Weber Searwood 600 Review: Weber's Sear-First Pellet Grill in 2026

The Weber Searwood 600 is Weber's ground-up answer to the question that sank its first pellet grill: can a pellet cooker smoke low-and-slow and sear a steak like a gas grill? Launched in 2024 as the successor to the discontinued SmokeFire, the Searwood runs a true 180-600°F — the "600" in the name is the max temperature, not a size or model number — and it earned AmazingRibs' Platinum Medal, their highest award. In 2026 it comes in exactly two sizes: the 24-inch Searwood 600 (model 1500120, $999) and the 36-inch Searwood XL 600 (model 1500121, $1,299), both sold at weber.com and major grill retailers.

Who It's For

The Searwood is for the buyer who wants one grill that does everything — genuine low-temperature smoking at 180°F, set-and-forget WiFi cooks in the middle, and real direct-flame searing at the top end. If your pellet grill shopping keeps stalling on "but it can't sear," this is the machine built to end that objection; it anchors our best pellet grills for searing guide for exactly that reason.

It's also for Weber loyalists who got burned (or scared off) by the SmokeFire and want to know whether the second attempt is safe. It is — more on the fixes below.

If your ceiling is a hard $1,000, the standard Searwood 600 squeaks in at $999, and you can see how it stacks up against cheaper rivals in our best pellet grills under $1,000 roundup. Its most direct competitor at that price is the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24, which counters with a wood-chunk Smoke Box for heavier smoke flavor — we break that matchup down in our Searwood vs. Woodwind comparison.

Key Features

• 180-600°F temperature range on both models — the full spread from SmokeBoost smoking to steakhouse searing, reaching temperature in 15 minutes or less.
• DirectFlame full-grate searing — stainless steel Flavorizer bars sit over an open firepot, so direct heat reaches the entire cooking grate instead of a small sear zone.
• Manual Mode for open-lid cooking — run it like a gas grill or griddle platform without the controller fighting the open lid.
• Rapid React PID controller with WiFi + Bluetooth and the Weber Connect app for monitoring and temperature control from your phone (note: no remote-start — you fire it up at the grill).
• SmokeBoost 180°F setting for maximum smoke early in a cook, plus two included meat probes.
• 20-lb side-mounted hopper on both sizes; the XL adds a fuel gauge with low-pellet alerts (the standard 600 doesn't get it).
• Pull-and-Clean front drawer that collects grease and ash together for quick disposal.
• Cast-aluminum weatherproof cookbox with a porcelain-enameled lid — the same durable construction philosophy as Weber's gas grills, backed by a 5-year cookbox / 3-year electronics warranty. Runs on standard 120V power.

Size specs: the Searwood 600 offers 648 sq in of cooking space (a 420 sq in, 24" x 17.5" main grate plus a 228 sq in upper rack) at 125.4 lbs, measuring 45.75"H x 38.5"W x 23"D. The XL 600 offers 972 sq in (630 main + 342 upper) at 157.8 lbs and 50.5" wide.

Performance: What the Testers Found

We'll let the two most rigorous editorial testers in barbecue make the case.

AmazingRibs awarded the Searwood its Platinum Medal — the site's top honor. Their testing found a true 600°F across the entire cooking grate, not just a hot spot over the firepot, and they described the output as "some of the best smoke quality we've experienced from a pellet burner." That's a striking line for a category long criticized for faint smoke flavor. Their gripes were practical rather than fundamental: skimpy shelf space out of the box, actual temps running about 15°F below the dial setting, and no casters on a grill that weighs over 125 lbs.

Smoked BBQ Source scored it 4.5/5. Their measurements: the grill hit 600°F in 13 minutes, the Rapid React controller held temperature within about ±5°F of the setpoint, WiFi connectivity worked flawlessly throughout testing, and their brisket and ribs showed a good smoke ring. Their cons echo real-world use: the grill has hot and cold zones — the right side runs hotter, with roughly a 50°F front-to-back difference — so plan to rotate meat on long cooks, and the shelves that should be standard cost extra.

