Jump to content

Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker


Blue2500CC

Recommended Posts

Posted

Anyone have one? I have been looking at one of these ( 18.5" or 22.5"- not sure which yet ) to add to the gas grill. I have found the tvwbb.com forum which is the Forum for Weber Grills like this site is for our trucks! I also know the Smokering, Amazing Ribs, and the BBQ-Brethren forums as well.

 

I lean toward the 18.5" when I consider hauling it with us when we go camping, though I don't carry much in the bed of the truck, so the 22.5" would probably fit as well. Then I think about ribs ( without cutting them up ) and maybe trying my hand at a beef brisket as well which don't fit as well on the 18.5". Decisions, decisions!!!

 

Just wondering if any fellow members here have one, and which model you chose and why?

 

TY!

Chris

Posted

I have the 18.5". Haven't tried a brisket yet, but I've done ribs, butts, chickens, turkeys, and a couple other things. Love it. I usually do 3 racks of ribs at a time. I cut the racks in half and use one of the rib racks that you stack the ribs in. i could probably fit double that. Other than not trying a brisket, I haven't had a problem with space so far.

Posted

How large of a turkey have you smoked? Were you able to lay it down or did you have to stand it up? MOST of the time when we have turkey it is maybe 14lbs. I may even try to find a couple slightly smaller turkey 10lbs or so, and smoke one, and deep fry the other!

 

As for ribs, I don't have an issue if I have to cut them in half, and have considered a rack as well.

 

Probably 90% of the time the 18.5" will be more than big enough, just trying to make sure ( over analyze maybe??? Lol ) that the infamous "Should have gone bigger!" doesn't happen!

 

TY!

Posted

I have done about a 17 pound or so turkey on the top shelf laid down, and you could probably go quite a bit larger if you needed to. If you buy a fullsize brisket you might not be able to fit it without cutting, but I was looking at the grocery store yesterday and you can definitely find smaller portions. I'm excited...doing some ribs tomorrow on it.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

How did the ribs turn out? Do you have any mods done to your wsm?

 

18.5" was ordered yesterday! Can't wait!!!

 

Chris

Posted

Ribs came out awesome, from what I can remember (had a couple too many beverages that day). I just used the 'best ribs in the universe' recipe off virtualweberbullet.com with cherry for smoke wood. I have no mods, other than I don't bother with the heat shield underneath. I am strongly considering a pitmaster iq110 for the longer runs, but it holds temp really well as is most of the time, and the pitmaster is not inexpensive.

Posted

Glad to hear the ribs were good!

 

Debating on what to try for my first smoke! It has been a while since I have used charcoal, and I read ribs are tough for a first smoke???? Not really sure why though.

 

Thinking maybe a couple mods, temp grommets, maybe handles for the mid section, etc. Just basic ones.

 

Probably going to order a Maverick ET 732 tonight.

Posted

If you follow the directions for any of the recipes on virtualweberbullet.com you will turn out fine. I did ribs for the first smoke and had no problems. The smoker will likely run hot for the first smoke or two, but you can choke down the vents easily enough to stay where you need to. If you don't have one already, get a weber chimney starter for the charcoal. Some people swear by lump hardwood charcoal. I've heard that the temperature is sometimes harder to control with it, but I haven't tried it. Regular kingsford is all I use. Not sure what you would want handles on the mid section for? Other than finishing chicken directly over the coals, I never take the mid section off when it's hot, and I would think handles would mess up the fit of the cover if you leave it outside, but I'm just guessing on that. That's a pretty fancy thermometer you're getting. The only thing I've used a thermometer for is Boston butt, and I have a fairly inexpensive Taylor 'instant read' for that. My wife informed me today that I'm doing a chicken after work on Friday...takes 1/2 hour to get it set up and hot, 1 hour to cook, and 1/2 hour to clean when it's all cooled down...hardly worth it for that short of cooking time but who am I to argue.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Haven't been on in a bit, Sorry!!!

 

Brantjs,

 

How did the chicken turn out?

 

I have read so much on the TWBB that stuff is "mixing" together!!! Lol Have read that it may run hot the first couple times or so, but TY for the heads up as well!

 

Tomorrow is the big day! Have a pork loin thawing that is from "Porky", which I got on a game ranch. Wish I had some Apple wood, but do have a bag of Cherry wood so that should be ok. Planning on a Lemmon Pepper rub. I got a chimney starter free from a buddy who said he will never use it again. It isn't the Weber, but for free it should get me started.

