Weber 14.5 -inch Smokey Mountain Cooker, Charcoal Smoker,Black Patio, Lawn & Garden

5.0 out of 5 stars

Thank you Weber!

I seldom write reviews so hopefully this will carry some weight! I have owned the 18″ and the 21″ & used both extensively. The last one I owned was the 21″ and if your cooking several racks of ribs and other meats at the same time, it’s hard to beat! Since my wife and I started full time Rving last year we had to sell the big smoker and I resorted to dutch oven cooking because of space constraints; ( After longing for a decent smoked rack a ribs, I started researching small smokers when I found out that weber now made a small, 14″er. I was skeptical but my desire for that smokey flavored meat was stronger. So, I pulled the trigger on this bad boy and after receiving it 2 days later, fired it up with a rack of baby backs! Granted , I had to cut the rack in half, but it’s not really a big deal. A rack is really more than my wife and I SHOULD eat! I read another reviewer that trashed this little smoker and I couldn’t disagree more. This is the best smoker by far, of any of the 3 I have owned. The heat is easier to regulate, and it takes a lot less charcoal to cook. About a week after the phenomenal rib feast I decided to try a pork picnic for some delicious pulled pork sandwiches. Now anybody that has ever cooked a pork roast knows, that it has to slow smoke for a looong time, usually about 1.5 hours per pound at around the 225-250 temperature range. I started my pork picnic at around 7am so we could enjoy it for supper. I loaded the charcoal holder to a little over full and then started my chimney with about 20 briquettes. In fact when I placed the middle section over the charcoal, the pan was raising up a bit, but no worries. I monitored that cooker 7-8 times during the day and after my initial setting of the vents, that little smoke cooked all day long at the 225-250 degree temp! I never had to add charcoal! It took me less than half of a 15lb bag of charcoal to smoke an 8lb pork roast! My only regret is that I did not buy this sooner! And for those that might be leery of my review, NO, I have no affiliation with Weber. I do thoroughly enjoy this great little smoker that packs up small for life on the road! Ps. I have some dutch oven cookware for sale!

12 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Five Stars when Compared to Competition

I’ve been weighing options for another smoker for a couple of years, and finally settled on this one. I also own an offset log pit with about the same size cooking space, and have been using that solely for the last 10-12 years, firing 90% of the time with lump and wood chunks. Using the minion method with name brand briquettes and wood chunks, I’ve never seen anything easier in my life than this WSM. Let it get up to temp, throttle it back a bit, and go do something else. To be able to hold a cook temp with such a small amount of coals for 10 hours? With virtually no fuss? To have a smoker that takes up almost no room on the deck, but can fit 8 slabs of ribs, or a half a dozen butts, no problem? Sweet.Pros:-Small Footprint-Large Cooking Area-Long Consistent Cook Temps-Easy to Use-Easy to Clean-Decent Recovery Time after Opening-Decently Priced-Portable-Can use Briquette or Lump (as opposed to some of its ceramic competitors)Cons-A bit difficult to work with food on bottom rack. You need a place to set the loaded top rack, or an extra set of hands when spritzing, turning, removing to wrap, etc..-As others have commented, the door is a bit cheesy. With a few minutes of tweaking, I got a decent fit, but will probably order an aftermarket.-While I understand Weber’s liability concerns, the middle section really needs handles. I will install them myself.-At least one of the tabs on the dampers has sharp edges, resulting in cutting my finger a couple of times. I will buff them down, but in the meantime have just been tapping them around with a grill brush. it’s not like they get moved often, but be careful.-Because of condensation issues, the lid has to fit inside the middle section, and rain will end up in the bottom if you don’t have it covered. I used my smoker yesterday, and it rained last night. Guaranteed I have a mucky load of wet ash, and a gallon of water to clean up. I plan to drill a couple of holes in the bottom to at least let the water drain.Smokers are like boats or RV’s: You simply cannot build one that can be all things to all people. This one has its quirks, and judged by itself, I would probably give it four stars. Compared side by side with others in its class (anything under $500-1000), I think it deserves the five star.

3 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Temperamental, but perfect size.

I own both the 22″ and the 14″, so this is a combined review. The 22″ is made to be full of a feast of meat. For only a spread of pork chops and a bone-in loin, it’s difficult to keep temperatures low (<255) for the slow. However, I can mount/use my rotisserie ring from my kettle grill on the smoker, as long as I sub the grill lid for the smoker lid. The fuel ring is huge, so if you're doing a long cook, this is a set-it-and-forget-it. Perfect for an overnight brisket, turkey, 6 chickens, or a bunch of pork shoulders.The 14" is the perfect size for an average family's dinner. Currently smoking a chuck roast, and I'll throw a tri-tip on later on the upper grate. Perfect size for both simultaneously. It has taken me a bit of time to get used to the temperament, as it's much more responsive to changes in fuel, flu settings, and lid or door opening. It definitely has a smaller and more compact arrangement, as I need to be cognizant of room to put wood chunks as I fill the ring with charcoal, to ensure there's enough clearance between the charcoal and the water pan. Also, this requires a bit more supervision as it reduced a full ring of Weber charcoal to mainly ash after about four hours. Not something I'd be confident leaving for an overnight cook, but perfect for an all-day smoke while being relatively close.Both produce amazing smoked meat, and I use each for a specific set of parameters. The 18" may be a happy medium between the two, but I enjoy the focus I use each for.

7 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

love this thing

Can’t believe I never wrote a positive review for this thing, I’ve had it for two years, use it a lot, and love it; gave one to my sister. Read the blogs of bbq competition guys who use this thing; they have many tips on how to cook with this. The key things; the temp control is all over the place until the smoker gets gunked up and seasoned. It takes 2 or 3 uses at least. That seals the air leaks and then you find this thing hums along at 250f all day. Using kingsford briquettes and hickory, I have never had to feed more fuel into it either; on 6 hour smokes the charcoal is not completely consumed. It can fit 4 baby back ribs, 2 on each level, if you curl them a bit to fit them in. I cooks more dang chicken than I eat with 3 diff kinds of smoked chicken meals (burritos are awesome), is ridiculously good on turkey breast, and I have done 2 smoked rib roasts for holiday dinners that knocked it out of the park. Buy a wireless thermometer, one with two probes, one for the meat, and one to keep track of the temp in the smoker. The one knock on the design is when you do open the top to check on things you get a brief temp spike; which is worse when the smoker is new so watch that especially when it is new. No issue now. Oh the other thing…the size and weight is awesome for moving it around the patio when you need to; I view that a plus knowing guys that have big unit smokers; and don’t use them as much because they are beasts to get going.

