What a piece of junk ...Weber

[Smoke'n Hot]

Today I was attempting to take my son to the Asheville aeroport so he could fly back to college in Orlando. Flight got cancelled by Allegiant. Anyway, we were killing time before he checked the flight and I was at the Sportsman Warehouse there in Asheville. They have a grill section and of course had Traeger and the had Webers Smoke Fire pellet grills. They had one about the size of the 700 and it was $1,199. I opened it up and was like wow, what a piece of crap. It was made out of some cheap stamped steel had a double wall type build . The grates were significantly thinner diameter material wise and they weren't stainless . The wheels looked to be hard plastic and the lid/door was put on by flimsy looking hinge mechanism also made from stamped looking sheet metal.

Now I normally don't go bashing other products . People buy what they want, I don't care one way or the other . However, maybe this post is more about the build quality of the Rec Teq than anything else . The 700 just blows away the Weber . Period.

 

[Numnutzme]

The double wall will retain heat better than a single wall at higher temperatures......wait a minute, I guess it depends on if this was a true smoker or a grill. Either way, companies are in business to make a profit, and in reality, we can take just about anything in our lives, and apply the "we don't know what we don't know". I didn't hear about reqtec until 6 months ago when I started to look at replacing our electric smoker. I was going to purchase a traeger until my wife asked if I had looked at reqtec.

But I do agree with you, and thus the term "disposable items" something I wish we could avoid

 

[chadinsc]

you are definitely right. you notice the super thin sheet metal in the pellet hopper also? the version 1 had a feed problem (and other problems) so rather than actually change the shape of the hopper they added a thin piece of metal in there to make the pellets slide down a steeper hill. it’s about as thin as air duct metal. but its made in USA! usa used to really mean quality

 

[Gonefishin]

That's what happens when a company gets eaten by an equity firm.

 

[Motodad1776]

Highly doubt Weber is still "made in the USA" for at least all their products, the original charcoal kettle grills are still solid however. I have a $1500 piece of crap NG Weber grill out on the patio, anything touted as stainless steel has rusted/pitted, and the grill body itself after only 4 years is rusting badly.......never again, hell I rarely use it any more anyways.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

Weber chimed in on TVWBB when someone made statements about the kettles being made in China. He said they are made in the US. The domes are pressed in the US and assembled here.

 

[Motodad1776]

Regardless their quality has gone to shite over the years.....

 

[BradBQ]

And this is why I opted to restore a 2000 Weber Genesis Silver for 50 total vs buying a new Weber grill when it came time to replace my gasser.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

Weber never came across to me as a premium product line. They target mostly the lower to middle market. Now that they are corporate/public, profits and stock prices are their priority.

Their pellet grill was pumped up before they released it and the loyal Weber brand enthusiasts were chattering all over the web about it....until it hit the stores. It was hardly the equal to a Chinese Traeger. Big disappointment.

Premium grills/bbqs are out there, but don't bet on a brand holding their quality values as they grow. There's a parallel on the paths of Weber and RecTeq.

 

[sdynak]

I do enjoy my Weber's but I would not rate them like some folks do. They have issues just like the rest although I do think they tend to hold up a bit longer in general.

I would not consider the smoker but that is due to Traeger mostly. They ruined it for me some years back. Knowing what I know today, I would have likely modified my last one with another controller and auger motor. My first one the auger kept getting stuck. Not with wet pellets getting hard just pellets getting caught and not spinning. It happened a few times, got fed up and I returned it to Costco. Luckily I bought it there for that one. The second one it would not stay lit at low temps and kept flaming out and the top temp was like 430 ish and it struggled significantly to get there.

 

[Gonefishin]

And this is why I opted to restore a 2000 Weber Genesis Silver for 50 total vs buying a new Weber grill when it came time to replace my gasser.

I hear you, I picked up a 2001 Gold when my 2000 Skyline rusted apart a few years ago. It's nice having a grill built like a tank. You got the better deal, think mine was $150.