I received my new Weber Searwood on Saturday and did my first burn and cook over the long weekend. I previously had a GMG Daniel Boone that had too many repairs required to be worth salvaging after 6 years. The grill came from Lowe’s fully assembled.
Burn in was simple, the grill got up to the recommended 400* quite quickly. One concern I had after the burn in was that ash seemed to move around the grill more than I’m used to due to the more open design. It was not a lot by any means, but the deflector set up is quite different and air moves around the grill much more aggressively.
First cook was some chuck burnt ends. Roasts went on at 8:30am at 220, bumped to 250 at 10:30am. Pulled the roasts to cube when they hit 160 at about 3:30. Cubed and put in a pan with some brown sugar, butter, a little stock, and bbq sauce. Covered with foil and back on at 350 for 2 hours. Sauced cubes again and on the rack at 275 for 30 and then done. I used Cooking Pellets hickory.
Quite a pronounced smoke ring was visible when cubing. I tasted a bit at this point and the smoke flavor was excellent. After braising and saucing the smoke was still quite present amongst the other flavors.
Things I like about this grill:
•very good smoke flavor for a pellet burner. Way better than the poor smoke flavor from the steam smokers that all the restaurants have to use in Chicagoland.
• So far quite easy to clean, but I did use drip pans.
• Quick to get to temperature
• higher heat feels like it will actually grill, though I have a flat top and a Weber performer for searing if needed.
• The app is fantastic and works well on site or off. Full control from my phone even while I was at a Memorial Day parade.
Upper rack is quite large. Could easily fit a smaller brisket, meaning 2 briskets is feasible.
Things that I am not a fan of:
•Does not fit my existing GMG pizza oven. May be able to retrofit
• the display controls aren’t as intuitive as I’d like. I’ll stick to the app.
• Worried that higher heat cooking may get ash on the food (to be tested, no worse than a charcoal pit I expect)
Time will tell if it is built to last, though the cooker feels solid to me and seemed to hold heat well. Pellet usage seemed about average, probably used about 14 lbs over the burn in and cook, with multiple hours at 350-400. So far very pleased with the purchase. Happy to answer any questions I can.
by Chausible