Weber Searwood 600 & XL 600 Review | Pellet Grill Review | New 2024 Pellet Grill from Weber

[@Cooper-co4ze]

This is the most comprehensive review for all I have seen. Gave me the final push to buy one.

[@justgrillin]

@@Cooper-co4ze glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for watching and have fun with the grill. It’s super easy to use and you can do a lot of fun things with it. - Sam

[@Killer_K20]

Great video, watched it yesterday and ordered myself a XL today.

[@barrioraza3]

Best review I’ve seen

[@justgrillin]

@@barrioraza3 thank you. Glad you found the video and thought it was worth the watch. - Sam

[@mommadomingo1440]

Thank you. I just got mine and this was a very helpful video

[@justgrillin]

@@mommadomingo1440 you’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed the video. Have fun with the grill. - Sam

[@johnk2546]

Thanks!

[@nelsonjimenez983]

Loved your video. Great info and i see you actually answer questions here in the comments. Keep up the great job!👍🏼

[@justgrillin]

It’s not easy keeping up with the comments sometimes but I do try my best. Thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked the video. - Sam

[@kevingebert4316]

Yep, I think I'm updating from my 7yr old Jim Bowie to a Searwood. Been seeing nothing but great reviews and finished product on them all!

[@BILL-dy1xg]

Great review sir. I like the concept of a do it all grill. Do you think the addition of grill greats would enhance the grilling and level out the heating consistency of it?

[@jeffg.6660]

Great video - thanks! You reinforced my decision to get the Searwood

[@justgrillin]

Awesome. Glad to hear! Thanks for watching. - Sam

[@MarcQuist]

The bark on the brisket looked fantastic. For the age old debate of stick burner vs. pellet, how was the smoke taste on the food?

[@justgrillin]

The flavor is great and everyone else that has tried all the food off of this grill has felt the same. You’ll always get more flavor from cooking with charcoal/wood splits versus pellets. That’s just a fact. But I think the smoke flavor from this grill is more than sufficient for most people at home. But this is one of those subjective topics. The smokiness flavor level to some is much higher or lower based on that person’s definition of what smoky flavor should be. - Sam

[@richardkelly4354]

Is the Searwood susceptible grease fires like the Traeger?

[@Scott.B70]

Love my searwood. Keeping my weber kettle tho, nothing can replace that. The searwood does make a good steak, though, im certainly not complaining. Love it!

[@leeweber7]

Great review Sam. Do any of the features allow one to transition from smoke to sear during the cook without removing grates snd food? Thank you

[@justgrillin]

As long as you have the grill setup normal, no need to remove anything. Weber designed if to be easy to use. You can seamlessly go from smoke to high heat without removing inner components. - Sam

[@leeweber7]

@@justgrillinbrilliant! Good to hear! I need this! Warranty period?

[@justgrillin]

@@leeweber7 I mention it at the end of the video. 5 years on the cookbox, 3 years electronics, 3 years on the grates, diffuser, burn pot. It’s a solid warranty. 3 years on electronics is considered great for the BBQ industry. - Sam

[@richardkelly4354]

For smoking whole briskets and spareribs, is wrapping really necessary? Will the internal fat in the brisket point fully render out?

[@justgrillin]

@@richardkelly4354 wrapping would not affect this. The meat is still insulated and cooking. Cooking butcher paper is what you want because it insulates and steam escapes whereas foil steam cooks. You can always try both ways but I do not enjoy my briskets as much if I don’t wrap. That’s my personal preference. Ribs is a toss up. I always wrap but sometimes I will use foil. Rarely, but I prefer butcher paper still. Ribs take too long without because they can easily dry out so I do recommend it for ribs, whether butcher or foil. You can add liquid and more flavor when you wrap ribs which is a plus. Cooking is always personal preference. You never have to use a wrap but it’s an option that produces a better result in my opinion, and many other top BBQ personalities. - Sam

[@richardkelly4354]

@@justgrillin When I smoked whole briskets using a Treager, the internal fat in the point wouldn't render out resulting in a point that had the texture of jello. My technique was to start the cook at the "super smoke" setting of 165. That goes for 6 hours, then I set the temp at 225 and let it go overnight until late the next morning. The flat was amazing with a great smoke ring and super juicy. I did not wrap because that is too much for me to do. But the point was really bad with unrendered fat. Spareribs always dried out on me after about three hours at 250.