One person found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

I love love love my WSM!!!!

This thing is wonderful. I watched a lot of YouTube videos before I chose and started using this system and I urge you to do the same. As expected, the first two or three times I used it, it was hard to maintain the temperature I wanted. After that it became easier, both because I got better at estimating how much the inlet vents needed to be open and how much to open the top exhaust vent, and because the door and rims seal better after they start to get a layer of combustion byproducts deposited there. My wife says it is one of the best investments we’ve made in outdoor cooking and she figures its paid for itself already. We never go out to eat as we like our own cooking better and the WSM has taken our meal prep in a whole new direction. So far I’ve learned to do smoked beef roasts, smoked round steaks, salmon “nuggets”, and smoked pork loin roasts. The beef and pork are all done “low and slow” — between 220F and 260F. The salmon required an ultra low temp of 120F, followed by increases to 140, 160, and finally 180F. That was pretty tough but I managed. With that success, I am going to try smoked beef jerky next. I especially recommend Harry Su (Slap Yo Daddy BBQ) and T Roy Cooks as YouTube inspiration. I used a mixture of water and apple juice in the water bowl for several cooks, but have since started using foil wrapped large smooth stones — the water or stones act more as a temperature regulator than anything. You will find that spraying the cooking meat with a mist of water does more to set the crust and keep moisture in than water evaporating from the water pan. It is nice, however, to have the choice. I also recommend using high quality foil to wrap the pan and stones for easy clean up. Happy smoking!

5.0 out of 5 stars

Great quality and results for us casual outdoor cooks

I chose the WSM after doing my research and deciding I wanted a smoker where the smoke traveled directly from the bottom, versus a side smoker box. I rarely need to smoke anything for a large group, so I thought the 18 1/2 inch size would be fine. The smoker is very easy to use, and doesn’t take up a lot of room. The assembly instructions could be a little more clear, especially for those who aren’t pros at putting things together, but just look up videos online if you’re not sure. Unfortunately it does not come with casters or wheels, so you need to take it apart when you want to move it around, unless you have a few folks who can help hold on to it. Cleaning the grates and water bowl are easy as well, I just remove them and blast them with the hose and a grill brush.Please note, this smoker already comes with a cover! Do not buy a separate one.What I’ve learned so far to make the best BBQ in it:- Don’t follow the cooking instructions that came with the smoker, it tells you to take various meats off hours before you should. There are plenty of websites and blogs dedicated to the smoking arts, these guys know what they’re doing, so listen to them instead.- Do not use cheap charcoal. Forget the bag of Kingsford, use the chemical-free “natural” stuff; I like Stubbs briquets, other folks swear by lump charcoal. You want your meat to taste like meat, not lighter fluid. And make sure you use wood CHUNKS and not chips, the chips will burn to a crisp in minutes and you won’t get any smoke flavor out of them at all.- The “minion method” for lighting the charcoal works great in this smoker. Fill the charcoal ring about half full, and fill your chimney starter. When the chimney is ready, dump it on top of the fresh charcoal, then add your wood chunks. You’ll get a better controlled temperature for hours and hours without having to refill the coals. One hint for chimney starters, came across this and it works great, do not stuff just newspapers on the bottom, use mainly paper towels drizzled with cooking oil (corn, canola, vegetable, whatever) with just a few bits of newsprint. The newspaper produces really thick and rancid smoke while it’s lighting, but the paper towels don’t.

7 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

So Pleased

Champion Pit Master Harry Soo said it all in his review. This smoker is unlike any other I’ve owned. It will hold steady temp. I smoked ribs and chicken yesterday, and using the Minion method(see youtube) for lighting the charcoal, this smoker held temp steady at 225 for 10 hours. No additional charcoal needed. I’m so impressed. It’s like an oven and built like a tank. It’s airtight, too. After a short while, you don’t even see smoke leaking out. This was the first time I’ve smoked chicken breast that were not somewhat dried out; they were tender, flavorful and juicy, without injecting or marinating. I didn’t even use water in the pan, but like Harry said, “wrap the pan in heavy duty foil” and still place it into the smoker, even if not filling with water. In place, the foil wrapped pan will eliminate any hot spots on the grates. Also this gives even cooking on the lower grate, too. My old smoker would char and sometimes burn my food on the lower grate if I didn’t monitor it closely. I highly recommend the Smokey Mountain.For those that BBQ regularly, this is well worth the price. It is so great to not have to keep checking on the meat. I smoked my ribs for 3 hours, without opening the lid. You can on go and do other things, while this Weber takes good care of your meat. If purchasing, make sure to get a chimney starter in lieu of using lighter fluid. I purchased the Weber Rapid Fire chimney. I’m not sure why, but even using good quality Kingsford lighter fluid will leave your meat with a bad taste. I found that out the hard way. Further, the manufacturer’s included operational pamplet strongly warns against using Matchlight or any lighter fluid infused charcoal with this smoker.Before using, I recommend going to the “virtual weber bullet” website. You’ll find many tips, recipes, cooking times, venting procedures, and step by step instructions on how to operate this smoker and step by step instruction for smoking different meats, woods types, the flavors they produce and amounts of wood to use. This 18 1/2″ smoker holds a lot of meat. I’ve decided to smoke a turkey and a ham…something I’ve never done before.

