Does Weber Read This Stuff?


 
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David Vitale

New member
I just received and put together my WSM last night.

My question is, with everybody here modifying their WSM - mostly out of necessity - Does Weber even look at this site. R&D could get some great ideas from the very inventive stuff you guys are doing.

Why not ship it with a thermometer built it? The unit is useless without one. Surely they know this. Even if they did not want to include one, they could puch the hole and plug it with a removable crimped plug.

Ok enough with my rant. I'm starting two Mr. Browns tonight - I'm drooling already.
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Dave, There used to be a member that worked for Weber but I don't think he is here anymore. Weber people know of the site. How often they come here... who knows.

As to adding stuff at the factory, there aren't a whole lot of mods that HAVE TO BE DONE to use the WSM to it's fullest. You mentioned adding a thermometer... I doubt if most people that use a WSM that don't visit this site ever mount one. Most people these days use a Maverick or an ordinary kitchen Polder 'type' thermometer. I cook on a team with others that have never done anything to the WSMs that they own and use. I mounted thermometers to the ones I own because I like the idea of having it there. I forgot my wireless thermometers last weekend when I was out of state cooking and the old fashioned ones sure came in handy. I also like to look at the temp on a dial for a quick ref.

It's already hard for Weber to get people see the value added over a Brinkman 'type' smokers. Adding anything will only up the price.

Just be glad it's a great cooker for a fair price and you can add the options that you WANT.
 
Chris,

Thanks for a very common sense reply. Well made points. I am an engineer and kind of look at everything that improves a product and think - Why is it not there already?

But as you have pointed out, the mods are easy and there is no marketing value add for Weber to make them ahead of time.

I personally have known three people that owned Brinkmans, and shyed away from a water smoker because of the problems they had with Temp control.

I am very thankful for a very fine smoker at an affordable price and have the ability and tools to make any mods myself.

I don't cook on a team - just backyard stuff - but I take my barbeque very seriously - like I was competing.

Thanks again for a very good and perspective altering response.
 
As you cook on the WSM more, you can get to the point where you don't even need a thermometer to gauge the cooker temp. I've made no mods to my cookers - not necessary a'tall. I have a guru but don't use it. I have a tool box full of various thermometers, but use them less and less except for the Thermopen. As you go through cooking sessions with a thermometer gauging your temps, get into the habit of laying your hand on the lid in various positions. You'll soon learn to dependably judge the temp of your cooker by feel, and the doneness of your meat by both feel and look. Your pork butt's done when it collapses and the bone will pull out clean. Brisket's done perfectly when it goes "waba-waba" when you poke it. Ribs are done when you can easily tear the meat between two bones... and they're done the way I most like them when you can slide a bone clean out of the middle of the slab.
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Yes, there are many things that can be done to a WSM, but it's a marvel of air-flow control engineering as it stands. My humble little team of WSMs understands me well, and I understand them. They've fed lots of friends and family, and maybe won a few ribbons for me as well... I've seen no need to change what already works well. You'll find that there is little similarity between the Brinkman bullets and the WSM, short of the general R2-D2 shape. The cooking difference is like night and day. You'll see...
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For some people, the fun is in the tweaking - not a thing wrong with it, but try it for a while as it comes from the box. You'll be amazed at what this little cooker can do.

Keri C, still Smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
Keri,

Again, I may have posted my lament too soon. I did a 13 hr Mr. Brown cook over the weekend. I did the drilled top vent rivet mod and used a candy thermometer. Worked like a champ.

What you say about learning the feel of the lid temp sounds good. As I cook I will try that.

One question though, I'm not sure if I follow the "waba-waba" on the brisket. Is that a sound or a feel?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by David Vitale:
Chris,

Thanks for a very common sense reply. Well made points. I am an engineer and kind of look at everything that improves a product and think - Why is it not there already?

But as you have pointed out, the mods are easy and there is no marketing value add for Weber to make them ahead of time.

I personally have known three people that owned Brinkmans, and shyed away from a water smoker because of the problems they had with Temp control.

I am very thankful for a very fine smoker at an affordable price and have the ability and tools to make any mods myself.

I don't cook on a team - just backyard stuff - but I take my barbeque very seriously - like I was competing.

Thanks again for a very good and perspective altering response. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Engineer type here also. While I know that most mods are not needed, my pit is pimped.
 
Keri, you are soooo right. BBQ'ing is not just a process it's an art that you feel. I've been "laying hands" on the lid to get the feel of the right temp. I tried to explain to someone the other day about "waba waba". The feel of meat that's done. They gave me this strange look. I'm really enjoying the journey.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris Finney:
my pit is pimped. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

LOL! Funniest line I've read in a long time.
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Thanks for the laugh.
 