[@justgrillin]

@@richardkelly4354 this is a great technique for ribs: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJ7McqCcZZaiZq8 As for the point fat not rendering, you don't want to let the brisket cook on the Smokeboost setting for more than 2 hours. The fat isn't going to render very well at that temperature so that is affecting your end result. The wrap can be an inconvenience but I do believe it's something worth your time. Watch some videos out there and you'll be hard pressed to find someone not teaching you to wrap. I equate a lot of things to power tools nowadays. Can I get most jobs done without a bunch of specialty tools? Yes. Does not using the right tools make things harder and compromise the finish of the end result, in most cases yes. Start by not using the Smokeboost setting for any longer than 2 hours. See how things turn out and then if you still feel it's not where you want, try wrapping. The wrapping is going to help that fat render because it's keeping the brisket heated inside. - Sam

[@tbernardi001]

how does the griddle work for smash burgers? Does it get hot enough for a good bark on the burger and good fry on the onions?

[@justgrillin]

@@tbernardi001 yes. Very good accessory to add to the grill. You will be happy with the results. - Sam

[@DavidJackson-c5i]

Very nice review. Thanks.

[@oldman0995]

Love how methodical and comprehensive your video is. Could you please provide details on how you did the brisket thx

[@justgrillin]

@@oldman0995 thank you. I smoked it at 225 the whole time. Wrapped it in butcher paper around the stall. From what I remember on this cook it stalled around 156. Put it back on til 203 internally and let it rest for two hours. Overall it was on the smoker for 24 hours. Started it around 4 PM the day before and was slicing it around 6-6:30 PM the next day. - Sam

[@cgan2013]

@@justgrillinthank you for detailing the cook time. Just curious about the amount of pellets it took for this 24 hr cook? And did you have to babysit it overnight to make sure you did not have to replenish the hopper? TIA😊

[@KitchensUSN]

Mine is on back order… out of stock ugh! Great video!

[@JohnDaly-o4s]

Hi Sam, I noticed that you had some aluminum foil under the cooking surface of one of your cooks. What was that used for?

[@justgrillin]

@@JohnDaly-o4s I use that when I cook ribs. It’s not anything that has to do with better results, it just makes cleaning easier. I use it on those trays and it makes it easy to not scrub a lot of drippings off the tray when done. I use the trays to keep my grill clean because who actually likes cleaning a grill?

[@JohnDaly-o4s]

@@justgrillin Thanks. I do the same with my Masterbuilt electric smoker.

[@sixty7mustang24]

I wish you would have gone more into grilling with temp mode vs manual mode!

[@justgrillin]

I'll do more with the manual mode in our video with the full-size griddle. That's more so why they created this feature. We'll have that video in the coming weeks. There's really not too much to dive into with it. There's not an advantage to cooking in manual mode unless you're using the griddle insert or doing something that you need the lid open for. The reason being is that the grill basically is being told (through pre-programming) how fast to keep feeding pellets and isn't going to stop until you change modes or the temp level setting. For everything else, you want to stick with regular cooking mode. Thanks for sharing your feedback. - Sam

[@sixty7mustang24]

@@justgrillin thank you so grilling steaks it is better to use temp mode instead of manual mode?

[@justgrillin]

@@sixty7mustang24 yes. Unless you're adamant on cooking with the lid open the entire time, regular temperature mode is the way to go for steaks.

[@sixty7mustang24]

@@justgrillin thank you so much I've been grilling on manual mode and it just didn't seem quite right.

[@richardkelly4354]

Can the Searwood use any brand of pellets? Which brand do you recommend?

[@justgrillin]

@@richardkelly4354 most pellets will work in it. That said, I would stick to brands with good reputations. You’ll pay more for a bag but the quality of a better pellet makes a difference. Better brands like BBQr’s Delight or Weber’s pellets produce less ash, have no binders,flavor sprays or fillers and burn cleanly. This means you are getting as true a wood flavor, more of the pellet converts to heat (as opposed to burning up faster leading to larger fuel consumption and more frequent cleaning), and less likely to absorb moisture and swell which can cause an auger jam. There will be people on both sides of spectrum that say they use the cheapest pellet in their area and works fine. I prefer to go with the better options but you can always test things for a month or two either way and see how you like things and then make your decision of which pellets you prefer to buy. - Sam

[@richardkelly4354]

@@justgrillin I live in Northern Calif and bought my Searwood through ACE Hardware as a special order. When they delivered my grill, they gave me a free bag of Treager pellets. Does that brand leave more residue than the brands you recommended?