5 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

the SMC works fine in that it is as they have posted good …

the SMC works fine in that it is as they have posted good at keeping the temp where you want it. Also the quality is good too. Yes it does have the cheesy side door that makes it look cheap. It certainly is not portable in any way or something that you might think of bringing to the park for a picnic. And there is one quality feature that I have an issue with and that is the top grill does not have contact on all four of the brackets that hold it up. If not careful the food will dump into the fire. so I checked a few things out and found that the 18 1/5″ grill is really only 17 1/5″. How do we get away with that. The problem is that the tube is 5/16″ out of round, that is enough to allow the grill to miss the 4th bracket when the grill is all the way to one side. I contacted customer service and they are going to send another one. They were nice and the response was good. In my HO I would make the bracket ell a little longer; the 5/16″ O-O–R does not affect the lid any. I see that a lot of you purchase the weber charcoal starter can. Our family have been doing that since 1960. We use a 6″ stove pipe that is about 12″ long. We put holes near the bottom or cut slits up the side at 4 places around the bottom. Then take 4 half sheets of news paper made into a ball; put them in the bottom and sprinkle lighter fluid to wet the paper (it only takes about 2 tablespoons). You only need enough to make it easy to light. Put your charcoal on top and light it up- 15 minutes later your cooken. I should add that it is nice that they included the vinyl cover with it. But they might have felt obligated to seeing that bottom bowl will be filled with water if left out in the rain. And not being too portable felt that this might become an issue with it. And that is why I gave it a 4; we don’t always grill when it is fair weather and am waiting for that experience.I did get the center section that they promised and it only took a few days- not the 3 weeks that customer service said it would . All in all customer service was very good and good to deal with. The center section I got was only 1/8″ out of round and was better but I can see that with the ell being so short and the edge of the grate was at the edge of ell. So I modified it so that the grate would not have a chance to tip thus allowing the food to go into the fire. I believe I will be happy with this and looks like it will last a while.After a few years of using: the enamel finish is good in that when I have to clean it I can use a razor scraper that you use for window paint and the enamel finish comes out with a shine. I let it get quite dirty before I cleaned it and had to use this scraper along with alcohol and it worked well. Also keeping the temp at the desired place is easy. Adding charcol is easy and works quite well /. I am happy with this and would buy another and recommend it for a good unit to cook on. Watch out for the cheepies.

5.0 out of 5 stars

WSM 22.5

I purchased this smoker about 6 months ago after doing alot of research. I never owned a smoker or cooked with charcoal before. The smokey mountain smokers are the best bang for your buck. I own the 22″ and the 18″ smokers. I purchased the “el cheapo brinkman” smoker about 2 weeks before i bought this smoker, the brinkman was TOTAL GARBAGE.From doing all the research i came to the conclusion to buy the 22″ smoker first. The grate size is WAY bigger then the 18″. You can easily fit 3 untrimmed racks of spare ribs on each grate. On the 18″ youd have to trim a few inches off the racks and bend them in to try to avoid the meat hitting the lid. After using the smoker every weekend for 6 months, i have no signs of deteriorating metal or rusting anywhere.Pros and Cons of 18 vs 22 from my experience22 pros:plenty of spacelarge water pancan get cool attachments like the ribolator and other rotisserie rods22 cons:takes longer to heat up then the 18way too much wasted space if you are only cooking two racks of ribsuses more fuel then the 1818 pros:great for doing single family cooksuses less fuelalmost half the physical size of the 2218 cons:good luck trying to cook a full brisket or large turkey in thisnot many attachments to play around with to bulk up the smoker, cant get a ribolator for this size smoker or rotisserie ringAs for the attachments, If you want the rotisserie ring attachment for your smoker, id suggest getting the cajun bandit smoker ring and not the weber one. The cajun bandit ring can go onto a weber 22 kettle grill and the wsm 22 incase you want to use the ring on either, which i do use it on both!The ribolator is a pretty cool attachment. I tried cooking ribs on it one time using my smoker, didnt seem like it was worth the hassle to do. Now if you have the kettle grill and set it up for smoking ribs, the ribolator would probably be worth it to use in that sense. One thing that is great for the ribolator that i found out is cooking burgers, chicken, potatoes.. Since the ribolator rotates like a carousel, if the meat or vegetables manage to flame up, by the time the carousel comes back around back down to the coal, your food doesnt stay on fire and burn. I can put burgers and chicken on the ribolator, close the lid and come back in 15 minutes and not have to worry about flair ups, flip meat over, in 10 minutes you have perfectly cooked food.Some other useful mods you can do for the smoker, whether the 22 or the 18 is get a temp controller, i have the bbq guru cyberq wifi, pretty much makes this smoker set and forget. The eyelet grommets from bbq guru are also good to have so you can have your thermometer sensors go through the eyelets instead of getting smashed from your lid. I would also suggest getting the gasket kits that they sell on ebay or wherever else to help insulate the gaps where the lid and body sit together.

15 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

high altitude mod plus lid rack

For 6000 ft., I needed more airflow to get my temps up. At first, I was only able to get to 200 degrees with plenty of charcoal and cooking the chicken over 2 hours. All my vents are open. The next time I took the handle assembly off the door (not the lid) to the smoker, leaving just the hole in the smoker door. This will allow the door to lay tight against the smoker. Then I bought (for $1) a keyhole fastener at lowes. The package has 2 in it. I checked a weber screw at lowes (temporarily removing one) to make sure it would fit through the keyhole fastener middle hole. I also purchased (for $5) a 10.25 inch metal spring. I took off the lower screws on the left and right of the smoker door, and then put the screws back through the large middle hole of the keyhole fastener. Before putting the fastener on the smoker, I bent the end of the fastener out slightly so it would be easier to attach the spring. The fastener has 2 small holes for screws, with a larger hole in the middle. After that, it was simple to attach the spring so it was across the smoker door. I put a piece of wood at the bottom of the smoker door to hold the door up and let air in. Works great, and only takes a few minutes. No big deal of drilling new holes. You can slide the door up or down to let in different amounts of air just by changing the size of the wood. Now I am easily at 250 degrees. I also use 2 charcoal electric starters to really get the charcoal going. I like not having to mess with matches and newspaper. I have a chimney, but I won’t be using it anymore. I don’t like dumping hot coals into the smoker. It’s kind of awkward. With the electric starters, I can easily place them with some charcoal underneath, and some on the top. After about 10 minutes, I just pull them out of the smoker door. My water bowl and grates are already in place before my coals are hot. Sounds a little safer to me. Great smoker. I am very happy with it. My applewood and apple juice/7 up soda can chicken was awesome. One bit of advise: After you bring your food in, dump a pile of cold water into the water pan with a good splat of dish soap. Don’t get soap on the grates. Or you can put the cold water and soap in a watering can and pour it into the pan through the smoker door. The cold water should help to bring the temp down, and save some of the coals for next time. You don’t want to discover that you have a dried, stuck-on mess in the pan the next day without any water. The soap will of course make the grease clean-up easier. Also my thermometer was perfect with a reading of 201 degrees for boiling water. Exactly right for 6000 ft altitude. We also made a place to put the lid when it is removed. Two metal brackets hang off my deck next to the smoker, with a 22″ grate atttached on top. Now I have a convenient spot to put the lid when I remove it.