 

The handle idea is for the few times you may need to add charcoal, and since it is tougher on the 18" w/ the small door, just lift the mid section. Going to wait on that for now though.

 

When Home Depot had the 2-20lb bags of KBB for $9.99 about a month ago, I bought 5 packs, so I should be set with 200lbs of charcoal for a while. Not sure if I will try lump or not. Have a lot to learn still at this point!

 

Az,

 

TY for the link! I have been on that site as well. As I mentioned, I need to stop reading for a few due to information overload! Lol

 

Hope the weather holds out!

Posted

Chicken turned out great (as usual). I cheated and just put the Stubbs BBQ rub on it instead of making my own, then finished it with Sweet Baby Ray's. I have a Weber grill, and have most of the Weber grilling cookbooks. If you haven't tried the Weber books, everything I've tried out of them has tasted great and come out perfect since they base all the cooking times and temp settings on their grills. They also have a bunch of marinade and rub mixtures in the front of the books, which is what I'll usually pick from if I'm grilling or smoking.

 

I think I've only ever added charcoal once, towards the end of a 12 hour cook. I can't say it was real convenient (I have the 18" too), but it wasn't too bad to take the door off and just toss pieces of charcoal in by hand, and move them where I wanted with a stick.

 

Good luck w/ your pork loin, let us know how it turned out! I haven't tried a pork loin on the smoker yet. I haven't tried apple wood yet either. I do woodworking stuff as well, so I've got more cherry cutoffs than I can smoke in 5 years. Also have plenty of oak, which is mild and does well too. A friend of mine did his kitchen with hickory, so I have some hickory scraps as well but haven't tried it.

Posted

TY for the Weber Books tip! Will have to look into them! Is there one you would suggest for the first?

 

First smoke is under my belt as of yesterday! The pork loin, with a butter infused olive oil w/ a garlic pepper rub, turned out great!

 

Of course a couple pics!

 

th_7e01a5b6be910120fa565b06f287189b_zps4

 

Smoked w/ cherry wood!

 

th_bdbb0d66e0404fdbe918322ac57f51e6_zps9

 

TY for all the help! Temp stayed pretty consisntent, just edging above 280* near the end, & that was with the smoker in full sun from about 1/2 way on!

 

Heading north to the in-laws this coming w/e, may take the wsm with, just not sure what to cook.

 

TY again!

Chris

Posted

Up at the in-laws in Northern Mi, and smoked a couple pork loins, both stuffed with bacon, caramelized onions, and cheese in one (can't remember what my wife used-she helped prep) , with a butter infused olive oil and garlic pepper dry rub! Turned out great smoked with apple and cherry!

 

th_78807a4079fb0e13fc14447a60537a5e_zps5

 

th_279f51aea1fb5829981b8dd9017929b0_zps5

 

Now to decide what the next cook will be!!!

  • 3 years later...
Posted

Hard to believe how long it's been since I bought the 18" WSM!!! Still loving it when time allows for low and slow.

 

