I'm about a 2/10 on the scale of BBQ experience, but I'm happy to provide my first impressions of the SmokeFire EX6 I now own. Please feel free to correct or edit or comment on anything I've written. I'm a beginner and eager to learn, so all feedback is welcome!
- Unboxing and setup: Super simple. It recommends two people - I did it with my 9-year-old son who spent more time playing in the box than helping with the setup and it was fine. The packaging was great. All of my screws matched (I think I saw a review where someone else had screws that were different?).
- Seasoning: Per the instructions, I ran her up to 600 degrees and let her sit there. I think the instructions say to leave it at that temperature for 30-45 minutes, but I probably left it for an hour just because.
- First Cook: I made BBQ chicken for the family last night. Pretty straightforward cook at 400 degrees and one flip. It was probably too hot, but everyone ate like crazy and thought it was wonderful.
- Second Cook: I cooked a Ribeye and New York cut steak tonight. I tried the "reverse sear" method for the first time. Ultimately, they were overcooked (my fault) and my seasoning was too sweet (also my fault), but the cooker performed exactly as it was supposed to. I think I'm not a huge fan of the Grillmaster Blend pellets from Weber, but again, that's just personal preference. You might love them.
- Next Cook: I'm going to smoke a 5lb pork butt on Sunday. Low and slow the whole way based on the Awesome Simple Pulled Pork BBQ Recipe found on this website right here. I'll probably switch to the Hickory pellets I got with the cooker - I'm about out of the Grillmaster Blend anyway.
- Issues: At sear temperature, mine has a SERIOUS hot spot on on the right-center 4th of the grill. It's MUCH hotter than the other quarters of the grill with visible flames. I plan to check the installation just to make sure the heat diffuser and heat baffles are installed correctly and not somehow off-center. It could easily be user error, for all I know, but it's something I'm tracking. The mobile app is not super useful right now, but I expect Weber to continue to update and add features, so I'm not concerned with that.
- Overall: Great smoke out of this cooker at most temperatures. Super easy to use. Lots of fun, actually. It seems like solid construction. Pellet use doesn't seem too bad, although as a newbie I don't have much to compare with. Everything I've done so far has taken about 3/4 of a bag of Grillmaster Blend pellets, which seems reasonable to me. I'm very happy with it and excited to continue to learn more about it.
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