2 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

One word: Awesome

First, please check out Harry Soo’s review, and follow the directions he posted for seasoning and using this smoker. I did, and my very first usage after the seasoning was 4 racks of St Louis ribs and 9 turkey legs… Following recipies I found, I smoked the legs for 5 hours and the ribs for 3. Based on the results, I would drop the legs to 4 hours and up the ribs to 3.5. I smoked with a foil covered dry pan, and this was perfect. I had very little trouble maintaining a consistent temperature following Harry’s suggestions.The results: Rave reviews from the entire family… This smoking newbie is impressed and I look forward to years of good eats with this smoker!For your longer smokes, you will go through a lot of charcoal, buying the two-bag economy packs is a wise idea. Also getting the Webber starter chimney is pretty much required.Downsides: (it wouldn’t be an honest review without these)It could use some handles on the main middle section. The cover fits very tight, so I doubt I could even add any without also having to make my own custom cover. In fact, the cover is kind of a pain to get on. It’s also kind of hard to get more charcoal inside evenly through the square metal door shown in the pictures. The deep water bowl sticks down so far (kinda in the way) that you are forced on your hands and knees when using some good tongs to place the new briquettes on the far side.These downsides aren’t important enough based on how good the results are to even take one star away however.If you buy one smoker, buy this one. So many other smokers you see are made of really thin metal and just won’t last like a Webber. Charcoal is the way to go!Edit:Just have to share, more rave reviews… For a large party I cooked 4 large chickens on this smoker. It took about 5 hours. I filled the charcoal ring level, pulled out the center briquettes and lit them in a starter chimney, pouring them back in after they were ready. Added 3 good sized hunks of Apple wood. As it was chicken, I DID use water in the pan to help increase the moisture content (and I’m not concerned about the “bark” on a chicken!) Normally I prefer to brine my birds, but this was a short notice cook. I did stuff with apples, and made an herbed butter that I worked under the skin of the breasts (it was a tub of the butter / canola oil mix “light”). One tub was about right for the 4 chickens. I had just enough left to brush on the chickens, once at the beginning and once about 2 hours in. I used a digital probe thermometer and cooked until the thick part of the breast was 165, then let it rest covered for 20 mins. End result was Super juicy and awesome – probably about the best chicken I’ve ever had. The smoker, despite gusty strong winds, maintained a very consistent 250 degrees throughout the 5 hour cook time with VERY little adjustments.

One person found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Easy transition from smoking on Weber Kettles to the WSM

I just started smoking meat in August 2013 on two OLD Weber Kettles, an 18.5″ and a 22.5″ with a Smokenator. Ribs, turkeys, fish, pork shoulders, meat loafs, chuck roasts, etc have all been smoked successfully. I learned all about temperature control, patience, “thin blue smoke”, and the necessary toys required for great backyard BBQ. Unfortunately the Kettles require fairly constant attention and I was looking for a smoker that would allow me to set and forget for at least 5-6 hours. The Kettles rarely went more than 90 minutes before they required attention. My wife was tired of giving up a Saturday or Sunday while I tended the Kettles so she said for Christmas “buy any smoker you want.” Given my BBQ success with the Kettles it was an easy decision to stay with the Weber brand because the WSM has the reputation of being a “set and forget” smoker for at least 5-6 hours, if not more.I knew going in that the door on the WSM was the weakest part of the system. The smoker arrived with a damaged door due to placement in the box. One quick e-mail to Weber with pictures and three hours later I received an e-mail saying a replacement door was being shipped to me. THAT my friends is customer service!I bent the damaged door into a relatively usable shape so I could at least “season” the WSM. Loaded with slightly less than 1/2 load of briquettes I did a dry run (no water) with the temp up to 350F. The damaged door was leaking like crazy but I wasn’t smoking meat, just burning off the shipping oils. I had Maverick chamber probes on both grates, plus the lid temp gauge, to measure differences between the grates and the lid. At 350 on the lid the top grate read 365 and the bottom grate read 385. This was counterintuitive to what I expected but it held true during my entire test run. I adjusted the vents and held top grate at 350F for two hours with no adjustments. Then I started cranking it down to 275F.It took a couple hours to drop to 275F (top grate) with the leaky door, but once there I had no problem keeping it at 275F for 6 hours without a single additional adjustment! The bottom grate was running at 290F and the lid at 265F.I then cranked it down to 225F (top grate), stirred the coals once, and proceeded to fall asleep. Woke up two hours later and it was still at 225F. In all the meatless smoker held the temps I wanted for 12+ hours on just a little less than a half load of charcoal and once I dialed in the temps I wanted it held steady on a relatively windless day/night with no adjustments.Once I get the new door, pork shoulders and brisket are on the menu.

