An Old New WSM?

[Paul Mosher]

Just saw this and thought some of you might find it as interesting as I did. 14.5 WSM Maybe

 

[John B]

I was hoping this would happen with all the buzz on making the custom tamale pot version that everyone has been doing. I will be picking one of these up for sure if/when it comes out.

 

[Chuck_B]

That is interesting but depending on the price they charge it might be not worth it at all. I personally think it's entirely to small to begin with.

 

[Phil Perrin]

I saw that article too. When I Told Sweet Pammi Sue,she said we should get one for when it's just the two of us.

 

[Pat Smith]

Unless they try to price it as a premium product for the novelty, I'll buy one. I've had a blast with my tamale pot conversion and as far as capacity, I can cook two butts on it - which is one more than I usually cook at a time unless I'm doing a big cook for a function, in which case I use my Cajun Bandit or Trager Texas Grill.

I was hoping Weber would clue in that there are a lot of us die hards who would jump on a new factory model and perhaps, if they price it correctly, a lot more people who would like to try smoking but are put off by the price of a new WSM.

Pat

 

[Shaun R]

I am pretty sure I would buy one if the price is much less than an 18.5. I just think it would be nice to have one. The reason I can't seem to get excited about the tamale pot is because I want the high top the WSM has.

 

[Tim (the grillaholic)]

Shaun, thought you might like this...

Originally posted by JHunter:
Here are some of the pics Larry described above... I find the mini egg the cutest little thing out there for smoking meat.

Tim

 

[Jerry N.]

I'd buy one in a minute. The size is too small for many, but for me and wife, it's perfect for a single butt or a single slab of ribs. We've cut way down on our food intake and a little smoker would be well used.

 

[Gary H. NJ]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I personally think it's entirely to small to begin with. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Can you get a single slab of ribs on it? Seems like a novelty item to me.

 

[Lawrence M.]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gary H. NJ:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I personally think it's entirely to small to begin with. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Can you get a single slab of ribs on it? Seems like a novelty item to me. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Only if you coil the ribs. There should be space for 2 racks on tops if you interlock the coils like 2 horseshoes with the open part inside each other.

Here's a pic of a rack from last week on mine:

 

[RichPB (richlife)]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil Perrin:
I saw that article too. When I Told Sweet Pammi Sue,she said we should get one for when it's just the two of us. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree, Phil. When it's just me and Sweet Pammi Sue -- oops

, I mean me and Sweet Little Sheila, this would be great. I think I would smoke more and enjoy it more, because now I tend to cook LOTS in the 18.5 and freeze most as soon as it cools. Reheated is good, but it sure can't compete with fresh from the smoker.

And yeah, you can do it with the 18.5, but that gets costly on the single meals.

Rich

 

[Russ Sylvester]

I'd buy one in a heartbeat. For all the test cooking that I do for comps, I hate firing up the 18.5 just for a half rack of ribs, a small butt, or a brisket flat. I definately won't fire up the 22.5. A 14.5 would be just the perfect size. I would wear that thing out.

Russ

 

[Bob H.]

If they price it competitively I will buy one. If not I will just convert my old wood handled Joe.

 

[DK Smith]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bob H.:
If they price it competitively I will buy one. If not I will just convert my old wood handled Joe. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
X2
And this is the main issue. I'm not sure if I can see weber getting to a price low enough for there to be a large market. Just guessing here but I just don't see it happening.

 

[JSMcdowell]

So it's a slow day at work today, so I ran some numbers comparing weber grills. I used the current selling price on Amazon and the MSRP on Amazon

OTS
Sales price 18" is 78% of a 22"
MSRP price 18" is 80% of a 22"

OTG
Sales price 18" is 90% of 22"
MSRP price 18" is 88% of 22"

Sales price 22" is 45% of 26"
MSRP price 22" is 46% of 26"

WSM
Sales price 18" is 70% of 22" **(I used $399 for a 22" since that's what I usually see it at, not the $355 that is today.... hmmm, only $355...)
MSRP price 18" is 70% of 22"

Again, these numbers were rounded and are not scientific by any means.

Now what can you pull out of this? I have no idea.

But let's say the 14.5" was 70% of an 18" at $195 (sales price). $199 sounds like a good number for Weber to use. Of course for us, we know the 18" used to be $199!

Let's say the 14.5" was 80% of an 18" at $223. Weber would go for $225 probably.

Again, nothing scientific here. Honestly, I can't see myself spending $199 on a 14.5". I can smoke small amounts on my performer. But I would spend $125 on one that someone bought and didn't like and put up on Craigslist

$150 would probably be my max on a new one.

 

[dean]

For what they will want for it you might as well just stick with the 18 incher. When you get any smaller a lot of meats wont even fit. Yes if you want to just smoke for 2 people and want to use up yer charcoal it will work. I like to smoke extra and freeze it or eat all week off and on. If I want to smoke a small item I just use my standard weber kettle.

 

[Lawrence M.]

You can fit plenty of meat on the mini WSM. For example....

3 Racks of ribs on an 1880 from this past weekend. There are 2 on top coiled and one on the bottom in a U shape:

2 Beer can chickens from the week before Original post :

I had it running for 5 hours using RO and I only used about half my coal. With Kingsford comp I can get 8 hours out of one ring without any major packing or overfilling.

I personally can't see too much market for this above $200 but maybe Weber is just going for the more premium market. I can see Josh's logic for the price at $225, and there are a bunch of other smokers from Brinkmann running the gamut from $50-180 on homedepot.com. Weber would probably get killed in the market if they tried to go low end. Since they still make their products in the US, the price has to be somewhat higher for them to make money while keeping quality up. I bet Weber still has the tooling for the original 1880 though.

My bet isthe smokers will be priced $200/$300/$400 for the 14/18/22.

 

[DK Smith]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JSMcdowell:
So it's a slow day at work today, so I ran some numbers comparing weber grills. I used the current selling price on Amazon and the MSRP on Amazon

OTS
Sales price 18" is 78% of a 22"

OTG
Sales price 18" is 90% of 22"


</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I like the math but shouldn't the Smokey Joe be considered in the equation since a 14.5 WSM is really just an extended SJ? Especially considering webers actual material cost?

OTS
Sales price 18" is 78% of a 22"

OTG
Sales price 18" is 90% of 22"

Smokey Joe Silver compared to an 18 silver
SJS($33.97) is 48% of an 18($69.70)

Smokey Joe Gold compared to an 18 Gold
SJG($34.90) is 28% of an 18 gold ($121.91)

18 OTG is 40% of a 18 WSM
18 OTS is 22% of a 18 WSM

22 OTG is 53% of a 22 WSM
22 OTS is 30% of a 22 WSM

As we see Joes are cheap! Especially in comparison to the 18 or 22. Lets say Joes are an average of %36.75 of the 14" WSM price, a similar range in price differences of the 18s and 22s kettles vs WSMs. The 14" WSM price would be estimated at 95-100$. Weber has to be making some money off the Joes or they wouldn't sell them. Material cost wise I can't see the 14" THAT much more. I think a cool 99$ would be a nice competitive price point and has an argument.

 

[JSMcdowell]

dk,

I thought about that after the post, since they share the same parts. Thanks for updating those prices.

I think they would sell the heck out of them at $99, but I doubt they will go that low.

 

[DK Smith]

Doubt it too but we can hope can't we? Considering a Joe Smoker mod is 50-65$ including a brand new Joe there hand might be forced to price low. At least for my business...