Weber Smoky Mountain cooker???

Sitting here in New Delhi on Memorial Day weekend and missing BBQ back in the states. No one feels m uh like cooking outside here, as the high temp today will be about 115. This will be about the 30th day in a row with temps over 100.

Anyway, in the BBQ vein.....I don't use a smoker in the US but I keep taking if I ever get back there I will. Have read threads on the Big Greenn Egg and others.....but looking on the web people seem very satisfied with the Weber Smoky Mountain cooker. It Is much less expensive than the BGE, and also looks fairly portable. Has anyone out there tried one?

Thanks in advance for your help and enjoy the weekend!

[Jenise]

John, always love hearing from you and would love to hear more about your food experiences in New Delhi (and your previous assignments). How much longer will you be there, anyway?

No idea re the Weber, but can offer both that everybody I know with a BGE loves their BGE and on the other side, that Weber products seem to be top drawer so I can't imagine your being unhappy with one. A friend of ours has one of the $5,000 grill (they're top of the line, I presume) which came with a lifetime guarantee. Recently they had a problem with it, and Weber backed up the paperwork: Weber refurbished it from top to bottom, no questions asked, including all the parts with just normal wear and tear from normal use.

I have not had any experience with the Weber smoker, but I currently use an electric smokehouse that works great for me. It was a gift, and makes "smoking" very easy. Google smoking meat forums, and you should find a website that is similar to this one (I'm not affiliated with the website). Lots of useful information and very passionate people.

Agree with Tom. We have had one from Char-Broil, that is no longer in production but working fine still after many years. There is one from Meco that is widely available and have friends who love it. Actually they have a few different models.

[Jenise]

John, I took a look at the actual Weber smoker you questioned yesterday, and it looks like it's a top-down loader. So is the smoker we currently use. But though we've gotten many years of good use out of it, we hate the top-down loading and are looking for a cabinet-style smoker. It's a serious pain in the patootie to lift shelves out and re-arrange the meats during smoking to make up for the fact that the lower shelves/shelf (without modifications these units are typically only two shelves deep, which is definitely enough for a family dinner but not ribs for a large party) are/is closer to the heat source and the top shelf tends to receive all the dew from circulating moisture. They weren't really made thinking you'd ever want to move anything, so it's not made easy for you. In a cabinet-style unit, just open the door and arrange away. Most cabinet style units are also square, which has it's own real estate advantages, and come with more shelves so stuff can be spaced out nicely for good air flow.

I've had an 18.5-inch Weber Smoky Mountain for about 3 years now, and I love it. Use it all the time. Great as a smoker, and doubles nicely as a grill. Haven't used my gas grill since I bought it. Jenise is right that it is a pain to move food around. With the water bowl, there is less temperature difference between shelves than there would otherwise be. Sometimes it hasn't been an issue, sometimes it has. If you are cooking the same food on the top shelf as the bottom shelf, you can start the top shelf half an hour early (or less, depending on the length of the smoke). I'm rarely cooking the same food top and bottom, so it isn't much of an issue for me.

[Jenise]

With the water bowl, there is less temperature difference between shelves than there would otherwise be. Sometimes it hasn't been an issue, sometimes it has. If you are cooking the same food on the top shelf as the bottom shelf, you can start the top shelf half an hour early (or less, depending on the length of the smoke). I'm rarely cooking the same food top and bottom, so it isn't much of an issue for me.

We always use the water bowl. I like your idea of starting one chicken early--that had not yet occurred to us. But an example of the problem? Last weekend we smoked three chickens for ten dinner guests plus ourselves. All three didn't fit on one shelf so Bob put one on the lower shelf and two on the upper. Somewhere during the cooking process (about four hours total), he rotated one of the chickens to the lower shelf and brought that one up. He meant to rotate the third chicken down later but because it's such a pain to do that, he procrastinated and it didn't happen. Anyway, the net result was that of the three chickens, two were identical (I'm the one who carved, so can atest to this) and perfectly cooked, but one wasn't cooked nearly enough and had to go into the oven for another 30 minutes. It never made it to the table. It's the lower shelf that's coolest, if that isn't already obvious, because it's closest to the water bowl.

It's the lower shelf that's coolest, if that isn't already obvious, because it's closest to the water bowl.

I also try and keep the temp in the bottom half of the recommended range, between 200 and 225. If you are cooking at 225 to 250, there will probably be more temperature difference.

[Jenise]

It's the lower shelf that's coolest, if that isn't already obvious, because it's closest to the water bowl.

I also try and keep the temp in the bottom half of the recommended range, between 200 and 225. If you are cooking at 225 to 250, there will probably be more temperature difference.

We do too. Or at least, I send Bob out with instructions to keep the temperature around 225. He does find it hard to keep it there, though.

I'm lucky to have a space that's got pretty good wind protection, so temp control is easier than it might otherwise be. Overnight smokes are still pretty iffy, though.

EDIT: and the temp I aim for is 215.