6 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

High Quality Smoker

We have gone through three other smokers before deciding to try this model. We had tried side-by-side smokers with the firebox, cheap vertical smokers, and finally the Weber Smokey Mountain (22.5″).We use this smoker at least once a month, and sometimes 2 or 3 times a month. I would say we have probably used this smoker close to 30 times now. The smoker is made of durable material, and there are no signs of rust so far. It took roughly an hour to assemble the smoker, most likely because we had a 1 year old running around the house. It has a large water bowl that works great for keeping the meat moist and the temperature down. The bottom of the smoker can hold a large amount of charcoal and wood, and doesn’t interfere with the water bowl as there is plenty of room.Now, onto how well it smokes. We have tried brisket, pork butts, ribs, beer can chicken, sausage, vegetables, pretty much everything. Here is how I set everything up. I fill up a Weber chimney with charcoal to the top and put newspaper underneath the chimney. After it is grey 3/4 of the way up, I take it out and poor some unlit charcoal into the bottom of the smoker. I then poor the lit coals on top and add ONE-THREE SMALL chunks of wood. There is a reason I capitalized the quantity, which I will touch on soon. I then put the water pan on, fill the water pan to the top with a garden hose, and then assemble the rest of the smoker and shut the lid. MAKE SURE that you keep all of the valves open, and never close the top vent. If you want to control temperature, you play with the bottom vents.Following on from that last sentence, I will tie back into the wood quantity. You do not want too much wood and you don’t want the top vent closed for one main reason. If smoke cannot escape, it will go through a chemical reaction creating creosote, which will make your meat taste metallic and make your tongue and mouth go numb. If you have ever experienced this, then you have eaten creosote. Creosote will not only ruin your meat, but it will form deposits on the inside of your grill and drop onto your meat in the future.So the key here, is maintain optimal smoke flow, and ensure that the smoke is a thin blue color. You do NOT want thick white smoke, that is how you ruin your meat and your grill. Use a little bit of wood, leave the lid on, and check the temperature as little as possible.If you follow all of these pointers, you will surely fall in love with this smoker as I have. It is very easy to clean and maintain, and can smoke some really great food. This smoker is 5 stars all the way.

9 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

A great little smoker but what do you do with the lid when working with the meat?

The Smokey Mountain Cooker (SMC) is great except: 1) it doesn’t seal real well at the access door or around the lid without some help; and, 2) it’s a pain to find a good place for the lid when removed to work with the meat. It’ll stain whatever you put it on, so I am now setting it on a full-sheet aluminum pan. At $400 weber should have included some way to hang the lid, or a hinge on the back (you can add your own hinge if you don’t mind drilling:

WSM Stainless Lid Hinge Kit, Weber Smokey Mountain Grill 18.5 22.5 quick release

.I have smoked 3 items so far with great reviews from the family: brisket flat, BB Ribs, and Pork Butt, but I made a few mistakes along the way.The only issues I’ve had revolve around incorrect usage and minor air leaks. It turns out that I was using too many lit coals so with the minor air leaks it was difficult to get and keep the temp down. On my last cook, I used fewer charcoals and lit only part of them so I was able to keep the temp down to 215-225 for the brisket.If you’re a pro at smoking, the SMC is a simple to use, relatively inexpensive, and yet a very effective smoker. If you’re new like me, there is a learning curve, but worth it.If you’re trying to decide between the Weber SMC and the Big Green Egg style, remember that access to the coals with meat on the grill is quite difficult with the Egg. The Weber is easy to use all through the cook and costs a lot less to buy (the Egg is cheaper to run since it uses less fuel). The SMC will never cook pizza at 700° like the egg, but for smoking things, it’s just as good or better. The water pan in the SMC stabilizes temperature for even cooking yet can be removed for higher heat smoking of fowl, rib roast, etc. It just isn’t designed to handle really high heat.If you’re trying to decide which size SMC, this is what I recommend (check Weber’s site for capacities):–22″ is for big items (full rib racks laying down, etc) or lots of items at once. It requires the most charcoal (Brisket: 150 briquettes). I like my 22″ because I like to smoke six racks at once so I have some to share with friends. But cooking a small 5 lb brisket flat was a waste of fuel so I’ll cook more items next time.–18″ is great for almost all types of smoking and will even fit large butts, but the rib racks will likely need to be cut to size. Less charcoal (Brisket: 100 briquettes). If you don’t care about shortening the rib racks and don’t need to cook huge amounts at once, the 18″ is your prime candidate since it uses less fuel than the 22″ while still fitting lots of meat inside.–14″ is for those who don’t have much room at the house but still want the flavor. Least fuel required (Brisket: 75 briquettes). Some limits on how much it will hold.Hope this helps a little. If the lid was easier to handle (like a hinge) the SMC would easily deserve 5-stars.

127 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Excellent results from this smoker

I have waited until I gained some experiance with this product to write my review and have to say it is one of the few outdoor cookers I have spent this much money on that I am completly happy with. I am not an expert in the area of BBQ or smokers. My history in this consists mostly of small charcol grills and later when I could afford them larger gas models. After seeing a barrel smoker at Lowes I decided I would try my hand at smoking meat and after some research found the Smokey Mountain to be the best for a novice. Highly suggest you take a look at reviews at […] Everything said in that review I found to be accurate. I opted for the larger Smokey Mountain so I could have enough space to cook as much as I needed. Setup was really simple and following the instructions on […] (a great resource!) I started with smoking 2 whole chickens and 4 racks of ribs all at once. I had also purchased a chimney charcol starter and used it to start my coals using the Minion method. I placed the chickens on the bottom rack with a wireless meat thermometer and the ribs on top. It took about 15 minutes from starting the charcol to closing up the unit and starting to smoke. There were no smoke leaks and temperature was simple to control leaving top vent open all the way and adjusting the bottom vents once and a while to keep cooking low and slow 225F to 250F. I didn’t sit there and watch it – just checked on it every 30 minutes and later when I found the temperature stable every hour. When the chickens were done I took them out and placed the temp probe in the ribs. When they reached the proper internal temp I removed them and closed all the vents to save whatever unburned charcol remained. The result was fantastic! The chicken was so moist and tasty it did not need any kind of bbq sauce. The ribs were better (IMHO) then the ones I have been paying big bucks for at my local BBQ place and for once my critics (family) had nothing but praise for my manly outdoor cooking prowness. 2 briskits, 8 racks of ribs and 2 more chickens later I remain very pleased with the Weber smoker and don’t have any negative things to report except I keep stubbing my toe on the legs. Suggest you don’t purchase an additional cover as the one included works just fine. Also as all the experts say it is imperative that you purchase a temp probe so you can moniter doneness. I had never bothered before which is why my BBQ results were never as good. Also have found that homemade rubs (found on the net) are better or at least as good as store bought and much cheaper. Next project is smoked pork roast Southern Carolina style. I have found a brand new tasty hobby with more differing opinions, theorys and science then I could have ever imagined. Good luck with yours – if you start with the large Smokey Mountain you will have a solid start.