Read together, the consensus is unusually clear: class-leading high-heat performance and genuinely good smoke, held back only by accessory nickel-and-diming and minor temperature quirks you can manage with meat placement.

The Sear Test: Why "600" Matters

Most pellet grills advertise grilling but deliver roasting — they top out at 450-500°F with the fire hidden under a deflector plate, so a "seared" steak comes out gray-brown instead of crusted. The Searwood's whole architecture targets that failure. The open firepot under stainless Flavorizer bars (DirectFlame) delivers radiant direct heat across the full grate at a verified 600°F, and Manual Mode lets you cook with the lid open — flipping burgers and searing steaks the way you would on a gas grill, something most pellet controllers can't tolerate. If searing is your top criterion, this and a small handful of rivals in our searing-focused rankings are the shortlist.

From SmokeFire to Searwood: What Weber Fixed

The SmokeFire (2020) was Weber's ambitious, flawed first swing at this same "smoke plus sear" concept, and it was discontinued after persistent complaints. The Searwood is a ground-up redesign that addresses the big three directly:

1. Hopper moved from the rear to the side. The SmokeFire's rear hopper was awkward to load and check; the Searwood's side-mounted 20-lb hopper is easy to reach.
2. Accepts any pellet brand. The SmokeFire's feed system was notoriously finicky about pellets; the Searwood's auger runs happily on whatever brand you pour in.
3. Pull-and-Clean front drawer. Grease and ash management — the SmokeFire's most infamous weakness — is now a single front drawer you slide out and empty.

If SmokeFire horror stories are the reason you've been hesitating on a Weber pellet grill, those specific problems are the ones this grill was engineered to eliminate.

Don't Confuse It With the Weber Smoque

One naming landmine: in 2025 Weber released the Smoque, which shares the Searwood's basic chassis and sells for about $200 less — but it has no direct-flame searing and tops out at 500°F. If you're buying for the sear, make sure the box says Searwood, not Smoque.

Searwood 600 vs. XL 600: Which Size?

Both models share the identical controller, temperature range, hopper capacity, and construction, so this is purely a space-and-budget call:

• Searwood 600 ($999): 648 sq in, 125.4 lbs. Comfortably handles a brisket, two pork butts, or several racks of ribs — the right size for most families, and it stays under the $1,000 line.
• Searwood XL 600 ($1,299): 972 sq in, 157.8 lbs, 50.5" wide. The extra half-again cooking area suits big gatherings and multi-meat cooks, and the XL is the only model with the pellet fuel gauge and low-pellet alerts — a genuinely useful feature on overnight cooks.

For most buyers we'd point to the standard 600 and put the $300 difference toward the add-on shelf and a few bags of pellets. Choose the XL 600 if you routinely feed a crowd.

Price and Where to Buy

Both models launched in 2024 at $899 and $1,199; as of our July 14, 2026 check, weber.com lists them at $999 and $1,299 — a $100 increase since launch. Factor in that side tables and shelves are sold separately, the single most common complaint across reviews of an otherwise premium package.

One important shopping note: don't hunt for this grill on Amazon. The only Amazon listing (the XL) shows as Currently Unavailable as of this writing, and Amazon searches tend to surface the cheaper, sear-less Smoque instead. The Searwood is sold at weber.com, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, and BBQGuys — our buttons below link straight to Weber's own product pages.

Verdict

The Weber Searwood 600 earns its 4.6 by solving the pellet-grill category's oldest weakness. It smokes as well as machines built only to smoke — AmazingRibs' Platinum Medal and smoke-quality praise settle that — and then it does the thing almost none of them can: a real 600°F, full-grate, open-lid sear. The flaws are real but manageable: budget for the shelf Weber should have included, learn the hot right side, and accept that a 125-lb grill without casters lives where you put it.

Against the field, the calculus is simple. Traeger still can't match the sear — see our Traeger vs. Weber breakdown — while the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 fights back with heavier smoke flavor from its wood-chunk Smoke Box; our head-to-head comparison picks a winner by use case. But if you want one cooker that genuinely retires both your smoker and your gas grill, the Searwood 600 is the strongest argument in 2026.