in normal start mode

p.s. my EX4 is still bnib so I'm not speaking from experience. 

dstearn

pgprescott said:

dstearn said:

My only issue with the Weber is the grease management system. The work around is to set up a drip pan on the lower rack and smoke your protein on the upper rack. But you lose grid space in the process. 

Also, if you lose power the system requires a complete shutdown before you can restart. 

This is a bit deceiving. There is no more potential for grease fires than any other pellet grill. If you get animal fat above 375 degrees it can ignite. I would contend that fat sitting on a semi flat surface directly above the heat source like all other pellet cookers is at least as potentially combustible as fat sitting at the bottom of the cooker below the heat source. Using pans is common in all pellet grills to reduce cleanup in general. Can you have a grease fire? sure. Can you with any pellet grill? yes. Just google it they all have fire issues if you aren’t paying attention to your previous cooks and your temps. Just saying. Happy shopping though. Lots of options out there. 

Good point, just starting researching pellet grills now since my XL based cracked. Awaiting delivery of the replacement base from my dealer in Tucson but I may wait until then to decide. Hopefully Weber will introduce a 3rd Gen in the near future. 

pgprescott

dstearn said:

pgprescott said:

dstearn said:

My only issue with the Weber is the grease management system. The work around is to set up a drip pan on the lower rack and smoke your protein on the upper rack. But you lose grid space in the process. 

Also, if you lose power the system requires a complete shutdown before you can restart. 

This is a bit deceiving. There is no more potential for grease fires than any other pellet grill. If you get animal fat above 375 degrees it can ignite. I would contend that fat sitting on a semi flat surface directly above the heat source like all other pellet cookers is at least as potentially combustible as fat sitting at the bottom of the cooker below the heat source. Using pans is common in all pellet grills to reduce cleanup in general. Can you have a grease fire? sure. Can you with any pellet grill? yes. Just google it they all have fire issues if you aren’t paying attention to your previous cooks and your temps. Just saying. Happy shopping though. Lots of options out there. 

Good point, just starting researching pellet grills now since my XL based cracked. Awaiting delivery of the replacement base from my dealer in Tucson but I may wait until then to decide. Hopefully Weber will introduce a 3rd Gen in the near future. 

It's imminent. Not sure there are major design changes but rather some minor tweaks and materials upgrades. 

Canugghead

dstearn said:

pgprescott said:

dstearn said:

My only issue with the Weber is the grease management system. The work around is to set up a drip pan on the lower rack and smoke your protein on the upper rack. But you lose grid space in the process. 

Also, if you lose power the system requires a complete shutdown before you can restart. 

This is a bit deceiving. There is no more potential for grease fires than any other pellet grill. If you get animal fat above 375 degrees it can ignite. I would contend that fat sitting on a semi flat surface directly above the heat source like all other pellet cookers is at least as potentially combustible as fat sitting at the bottom of the cooker below the heat source. Using pans is common in all pellet grills to reduce cleanup in general. Can you have a grease fire? sure. Can you with any pellet grill? yes. Just google it they all have fire issues if you aren’t paying attention to your previous cooks and your temps. Just saying. Happy shopping though. Lots of options out there. 

Good point, just starting researching pellet grills now since my XL based cracked. Awaiting delivery of the replacement base from my dealer in Tucson but I may wait until then to decide. Hopefully Weber will introduce a 3rd Gen in the near future. 

https://www.weber.com/US/en/grills/wood-pellet-grills/smokefire/smokefire-epx6-wood-fired-pellet-grill--stealth-edition/23611501.html