11 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

14inch is way to go, 22 & 18 too big

2021 Update:The smoker finally got stuff growing inside after about 5 years, which made me sad. My final thoughts are The 14 was definitely the right choice for me. It gave food lots of smoke flavor we loved. The only drawback for these things is the monitoring of the heat as with very long overnight cooks the wood/charcoal can get critically low impacting the cook. This is also why the 14 was a good choice as was not heavy with food loaded to remove the top pieces from the pit and add more fuel.That’s really the main drawback with these things, the monitoring part. That’s why I didn’t replace the unit when it failed and bought a Traeger instead Ironwood instead. Still happy though with this purchase and it’s 5 year service life. Great intro to smoking foods.End 2021 Update.First off after reading all the reviews I was convinced to go with the 22inch version and call it a day. That would have been a big mistake – that is the problem with buying products online, you don’t get a sense of the product. Fortunately I have a bbq shop near my home that stocks the 22 & I can tell you it is huge (like a New York style round trashcan) and heavy (50-60 pounds?) Looks like more for commercial purposes than home cooking.Once I saw that monstrosity, I realized my choice was between the 18&14 inch size. After much research and measuring, I realized the 18 inch version was too big as well (& must be equally heavy) – the 18 inch seems like the right size for someone who entertains for 40+ people regularly – overkill for someone wanting to invite his family over or cook for his own family. To put it in perspective, you can fit two pork butts on the 14 and 4 butts on the 18 – I recently did one butt and had enough pulled pork for 6 adults and 6 kids, and there were left overs that could have fed at least one more family (2 adults and 2 kids) – this means I can feed 12-16 with one butt and 24-32 with 2 on the 14 – more than enough. There is a reason Weber started making the 14″ again – it is perfect for a small gathering.Also, the 14 uses less fuel and will cost less per use in the long run (for example if you smoke 2 butts in the 18 (versus its capacity of 4) u need to use more fuel because of the bigger space to heat up. Remember the unit is engineered/designed for use of Both racks (which makes the 18 more efficient for 4 pork butts versus the 22 for example).Another bonus is the 14 kept the temperature very consistent and did not overheat like some have noticed with the bigger models (must be all that charcoal) Finally the 14 is portable (and used around the world by bbq teams that compete) and easier to clean given its smaller footprint.My 14 had enough room for us to cook a slab of 5 pound brisket bought at our local warehouse club and an entire slab of baby back ribs cut up into 3 parts. The ribs were perfect and moist – the brisket was perfectly smoked and tender. I did this for my family and we could have easily fed another 8 people. Using the minion method of heating coal (in middle area) there is was enough fuel for an overnight cook 13+ hours at 200-210. I couldn’t be happier with the 14inch size and am convinced it was the right call as it is efficient and portable. As a bonus cleaning it was easy as well. If you are on the fence, go with the 14″ and use the 100 bucks saved on accessories and food. You will thank me as the others are overkill unless you have a business or cook regularly for 40 (18″) or 70 people (22″). Happy smoking!

2,156 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Versatile, easy to use, delicious meat

For several years I’ve been trying to justify getting a smoker. I knew if I wanted one that it would have to be a good one, but spending the money for a smoker that I wasn’t sure how much I’d use seemed almost frivolous.Finally we broke down and bought the WSM cooker. Living in New Orleans we can use it almost year round. The cooker is very simple to put together and is well constructed. The door seems a little flimsy but it works fine. The water smoker keeps the food moist. It’s easy to adjust the heat up or down with adjusting the opening size of the vents around the bottom and on top of the smoker.Our first experiment was brisket. 14 hours of smoking a huge brisket, with only me having to go out a few times and adding some charcoal and wood chips, and we had tender, melting brisket, it was so good.Ducks, chicken, turkey breast, all have come out wonderful. I love seasoning and smoking turkey breasts and ham, then slicing them for lunch meat. I control the chemicals and we get wonderful smoked meat.I was concerned about this being a one hit wonder, we’d use it once or twice then put it away and forget it, I’m surprised at how versatile it is with being able to smoke different meats. I am going to try my own bacon soon, but it makes great smoked sausage.With some smokers you get an option to attach a cold smoke adapter, I do wish the weber had that option, but this is a great smoker that gets used at least once a week by us. I get up in the morning, start the coal in the chimney, put it in the smoker with some wood, put the meat on, and except for the occasional checking of the temp and maybe adding a little more charcoal or wood, I’m set. The water pan is large enough it’s never needed more water added, even after a 14 hour brisket.

7 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Awesome smoker

Bought for my fiancé for his birthday after he had been talking about getting one. Weber is a good brand, and this smoker was easy to assemble and is easy to use. It came with the cover which was great. Doesn’t take up a whole lot of space, and you can smoke a few different things at a time due to the two racks. Good value for the price as well.

4.0 out of 5 stars

Why didn’t I buy it sooner!

