Weber Searwood or Recteq deck boss 800

Me too. I have a long history w/Weber, so I’ll probably stick with Weber

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I'm sure the Searwood is much better than the SmokeFire, but I wasted a lot of money on that POS first pellet offering from Weber.

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Yeah I'm one more issue away from Weber upgrading my Smokefire. They've had me swap out pretty much all of the parts on it. Changed the controller two weeks ago and had 3 flameouts last weekend. Waiting for them to email me back now.

I had a recteq bullseye and the only time it had any issues was when I didn't clean it like I should. I'd go with Recteq over the Weber.

I’m going to give you an honest opinion here because I just bought a Weber Searwood 600 XL 2 months ago and I was dead set on purchasing a RecTeq Flagship 1100. I didn’t even know Weber made a pellet grill until I watched some RecTeq comparison videos on YouTube between the two. Go to an Ace Hardware and take the grates off and look closely at how the Searwood is engineered and the quality of the build. It doesn’t have a traditional drip pan like my CampChef I use at work or the ZGrill I have at the camp. I replaced my 7 year old Traeger with the Weber and they aren’t even in the same universe as far as versatility. Look these pellet grills are all engineered very similar and for the most part they smoke meat decent, but searing things has always been my biggest complaint on a pellet grill. This Weber Searwood 600 XL is their newest model. From my understanding Weber is fairly new at the pellet grill game and screwed up the first 1 or 2 attempts, but they did have some creative ideas so I was told. Well whatever they didn’t have figured out they fixed it this time. It has a V shaped drip pan so all the juices run down to a drip dump underneath the belly of the grill. Others are doing this now. Underneath the drip pan and over the burn pot is this heavy cast iron heat diffuser that gets red hot at 600 degrees. There are these sear grates similar to a Weber gas grill in there. It’s a breeze to pull all of that stuff out of there and clean. No more vacuuming it. It’s holds the temp with zero fluctuations. Can go from 600 degrees to completely shut off in 15 minutes or less. The Weber Searwood 600 XL is a beast. Weber knocked this one out of the park. The accessories that Weber offers are awesome. I bought a heavy duty carbon steel flattop griddle for it and after using it several times I gave my Blackstone to a friend because I don’t need it now. This Searwood has a setting to grill with the lid open and the settings control how hot that griddle gets. I bought a rotisserie that can cook two whole chickens, a turkey, prime rib, etc. I bought a basket that fastens to the rotisserie that you can shove wings or vegetables in and it’s awesome. Love how it came with two sturdy meat temp probes and it’s nice sitting on the couch monitoring everything from my phone. Look I’m a huge fan of ReqTeq, but I think Weber has taken the pellet grill to new innovative heights that other competitors will emulate on some of their innovations. Also love how I can dump my pellets and not have to leave them in there. I’m sure I’m leaving some things I like out, but the Weber engineering, quality of build, and Webers useful accessories are tough to beat. That 600 XL is huge. I smoked a 20 pound brisket on there and it looked small. I’d rather have too big of a grill than a smaller one though but that’s just me. Running at say 250 degrees you can barely tell it’s on because it’s so quite. It will sear a steak at 600 degrees with grate marks too. If you use charcoal pellets you blindly would think it come off a Weber Kettle or a normal charcoal grill.

Note: I did extensive research and relied on the recommendation of a fellow on YouTube called Sambo’s place. He did a 6 month and 1 year follow up video. Sambo hated his previous Weber SmokeFire grill so bad I think Weber refunded some of his money or replaced his grill with the Searwood. Like I noted above apparently Weber hadn’t figured it all out in the first attempts but they nailed it on this one.

Go to an Ace Hardware that has one assembled. Open it up and take a hard look. Watch other YouTube comparison videos with that Recteq Flagship 1100. Sambo’s Place is pretty hard on Weber because he was pissed at the issues he had with his previous Weber grill. He’s beat his grill up and still loves it after a year. I honestly don’t think you can find a finer pellet grill for under $1,500. The thing is built like a tank. Smoke, grill, sear, it does it all. The accessories alone cleared off my patio to one cooking device which is the Weber 600 XL.

I did go to Ace, several times. Very helpful.

That’s a hell of a post.

I’m looking for my next pellet grill. Was leaning camp chef to sear on that side burner. But I’ll have to check out this Weber

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I’m looking for my next pellet grill. Was leaning camp chef to sear on that side burner. But I’ll have to check out this Weber

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I’ve got a Camp Chef with the side burner to sear on that I keep up at work. It’s okay, but this new Weber Searwood is just hands down better and more versatile. You literally can sear a steak with the lid open without the hassle of cleaning that sear plate that’s on that Camp Chef. This Weber is just built better and is more advanced. My boss and I both have had trouble with our Camp Chefs rusting albeit mine is 5 years old and still going. Like I’ve noted above I’ve purchased a Camp Chef for work, a ZGrill for the hunting camp, and a Traeger I just replaced after many years of quality service. All three were good, but the Weber is on a different level. I don’t like those drip pans and none of the three get hot enough. There new pellet grills coming out are better because they get hotter. If I didn’t buy that Weber Searwood my other recommendation would be the ReqTeq Flagship 1100. A buddy of mine bought one and it’s pretty nice too. I’d still buy that Weber Searwood over that Flagship though.

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Im upgrading from a pitboss where I had the ability to sear on the open flame above the ash pot. Which is why I was looking at the new camp chefs since they have the sidekick (burner or flat top). I need an all in one station.

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That’s a pretty cool feature Pittboss has with the ability to sear over an open flame. I wish all of mine had that feature. The new Camp Chef has a box you can put wood chunks in for extra smoke. I don’t like too heavy of a smoke taste in my meats so that wasn’t as important to me. My boss and I both have had trouble with our Camp Chef’s rusting in the bottom barrel. Mine takes too long to heat up and turn off. Cleaning that sear station off is a pain in the neck. I thought it was a great idea until I had to mess with cleaning that thing. Weber gets up to 600 degrees. Reqteq 1100 gets up to 700 degrees. That’s pretty hot. Weber Searwood doesn’t have a big flat slanted drip pan. A fattier cut of meat can flare up on you at those kind of temps on my Weber. It gets hot enough to put sear grate marks on a steak.

I tell you something else I like about that Weber. You don’t have to put aluminum foil or liners over that drip pan. That’s such a hassle.

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Ok, old guy who isn’t that dumb but not as informed as y’all. Why would I buy a pellet grill when I live in the sticks and can get pecan, oak or crabapple wood any time I want. I got two off set DIY smokers but want to know who makes the best electric wood/pellet smoker around. Portable and less than $300. I’d not I’m gonna stick to my converted old refrigerator with a hot plate.

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I don’t know anything about portable pellet smokers. I’m assuming you mean portable as in throw in your truck and haul it somewhere. Mine is portable because it has two big wheels to roll it around, but I certainly can’t lift it into the back of my truck. I saw a vertical one at Tractor Supply the other day that looked portable enough to me. Offset smokers are awesome to me, but I work about 60-70 hours a week and use my pellet grill for ease, speed, and convenience. I turn it on and it’s ready to cook something in 15 minutes. When I’m done grilling or smoking something I hit the off button. No messing with building a fire and tending to it which is a lot of fun if you have the time. Unfortunately time is something I don’t have a lot to spare these days with work, family, and chores around the house.