[@justgrillin]

@ yes. But there are plenty of people that use Traeger pellets out there. Do some Google searches on opinions of Traeger pellets.

[@JJBirky]

I’m curious how long it takes to get up to temp. I tried to look at your temp graphs but couldn’t tell how much of the flat lines was before you turned the thing on. Since it seems to give a pretty great sear, that start up time is really the only factor I’m weighing between this and a gas/smoker combo. Thanks!

[@justgrillin]

15 minutes. I would give it 10 minutes longer beyond once it hits temp to stabilize but if you don’t want to wait, 15 minutes after your initial first time is to be expected for start up. - Sam

[@WiscTJK]

With the side shelf installed, how do you move the grill around as it has no front casters on that side?

[@justgrillin]

There’s not really a good way to grab it cleanly. Either gotta bend awkwardly to grab legs or grab the brackets. That’s why I recommend getting the front shelf but not necessarily the side table unless you really need the extra prep space. - Sam

[@thaddeuskrzus5679]

I went to college with this guy!

[@justgrillin]

Probably not the type of broadcast you would expect to find me on! I minored in grillology… Hope you’re well, Thaddeus.

[@TheChris13844]

Any thoughts on performance of this smoker in cold weather? Some smokers come with a blanket for cold weather cooking, but dont see this as an option for the Searwood.

[@justgrillin]

Asking the wrong guy on this one. I’m in Tampa, Florida. We get very few days below 50 in our winter. The grill manual points out the controller adjusts accordingly but may take longer to heat up when it’s cold out. There’s a cold weather icon when the grill deems it cold to let you know it’s going to take longer. Cookbox and lid are similar to insulation on the Genesis Gas Grills. The best cold weather pellet grill/smoker is a Yoder Smoker. But that depends on your budget since you’re talking double plus some on the price points. They make an insulated cover for use during winter. - Sam

[@TheChris13844]

Thank you, Sam.

[@kontinuity4]

What was your cooking process for cooking the ribs, steaks and burgers? (i.e. temp used and duration)

[@justgrillin]

Ribs I cooked for three hours total. 2 hours unwrapped at 275 F and spritzed every half hour. Wrapped in butcher paper for 1 hour at 325 F. Typically they’ll be done or close to done. Still need to use an instant read but I look for 203 internally. The steaks I cooked at 600 F the whole time until 125-130 internally. That’s if you want a really good crust on the outside. Otherwise you can slow cook them and then hit them with high heat but you won’t have as much of a harder crust. Burgers I cook at 550 F until 135 internally. - Sam

[@gregdrillock2084]

Great Video. I’m in the market for a genesis 3 burner gas grill and 26” kettle charcoal grill. Could the Searwood be a good alternative to buying those 2 grills? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[@justgrillin]

It very well could be. Depends on what you like to do with the charcoal grill. The Searwood can accommodate a lot of accessories like a rotisserie, griddle, sear grate, wok and others. It’s a very effortless grill to use too. Hard for me to give you a good answer without knowing more about your cooking habits and what you’re looking for in both of those grills. - Sam

[@gregdrillock2084]

Thanks for the quick response. Charcoal grill used primarily for grilling steaks, chicken, lamb, burgers, fish where I want the charcoal flavor and nice grill marks. Gas grill is used for quick cooking when I don’t have time to mess with charcoal.

[@justgrillin]

@@gregdrillock2084 your charcoal grill will get hotter than this. It heats up in 15 minutes to 600 which is fast. You still should let it stabilize for 10 minutes at that temp but you don’t have to. It’s a quick heat up. It’s a mixed bag. There’s plenty of people that do pellet and charcoal grills. They say they use the charcoal for certain occasions but prefer the pellet grill for convenience most of the time. If you did a pellet grill, I’d maybe get a gas grill still just because it’s useful still. - Sam

[@justinpitts3640]

man that thing looks sweet!!!