Received my 22.5″ WSM yesterday, set it up in about half an hour. I’m not sure if the cook book others have mentioned was missing from the box or perhaps Weber no longer includes it but no matter, I’m no newcomer to BBQ.There are no assembly instructions in the book that I DID receive however there is a nice exploded diagram showing where all the parts should go and I believe this should be enough for all but the most mechanically challenged. Everything fit together nicely without any “Jimmying” or banging and all the fasteners were included.Well …. it was a beautiful day and still plenty of daylight left (12:30 P.M.) so I decided to fire it up and get it seasoned. I have a 30 gal. plastic trash can that I keep filled with Mexican mesquite lump charcoal for my trusty old heavy iron sidewinder (offset) pit so, I decided to use that instead of running to the store for briquets. Filled the charcoal ring about level and threw in some mesquite chunks, then dumped about a quarter chimney of lit charcoal on top, sprayed the inside of the center section and lid with Pam cooking spray, filled the water pan and put on the lid. Started out with all the vents wide open and within 30 min. the temp. was at 200 degrees and climbing so, I closed two bottom vents. Temp. continued climbing till it reached 225 deg. and held there, very nice!As I said, it was a beautiful day and I couldn’t feature letting that fire go to waste so, I put on some beer brats and a “Fatty” (to help with the seasoning of course :->) and let them smoke for about two and a half hours. Now, I’ll be the first to admit you’d have to try pretty hard to mess up something as easy as that but I gotta tell you they were amazing! After I took the meat off I let the fire continue to burn still holding at 225 deg. until 6:30 P.M. when I closed all the vents. This morning I cleand it up and found it still had about a third of the unburned charcoal remaining. I’ll use briquets when I do the first long smoke for brisket or butts and expect it’ll give me 12 hrs.+ burn time without any problem. My old sidewinder pit will work you to death on a long smoke because it uses so much more fuel and if its cold outside I may as well just forget about it (barbecueing). Now I expect to finally get a good nights sleep without having to babysit the pit.I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because the thermometer fogged up. I know that’s nit pickin and you need a good meat thermometer with a probe anyway but it just looks bad on an otherwise high quality (and expensive) product.A final word on the Minion method (that’s what the method I used to start my fire is called) for those just starting out. My very first attempt at real barbecue (not grilling) took place 30+ years ago using what’s affectionately referred to nowadays as the ECB, which stands for “El Cheapo Brinkman” water smoker. I could fill a book writing about the inadequacies of this unit but, to their credit, the method of starting the fire was outlined in the instruction manual that came with it and I’ve been using it ever since. If you want long burn times its the only way to go.In addition to the WSM I also purchased the Pitmaster IQ temp. controller. It came in the day after the pit so, I haven’t tried it out yet but, from what I’ve seen it may not see much use. The WSM is rock steady all by itself. Where I live (So. Texas) the wind is a constant companion, it often blows 20 to 30 mph and can make fire tending a real chore. I bought the Pitmaster as insurance for those difficult days.UPDATE on the Pitmaster iQue 110.After a good deal of head scratching and hair pulling and some help from my son who is an engineer, I think we MAY have this thing figured out. It appears (to me anyways) that this device will only function properly within the confines of a specified air flow of between 5 and 15 cfm. You must have your pit configured to allow no more than 15 cfm and no less than 5 cfm air flow through the combinedtop and bottom vents, this takes some trial and error as no two (pits) are exactlyalike. Too little flow and the Pitmaster cannot recover when the temp drops out of range and too much will not allow the temp to fall when it gets too high. I finallysettled on this configuration; Two bottom vents fully closed, the Pitmaster air manifold vent fully open, and the top vent slightly more than half open. I’ve gone to great lengths to seal up the air leaks on my WSM (lid gasket, high temp tape, etc. etc.) and you may or may not need to do the same depending on how tightly yoursfits together, mine was like a screen door! Anyway, I can say with some confidencenow after several trial runs that we seem to have it nailed down to the point where I can get some sleep at night while barbecueing. If you buy one of these be prepared to do some experimenting but all in all I’d say its worth the money.

6 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Another happy owner after a year of steady use.

There are a lot of positive comments about this smoker and most people go to great lengths to explain their happiness. There’s a good reason. I’ve been grilling for a very long time but barbeque wasn’t done much over the years because the results just weren’t worth the effort. Now I understand that the proper equipment is essential. You’ll have a very hard time making good barbeque in a $50 Brinkman. If you’re talented enough to do that you’re probably not cooking on one of those anyway. This smoker isn’t cheap but it also isn’t a Big Green Egg or a decent side smoker in terms of expense. Most of the side smokers are hard to regulate and most don’t cook evenly without some extra work. Find a blog on side smokers and you’ll find lot’s of “fixes” and “fiddling” to get the heat even.This Weber is really easy to use for low and slow cooking and it doesn’t require much “tending” on a 10-12 hour cook. By the way, you definitely can use a couple of Weber chimneys to get a good, quick start on the fire without petroleum based fluids if you opt to buy one of these. Lighter fluid is generally a bad thing. You either have to burn up a good bit of your fuel to get all of the lighter fluid gone or, even worse, you stink up your food with it.We’ve been using this smoker for about a year now and I’m happy with the purchase. The 22.5 is a surprisingly big boy for sure when you take it out of the box but now I can do 8 racks of ribs if I want. If you don’t ever need to do that much, the smaller one may be a better choice for your needs but they both do the same work in the same way. If you’ve ever seen a Weber kettle grill (and who hasn’t?) this equipment will be very familiar to you; same porcelain on steel construction, same vents and still made in the US when I got mine.Several people mentioned being disappointed with quality of the access door and I agree with them that it should fit better out of the box but, with some careful bending you can get a good seal and then you don’t have to fool with it again; it stays put. It’s made from fairly thin stucco embossed aluminum that you can easily shape with with your hands. Just take your time to get it shaped a little better to the smoker barrel and you’re all set from then on. After getting used to tipping it sideways to remove and replace the access door, it really does work quite well and the size of the opening makes it easy to add fuel or wood chunks during the cook.I’ve eaten barbeque from Texas to Virginia and it’s always a favorite choice when traveling somewhere because it’s all a little different. I’ve had dry rub ribs at the Rendezvous in Memphis and wet ribs in St. Louis and pulled pork at Dreamland in Tuscaloosa and chicken and rib plates at Johnny Harris’ in Savannah and I like Luther’s in Houston for brisket! My point is that I’ve had some REALLY good barbeque but now I can duplicate what the Rendezvous serves right on my patio. My pulled pork is as good as anything I’ve had in ANY restaurant; ever. The best barbeque I eat is at home now. The restaurants just aren’t likely to take the time to do what you can do with this smoker and maybe Big Bob Gibson’s book on how to do it….which is well worth the $16 in my opinion.If you want to do some truly great barbeque at home, spend the money for good equipment and take just a few minutes to learn some rubs and sauces. If you can read, measure and tell time, you can make some excellent smoked meats without buying someone else’s WONDER SAUCE (aka ketchup, vinegar, salt and a few minor spices)to slather on the meat and call it your own. What you can make from scratch is cheaper and better than most of what you would buy. And, when you’re done, you’ll be justifiably proud of YOUR barbeque and probably a very popular cook with the people who get to eat it.I mean, they’re just not going to be getting any peach roasted pork shoulder anywhere but your house……Lord that’s a good recipe from Big Bob’s book! As we say in parts of the south, “that stuff is so good it’ll make your tongue slap your brains out.”Get the smoker, get some books and have some FUN if you like to cook outside and show off a little. You’ll be famous and popular in no time.