Dave, You don't have to do any of the mods, but that takes all the fun out of it. I myself look for different things to do just for the fun of doing it. Look at the cart mods I did in the modifying section. Good luck on your first smoke.

John
 
John,

I did go for drilling the top vent for a candy thermometer mod. Now in my own engineering way I feel like Weber couldn't have done it without my help.
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By the way - the first smoke was beyound all of my expectations. I think I ate a whole shoulder myself.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Keri C:
Brisket's done perfectly when it goes "waba-waba" when you poke it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Keri! More on the waba waba! - Please. That's the funniest cooking term I've ever heard.
Seriously, it's very helpful to understand how people tell when meat is done. I've tried sticking the brisket with a fork, but I'm having a hard time getting to understand the feel I'm going for.
 
Jerry, the ideal feel that you're looking for with a fork test is whether you can stick the fork in a lean area of the brisket, twist it, and have the meat fibers twist easily away as you turn the fork. I have better luck using a polder probe for this, myself - not so much to watch the meat temperature as to use the probe to poke into the flat from one side to gauge how tender the meat is. The ideal feel is that you consistently poke that probe into the side of the flat for three or four inches deep into the meat, and there's so little resistance to the probe that you can't tell if you're hitting fat or lean. That "waba-waba" thing is something that I've only hit maybe a dozen times over the last few years - brisket nirvana! It's literally a visual representation of the sound "waba-waba". You can poke at the side of the brisket with your finger, and the whole thing will do a slow jello-style jiggle. I've never seen it work on a flat. When it will wobble like that, though, it seems to me that two things have been achieved in a simultaneous equation: the tough fibers are broken down enough for the meat to be nicely tender, while at the same time there are lots of juices still in the meat that will allow this almost gelatinous or liquid-like motion to happen.

Now whether my explanation of why the waba-waba works is correct or not is anyone's guess - all I know is that when I've been able to get that waba-waba wobbling action goin' on, the results have been outstanding - both tender and juicy. Maybe it has something to do with the amount and pattern of marbling in the meat?
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I leave it to those more culinarily educated and wiser in the ways of smoke than I to make the final determination of why this is so.

Keri C, still smokin' on Tulsa Time (and occasionally competing as Hot Wire BBQ)
 
sorry if this has been stated, but i did not bother to read ALL the posts in this thread, here's what i have to offer though.

i am a Weber dealer and in speaking to my rep about this exact thing...why are there no therms in a WSM etc etc etc.
i was told the following - "changes are coming next year"
don't take this as carved in stone, but it appears that yes, weber IS listening - at least somewhat.

Cheers!
 
I want to see it. I hope to see it. But I will believe it when I see it.

Back in 2004 I attended the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association convention and spoke directly to Mike Kempster, Sr., executive vice president of Weber. We spoke about the most commonly requested improvements to the WSM. He told me, "Hang on, we'll be looking at the WSM soon."

That was over two years ago. Maybe three years is "soon" in Weber years.

Regards,
Chris
 
When I first purchased my WSM I lamented the lack of a thermometer. Now that I have used it (and modified it), I'm glad Weber left it off. It would have been a cheap thermometer that raised the price of the product only to have me rip it out and throw it away. The hole would have been either too small or too big, or in the wrong place on the smoker and I would have cursed that also.

Bottom line: I have two thermometers that I picked out and mounted exactly where I wanted them to be mounted. Best engineering choice Weber made was leaving the thermometer off.
 
Hmmm. Being in the car business, I see a marketing opportunity.

Continue to sell the "WSM Classic" exactly as is.

Then introduce a "WSM Competitor" complete with probe holes, three thermos (hood plus each level), Guru/Stoker ports, custom rain hat, oven windows, ash sweeper/catcher, and chrome wheels for $399 MSRP.

OK, maybe skip the wheels.
 
Whatever happened to that guy who worked at Weber and posted here. I think his sig was, "If I wasn't an expert they fire me".
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike A.:
Hmmm. Being in the car business, I see a marketing opportunity.

Continue to sell the "WSM Classic" exactly as is.

Then introduce a "WSM Competitor" complete with probe holes, three thermos (hood plus each level), Guru/Stoker ports, custom rain hat, oven windows, ash sweeper/catcher, and chrome wheels for $399 MSRP.

OK, maybe skip the wheels. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hell.....keep the wheels, skip the other stuff.

Lifting a WSM makes my back ache. Wheels would be a nice touch, being old and all.
 
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