[@skipdavison7682]

I do a lot of grilling in the winter and I'm in N Dakota. How cold will this grill operate, I know the Traeger won't run below 30 degrees?

[@justgrillin]

Weber doesn't really specify an exact temp range. It says that the screen might not turn if it's really cold on so you would just hit the knob to let the grill run at 200 degrees for a few minutes and then it should start. They say it should run in cold weather, just might take longer to get to the set temperature. I lived in Sioux City, Iowa for a few years. Probably not as cold as it gets in your area but I know the type of cold you're referencing. You might need to invest in a heat-rated insulated blanket to drape over the grill. I know it gets below zero pretty quickly with the wind chill. Yoder Smokers might be your best option. Those are built in the Midwest and there's plenty of people in the upper plains and central lowlands with their grills. - Sam

[@mikekaderabek4481]

No wheels on other side? What holds the hopper closed?

[@justgrillin]

@@mikekaderabek4481 fixed legs on one side. The hopper is just a basic hinge. There’s nothing in particular that holds it closed. The lid has an overbite when closed. Do you have trouble with lids opening or something? It’s not really a concern that pops up here. - Sam

[@fishindoc6025]

Sam...i know you mentioned it has good flavor but not as much as compared to a stick burner. How does the flavor compare to other pellet grills?

[@justgrillin]

That’s still kind of a broad question. What other pellet grills are you considering? - Sam

[@fishindoc6025]

@@justgrillin woodwind pro

[@justgrillin]

@@fishindoc6025 depends on how you primarily want to use the grill. Searwood goes to 600 and Woodwind goes to 500 to my knowledge. The Searwood burns cleanly and has good flavor. The Woodwind has the extra smoke box. I think it’s more of a gimmick because it’s going to require some work to manage the temperature (when using chunks or charcoal) and the purpose of a pellet grill is to be primarily hands off/free once you start cooking. Any flavor difference is probably unnoticeable. I like the accessory capabilities of the Searwood better but that only matters if you would actually get any of them. Smoke flavor is very subjective to each person. I think pellet grills have good flavor. But it’s similar to someone that wants a heavy IPA to someone that likes a lighter craft beer. There’s still plenty of flavor but the strength of it isn’t what hits you first. - Sam

[@fishindoc6025]

@@justgrillin thanks

[@hugolemay1559]

Is the Searwood XL somewhat insulated? Living in the north and love to smoke in the winter. Often under freezing temps. (25F to 32F) I hate my blanket and would like to upgrade.

[@justgrillin]

@@hugolemay1559 it’s definitely heftier than what the Smokefire was. However, I would say you probably would still need that. Yoder Smokers makes arguably the most insulated pellet grill and many users in cold weather places still use an insulated cover jacket with that. I don’t live in a cold enough place to really deal with that so it’s one of the few things experience wise I can’t speak to personally. - Sam

[@MorganB-px7fp]

Can you use this smoker in the rain? I'm wondering if the controller is waterproof.

[@justgrillin]

Yes. I have left mine out in the rain and still runs fine. I’m in Florida. - Sam

[@alinthemind]

How much more pellet fuel does the XL model consume compared to the regular size?

[@justgrillin]

@@alinthemind that question gets asked a lot. It’s tough to do that test because of so many variables. If you’re shopping based on that, I would say that’s a bad way to go about it. You’ll certainly use more pellets on the XL but it’s not something like every 3 bags on the regular, you would use 4 on the XL. The grill is very fuel efficient in general. Just pick the size you need. You’ll never complain down the road of buying an extra bag of pellets but you will always remember if you didn’t get enough grill space. - Sam

[@puhfeffer2004]

How long does it take to ramp up to 600?

[@justgrillin]

15 minutes. It’s very fast. Your initial burn in it will take longer but afterwards you’re good to go. Even though the controller reads 600, I still would give it another 10 minutes to stabilize at that temp. Let the grill build up some heat retention. - Sam

[@moek.9179]

does the rotisserie attach with the smaller grill? Usually rotisseries on Weber grills hang low so we often need to remove the grates is that the same here?