90 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

A serious tool that works very well

I was curious about smoking so bought a Brinkman Gourmet to try it. Not temp controllable, too hot but it did let me learn that I wanted to do it enough to invest in it. I then decided against the ceramic grills with the heavy lid and bought the “bullet” 18.5″ diameter wsm smoker. Fifteen minutes to assemble it and the next day I put one nine pound bag of mesquite charcoal in the ring, started it with the Minion method, threw a few soaked applewood chunks on it, put 200 ounces of water in the HUGE water pan along with two Dos XX beers (32 oz?)then put the mustard and dry rub with spices five pound pork butt on the lower grill and used the bottles to put two whole chickens on the top grill, closed the three bottom vents to 1/4 open each, let the top vent fully open and put the lid on. Easily could have doubled the amount of meat I did or tripled the pork butt part. I checked the temp from the outside (didn’t open the lid but did open the big door a couple times to check the coals) every hour but the chickens were 170 in four hours at about 200 F. constant cooking temp. The wood chunks lasted forever smoking and did not oversmoke and burn the wood too quickly which made the smoke effect on the meat more uniform. Late in the afternoon I added a couple more to revive the smoke a little. No briquettes added from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and it held 200 F the whole time. A Big Green Egg neighbor came over and admired it and he’s the expert in these parts…he was impressed and said it looked great. I ended up giving him one of the bottle chickens later for their dinner which they ate with rice and declared: “spectacular.” I pulled the other chicken and several hours later, 9 hours at 200 F. on the pork butt and took it off. Still holding 200 F and it had rained on the whole thing along the way in there! No problems with the rain at all.I took the pork in and since it was 170 not 190 F. (meat temp) I sliced it instead of pulling it (190 works better to pull but I was starving), added the pulled chicken and barbecue sauce, mixed it up, ate a meal’s worth and froze the rest for later. The pork had this nice rosy hue in about 3/16″ from the infusion of the smoke, rub and a marinade I put on the last hour…tariyaki, honey and a little white wine vinegar.I’d declare the WSM (commonly called the Bullet) absolutely well designed at considerably less than the Komada type ceramics in cost and without the risk of a flash on when opening the lid on the Egg types. the Bullet need not hold it’s head down to the Eggs on any basis whatsoever when smoking.I am really well pleased. In a couple weeks I want to do a turkey and a brisket or two at the next time and try the lump charcoal in the garage. Have rib racks as well though I like the rolled ribs vertically that I’ve seen to. St. Louis Cut Pork I think next time I do ribs…may invite some friends for a July fest at my house with free beer, dessert, salad and lots of paper towels. The Bullet can handle it all.Summary: one of the best products for its intended purposes I’ve ever bought. Parts all fit very well in addition and the top handle is good. Steel coated with enamel is all so much more substantial than the Brinkman. Sort of like going from a Plymouth to a really nice Buick Park Avenue in older terms. I like the Bullet!

8 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Shockingly Efficent

After a long cooling off period and after a ton of research I finally gave in a bought the 22.5 inch model.-This thing is beast…It’s huge! But in a good way I suppose. As others have said, you can’t create a bigger space out of a smaller space but you can create a smaller space out of a bigger space. As for perspective, it’s just me and my wife…*BUT*…With the vacuum sealer I bought along with this, the excuse to do big cooks are perfectly valid and forthcoming…”Freezer Fodder”-On to my first cook…Not wanting to ruin a bunch of expensive cuts of meat I went with three whole chickens. Not going to get into the details but as for perspective, I spatchcoked the chickens so I had six halves. Six half chickens fit on the top grill perfectly with space between. No way I could have fit another half on, but the spacing was perfect between the halves. I hope this helps you visualize in your head what the surface area looks like. The lower grill is a tad smaller but probably could have got six halves on there too (didn’t use it)-As for fuel consumption, I was worried that this thing would be a coal-hog…It’s not. I used one flat layer of unlit coal and one full (3/4 lit) chimney. This was enough to keep my average temp at around 305F for the 1.5 hours of the cook. I kept all the vents wide open the whole time and I guess with the relatively small amount of coal for the chamber, it took all the air I could get into it to get it as hot as I needed. Worked out great for me and my application. For perspective, you could probably put 4 or 5 chimneys of coal into the fire chamber (probably find the exact number if you look it up)…again, as for efficiency, check this out. When my cook was done, I closed all the vents to snuff the coals. This morning, I went to clean it up and I had 3/4s of a chimney of unspent coal! The coal I salvaged was probably 25% burnt…So next cook I’ll recycle those.-As for out of the box shape, barrel was slightly out-of-round but easily corrected. One vent was a little loose compared to the others, I flattened a piece of copper phone wire and wedged it in the rivet gap, problem solved. The aluminum door took some finessing…Don’t go by what the outer edges look like against the barrel (you’ll go mad).. Look inside the barrel and run your finger along that contact point…The edges are slightly flared on the outside of mine but the seal was perfect where it mattered.-The first unit I received was bashed in (thanks Fed-ex) and had to be returned…I’m not here to review shipping but if you have a choice, I’d probably avoid them if possible. Seems like they lived up to their internet notoriety of destroying packages with my shipment…I suppose it could happen with any carrier but just sayin…Returning a 75 pound box stinks!-So that’s my review…and as a helpful hint…if you don’t want your shiny new smoker to “walk away”…Go to the hardware store, find the appropriate size chain that will fit through the vent holes…Fish it through the top vent and apply a small padlock there…Fish it through the grills and out the bottom vent and wrap that end around something secure and padlock that end…put on your spiffy cover and know you’ve done your best to protect it. But I suppose if you have a garage or rabid pit bulls patrolling your yard then this isn’t a concern =)

One person found this helpful