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We’ve been tracking the Searwood’s release for a while now, and it’s officially been launched. While its basic pellet grill functionality checks all the boxes, there are some additional features that set it apart. Plus, with pellet grill prices ever increasing, Weber did a good job of keeping the price down on the Searwood.
Features and Specs
- Retail price of $899 (check price) for the Searwood 600, and a retail price of $1,199 (check price) for the larger Searwood XL
- The Searwood 600 has a total cooking area of 648 inches between two racks, while the XL checks-in at 972 square inches
- Temperature range of 180° F – 600° F for a wide range of cooking
- Plated steel cooking grates
- 2 temperature probe ports on the updated controller
- Weber Connect through Bluetooth and WiFi
- Newly designed grease tray and ash catcher
- Pellet level sensor
Heat, Fire, and Smoke
The new Searwood appears to improve in all the crucial areas you’d want in a grill. It features a temperature range of 180° F – 600° F, which is some of the best top end range amongst pellet grills.
It also has DirectFlame cooking with a sear zone. It’s hard to tell from the design how they’re executing this, but we’re guessing it has to do with the deflector plate over the fire pot. It looks like it can be angled back, so the fire pot would be exposed directly to the back portion of the cooking grate.
Sear zones are a common feature on gas grills, but they’re great for reverse searing steaks, or just searing in general. Hopefully the sear zone works as advertised, because that would be a nice feature to have on a pellet grill.
Beyond the DirectFlame cooking, smoke levels have also been improved. Weber added a SmokeBoost setting to the Searwood. This adds smoke to your cook, which addresses a common complaint on pellet grills.
Finally, Weber advertises that the Searwood has quick heating times. They advertise that it can get to temp in 15 minutes or less. They tested this with premium hardwood pellets, at an ambient temp of 77°F. Obviously, if you’re heating up the grill in the dead of winter in Michigan, your time will vary.
Accessories
One area that Weber is doing a fantastic job is with their accessories. They design them really well so that the accessories integrate with the grill, as opposed to just being something thrown on top. A good example is the grate design in their new 26″ charcoal grill that is made for accessories.
It’s also an area that the Searwood shines. The Searwood works with accessories like a rotisserie and a griddle. That adds to what you can do with your pellet.
I’m a big fan of the rotisserie attachment. It’s a simple add-on that’s found on many different charcoal and gas grills, but for whatever reason is hard to find on pellet grills.