[@justgrillin]

They make a rotisserie for both Searwood models. It’s going to depend on what you put on the rotisserie if you need to take the grates out. I assume you’re asking to gauge if you can put a pan underneath? - Sam

[@moek.9179]

@@justgrillin exactly the reason for my question, for say a whole chicken with a pan underneath

[@moek.9179]

thank you for the quick reply!

[@justgrillin]

@@moek.9179 if you're talking about a small little roaster chicken you can definitely make that work. When you get into slightly bigger chickens and cuts you may be able to get away with a shallow flat pan. A lot of this will really just vary based on the size of what you buy, how good you are at tying things up on the spit rod and what you're trying to accomplish with the pan underneath. - Sam

[@moek.9179]

@@justgrillin thank you so much

[@williamburdette1886]

Wasn't sure why they did not put a smoke stack on it

[@justgrillin]

Some of the grills that have them it's more for show than serving an actual purpose. Pellet grills like Yoder Smokers use a stack because the grill is setup like an offset grill. Certain sizes allow you to diffuse heat different ways for more customizable cooking preferences with Yoder's grills. Their stack serves a purpose in that case because all the smoke is forced across the cook chamber. They use a gasket around the door to seal off the chamber. The Searwood does a great job despite not being setup like a true offset grill. - Sam

[@SchoolHardKnocks]

Sam, how do you think the Searwood compares to the SmokeFire? I have the SmokeFire EX6 Gen2. Love it, the smoked produced off of my SmokeFire is amazing. I know you have shown several videos of the SmokeFire and wanted to get your thoughts

[@justgrillin]

I do think the Searwood is a better grill. I liked cooking with the Smokefire and didn’t have many gripes with it. That said, Weber really took their time designing this and I do think this grill performs better with more consistent temperatures. The Smokefire had wider temperature variations from left to right and front to back. I think the Searwood has more consistency in this area which in turn leads to better food. This grill heats up faster for sure which I find helpful really at the higher temps. The Smokefire tended to take longer to recover after the lid was open but when you’re high heat cooking, you need it to snap back fast. I do like on the Smokefire how you don’t have to clean the burn pot since the ash falls down below to the tray. This model you have to clean it out but I don’t say that as a gripe because it’s par for the course with pellet grills. Weber just kind of spoiled us with that feature on the Smokefire. Thanks for asking. Hope you enjoyed the video. Let me know if you have other questions. - Sam

[@SchoolHardKnocks]

@@justgrillin Thank you for your honest feedback

[@youmbgtube]

Nice review! I bought one of these. I'm in the Chicago area. So far love the grill but the cover has issues. I even saw in your video, like mine, the cover doesn't protect the bottom shelf! It needs to be couple inches longer. They have thin leg straps but they are hard to put on/off and still do not make the cover protect the lower shelf. Additionally, I purchased the rotisserie and the motor bracket has sharp edges that look like they could over time cut the cover. Such a nice grill - such a poor cover design.

[@justgrillin]

Thank you. It’s probably different thoughts based on your region for certain things. I don’t mind the cover not going all the way down. My big concern is just protecting from rain getting into the areas where grease is. My patio furniture covers go to the ground and they just collect standing water which leads to mildew and mold. Not going to the ground is okay with me since it lets air flow through but I get your point depending on what you want to store below the grill. Well this is version one of this grill. I assume they’ll let it ride this way for a year or two and then make changes to the grill and accessories after collecting enough feedback. Glad you’re enjoying the grill. I’ve been happy with mine and our clients that have taken one home have been happy with theirs too so far. - Sam

[@the-bu3lb]

Seems like this pellet grill leaks a ton of smoke. Do u know if extra or better gaskets are available. I would hate to spend a massive amount of money only actually find out it leaks worse then it’s shown on your video.

[@justgrillin]

It vents in the rear just like their gas grills do. That’s primarily where you see the smoke coming from in the video. There aren’t gaskets on it. This is par for the course with pellet grills in this price range. These models are some of the more affordable, everyday price points. If something like that concerns you then double your budget plus some to get a Yoder Smoker. Those are meant to mimic offset grills. They have at least triple the thickness of metal and have a strong sealed gasket around the door. - Sam

[@mikekaderabek4481]

Rec tec

[@richardkelly4354]

Can the Searwood use any brand of pellets? Which brand do you recommend?