The 18" is just large enough that it doesn't fit in the truck bed with the lid on due to the cab high topper. Otherwise, hauling it isn't to bad. BUT to make it easier, I picked up the 14" WSM to take with and strictly use the 18" at home. So far I have smoked a couple pork butts on the 14" trying to get it "broke in". I figured for the $50 price tag for a brand new 14" WSM, I couldn't pass it up!!!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • 286,740 Mile Services   8/6/2026   New AC Compressor. Refrigerant oil and dye, evacuate and charge system.  New exhaust system from cat back.  New Iridium plugs plus replace #3 coil Repair/rewire headlamp wiring (passenger side) and replace all forward bulbs. Polish lenses of both assemblies.  Pull rear rotors, clean and adjust parking assembly. Inspect, clean and grease front calipers. Check pads and shoes.  4 wheel power bleed of brake system. Dot 4 Reset idle speed 50 rpm higher New Serpentine belt.    Will need new pads in the rear in about 5K more miles.    Tax Title and License out the door just short of a grand.    AC clutch had bitten the dust. 1 year warranty on the pick and save replacement. Thing will make a Polar Bear cry Uncle.  He spent quite some time on the wiring. It was in the harness and he does nothing half. I got off cheap. I have considerable more light down the road. Sylvania Silver Star replacements.  Gas seal between the porcelain and shell of plug #3 was blown, cooked the coil. That was the cold miss.  Love the new exhaust. I can sneak into the neighborhood again.  Nice to have a working parking brake again. Belle Tire never got it done. That was disappointing.    This was one of her bigger bills and still way cheaper than a payment even given the oil consumption. This thing cost me under a hundred a month in repairs and normal routine costs. What is my incentive to replace it? 🤔           
    • hello I recently bought a 2012 gmc 1500 with a 5.3 and have a AFM disabler on it I'm interested in doing a cam but I'm worried if I remove the AFM system I will fail smog does anyone have info if they are able to detect that or a work around to it (not talking about hot smogging) please let me know thank you  
    • Update. I started chasing down my symptoms. Started first with pulling valve covers and looked at everything. Everything looked good and couldn't hear or feel anything different. Then a compression test. 240 psi or really close on each cylinder. I was worried I was a tooth off of timing. Not bad for an engine with 173,000. Granted I did put new heads on. I sprayed water around the injector area to see if I could hear a change. Nothing. I hooked up my new hp tuner which I should have done in the first place but I don't really know what I'm looking at just yet but am learning. I noticed the fuel trims were way off so that told me I have to have either a bad injector or exhaust leak. New injectors, so I did the shop vac on blower and in the tail pipe. Sprayed soapy water and found the exhaust flange on the drivers side was leaking. I didn't think it would be that considereding I pulled the heads and left the manifolds attached. I did have the transmission replaced not long ago. They must have not seated them properly but I guess I didn't notice. I put in new gaskets on both sides. Which by the way isn't a bad job but I had a hard time getting them to seal right. Took two attempts. Reset the fuel trims and the ticking is gone, engine runs smooth and acceleration has improved. Got to feel the real difference with that stage 1 cam. It's not that big of a difference but it does add a little more. It feels like how the truck should have been from the factory.
    • Can it still be Assembled I?    Stribeck says that we need a certain amount of viscosity under conditions of load and velocity to prevent two surfaces of a know roughness from tearing each other asunder. And we have marketing trying to tell the masses that those two surfaced require less of that commodity due to more exact limits being placed on the same old clearances. We also know that there are limits to how hard something can before it becomes to brittle to be viable and to smooth to 'wet' the surface and that both of those conditions have been known and met since about the Second World War.    That viscosity value shook out at 10 centistokes at 212 F just under a hundred years ago.  Give this a look: [Anton Parr]     What is advertised is the Kinematic viscosity (mm2/s) or that which has been density adjusted but the value we are after is the dynamic viscosity (mPa.s) or true viscosity. You can see that this number is dependent on density thus base stock and temperature. You can also see that an SAE 30 doesn't reach that value in this example. However an SAE 30 that is at the upper end of the SAE 30 range; 12.5 cSt (mm2/s), might. 12.5 * .83 = 10.375 (mm2/s). If you could find an SAE 30 at the upper end these days.   Then there is the complication of viscosity modifiers or VII or VM, whatever you wish to call them. Polymers added to very thin base oils, perhaps 3 to 6 cP oils, that will meet the SAE *W30 spec at 'tested' shear rates and 100 C/212F  target temperature. So a polymer fortified base that is a fraction of the 10 cP requirement Stribeck insist upon.   This could be all well and good if those polymers didn't have two very problematic 'features'. They shear or loose viscosity both 1.) permanently and 2.) temporality. And they do both omitted in the advertised data with the distinct  purpose of deceiving the consumer of the actual operating state of the fluid. I've shown the example of Warren Oils COSTCO 10.91 cSt 5W30 formuation several times where the 100 C HTHS value is 6.9 cP!! That's the temporary shear down and with and SSI or shear stability index of 9.4 cSt. Note the intentional deception in using mixed units?    After a short while that 9.4 cSt oil has a viscosity corrected dynamic value of 7.8 cP. But as the SSI is still within the range of an SAE *W30 whose lower value is 9.3 cSt.    This allows them to continue to call this SAE 16 weight oil a 30 weight, the cake, and still meet the API requirements for fuel efficiency IMPROVEMENT mandated by the EPA. The eating of the cake. By the time you've worn out your motor doing the responsible thing by adhering to the warranty requirements, (the stick), you get deprived of the carrot, wear control. So sad, to bad.   So what can be done? Do I need actually say? [Anton Parr]       Even this must be monitored if the oil is on the low side and the VII an organic or you opt for a 0W40 with an even lighter base oil and more / higher MW VII. (Note the lower density of the 40 weight versus the SAE 30 mono-weight?)    There is another workaround. Temperature. An SAE *W30 run at a bulk temperature of between 180 and 195 F.    Being the belt and suspenders sort I am I do both. Run it cook and run it heavy.    In Part II I'll work the AW package. 
  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...