Good starter smoker

[roxy]

[Smokin WV]

I have both. I started with the Char-Griller snp. I used it exclusively for 2 years. Learned how to smoke on it. Even competed with it several times and did really well. I recently got a WSM. I really like it for long smokes. Load the charcoal ring. Add some wood chunks. Get the temp you want. Adjust the dampers. Leave it along for 5-6 hours. Granted you can't put a lot on it, but I can't do 2-4 butts on it easily. I've done brisket flats along with ribs at the same time. The chargriller can't do much more w/o mods. The area around the fire box gets way too hot. Either way you go...you can't go wrong.
_________________
Travis
Teams Saucey Bonz

[Jeff T]

Good choise on the WSM you`ll love it, works great and pretty easy to use. Let us know when you get it we`ll walk ya through your first cook. Its not hard to operate. Meantime check out the weber site for how to`s and get a jump start..... http://virtualweberbullet.com/tipsfaq.html

[roxy]

[bigabyte]

I get about the same 15 degree variation as Roxy, and the ONLY mod I have in place is the deflector shield. My actual plate is different than the one listed by Alien, but I would imagine it is the same effect. I guess I have two mods if you count the fact that I have raised charcoal grates. Without the shield, I get anywhere from 75 to over 100 degrees difference, so that shiled makes the biggest difference of all mods I have ever tried in my unit.
_________________
--Chris Baker
--Mad BBQ Scientist
--When my lab fills with smoke, that means it's working!

[roxy]

[Smo-Ken]

From what I hear the WSM will mkae some great Q for sure and is very easy to run. I've never used one but was considering either that or the Bar-B-Chef from Barbecues Galore. I ended up going with the BB-Chef 'cuz I wanted a horizontal offset for some reason! In my opinion it's much better than the "competition" due to the heavier steel (12 gauge instead of 16 or 1, all cast iron grates, plus all the "typical" offset mods are built in. I get very consistent temps all accross my cooking grate, and it holds heat better than the thinner-built brands as well!



Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the WSM was based on the 18-1/2" grills, not the 22" from Weber.

Also keep an eye out for sales. If you haven't already bought one yet, Barbecues Galore (in NY there should be one not too far from you) they will likely be having a "pre-season" sale soon and you can buy the BB-Chef for real close to $200. I paid $219 for mine last Labor Day. Also cehck their website for special deals - I know someone in the NY area was able to swing the internet special at their local store!

Amazon.com frequently puts the WSM on sale for as little as $175 with free shipping!



Actually I just checked and Amazon's got it right now for $204:http://www.amazon.com/Weber-2820-Smokey-Mountain-Cooker/dp/B00004U9VA/sr=8-9/qid=1169767342/ref=pd_bbs_sr_9/104-1842214-1838338?ie=UTF8&s=outdoor

One important thing though, if you live in an apartment make sure you can burn charcoal! Several locals will not allow any kind of flame-based 'queing and you have to go electric. So make sure you look into that before you lay out the money! (OOPS, i see you already have a gas grill, so pay no attention to that last remark!!)

One last idea for you is to check out your local Craigslist board and search on "Smoker BBQ", "BBQ", "Weber", etc. Alot of times you can find a used one. I could have bought a 2-month-old BB-Chef from a guy about an hour away from me for $100 but I wasn't able to move it due to no truck and a back injury...
_________________
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bassin, Blues & B-B-Q's... Nuthin's Finer!!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bar-B-Chef Offset Smoker
BBQ Pro Bullet
22" Weber kettles (Red & Blue)
'05 Skeeter TZX190/175 Yammi HPDI

[Michael B]