Butts on a WSM and a ProQ (FINAL REPORT ADDED)


 
C

Chuck McGhee

New member
I have the privilege of cooking a both a WSM and ProQ Excel today.

I will reporting my opinion and observations about the cookers.

Here are some pictures of the start. I'm Cooking 4 butts on each smoker, wish me luck it could be a long day.



 
I hope you're having a big party.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm Cooking 4 butts on each smoker, wish me luck it could be a long day. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Sounds like an awesome day to me! Thanks for the photos and I look forward to hearing your thoughts after the cook.
 
Maybe its just me, but that ProQ looks like its got a little lean to it?

What do you have planned for all that meat? Those are some big butts, must be close to 80lbs total.

Brandon
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Brandon A:
Maybe its just me, but that ProQ looks like its got a little lean to it?

What do you have planned for all that meat? Those are some big butts, must be close to 80lbs total.

Brandon </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah the ProQ has a a lean to it, New legs are supposed to be on the way. Also the very edge of the concrete breaks away a little more.

I have 2 butts on there for a friend, one for dinner to night, and I am selling the rest.

New Pictures are uploading
 
here is my final report.

Recently at the HolySmoke Backyard BBQ contest the ILBBQS had a battle of the bullet smokers. The Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) competed against the ProQ Excel 20 in the battle. The cookers were compared side by side and each cooker was used to cook chicken wings and fatties.

I had the privilege of cooking on both these cookers. I am not experienced with this type of smoker; the closest I have used to either of these is a modified Brinkmann Bullet Smoker (ECB). I cooked 4 pork butts on each cooker. Both cookers were loaded with Royal Oak lump charcoal some cherry chunks were used for smoke wood. I lit each cooker using 1/3 of a chimney of briquettes using the Minion Method. I started out with hot tap water in both water pans. Both cookers came up to 200 ? quickly. I put the meat in the cookers and after some thermometer issues I realized the WSM was at 275 ?, so I closed the vent that was in the wind and closed one of the other vents down halfway. The ProQ had a hard time getting above 200 ? after loading the meat, so I stirred the coals and tossed in a few more handfuls of lump. After making the adjustments to the WSM it settled in at 225 ?. After stirring the coals and adding charcoal the ProQ came up to 230 ?with all vents open all the way. Both cookers were stable. The WSM temperature hardly varied thru out the day. Several hours into the cook I did have to close a second vent on the WSM leaving one fully open. At approximately 5 hours into the cook the ProQ’s water pan was nearly empty. I added water to both cookers at this time. The WSM temp remained constant thru the cook while the ProQ varied from 200 ? to 250 ?. I had to add fuel to the ProQ twice during the cook. I added fuel to the WSM once. I expected the larger ProQ to use more fuel, but it did not seem have any more capacity for fuel than the WSM.

Once the butts hit between 160 ? and 170 ? internally I wrapped them in foil, this is the same method I use when cooking in my offset, stick burner. It was shortly after this I decided I need to increase the heat to get some of the butts done to work with my schedule. At this point the ProQ was still at 250 ? with all vents open. I opened a vent on the WSM to halfway; I now had one vent fully open and one vent half way open. The WSM climbed to and held 300 ? which was in the range I was looking for. I could not get the ProQ to above 250 ?.

Both cookers worked well. It was easier to control the temperature with the WSM. The ProQ cooker is large for a bullet smoker, with the original legs the unit feel slightly unstable. ProQ has reportedly addressed this issue and is sending out replacement legs. Some of the sections on the ProQ didn’t fit together well. It was too difficult to get the body sections apart to place or remove meat from the bottom rack without disturbing the cooker. The sections were hard to separate even after the cooker had cooled off. I assembled the sections in a different order and the fit was improved. The access doors in the ProQ worked to added water and charcoal, but they are kind of small and couldn’t be opened without gloves. The WSM still appeared to be a better product. The WSM sections fit together well. The access door on the WSM could be removed without the use of gloves which was nice.

Overall both these cookers are nice and I enjoyed cooking on them. They both turned out good BBQ and were easy to operate.
 
Originally posted by Chuck McGhee:
here is my final report.
I am not experienced with this type of smoker;

I think that about sums it up. Kinda hard to FAIRLY evaluate anything that you are unfamiliar with. While I love my wsm I can't wait for my excell to arrive this week. Weber got behind and now they must ketchup.
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Hey Chuck,

Good job! Without experience on either one, you undertook a pretty agressive cook, and gave a fair and unbiased report of your findings.

Now get those smokers back so I can play with them!
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What my test wasnt good enough for ya Rhino....just because i have the WSM tattooed on my leg doesnt mean I can't like another smoker....does it. LOL I knew you couldnt wait for me to do this test at Salem they were just sitting there at your house calling your name Jim cook on us, anyway great test honestly that is what I though the pro-q would do just by watching it thbe day we tested and how hot the WSM got the pro-q maintained 250 which is good but I can imagine for longer cooks having to add more coals plus like chuck said increasing temp to get the pork done early was not an option on the pro-q, I wonder what temp the pro-q will maintain with the stacker on it, it might be even harder to get it up to temp, anyway great test.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jason Duhamell:
What my test wasnt good enough for ya Rhino....just because i have the WSM tattooed on my leg doesnt mean I can't like another smoker....does it. LOL I knew you couldnt wait for me to do this test at Salem they were just sitting there at your house calling your name Jim cook on us, anyway great test honestly that is what I though the pro-q would do just by watching it thbe day we tested and how hot the WSM got the pro-q maintained 250 which is good but I can imagine for longer cooks having to add more coals plus like chuck said increasing temp to get the pork done early was not an option on the pro-q, I wonder what temp the pro-q will maintain with the stacker on it, it might be even harder to get it up to temp, anyway great test. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Feeling a little jealeous there Jason??
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Don't worry, you get another chance to play with them...I'm still planning on bring the cookers, and some meat, for you to work 'em over next weekend at The BBQ Throwdown & Jam in Salem!! Just for the record, you and Chuck have spent WAAAY more time cooking on them than I have...I've not yet fired them up! Hope to this weekend.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bruce Rich:
Originally posted by Chuck McGhee:
here is my final report.
I am not experienced with this type of smoker;

I think that about sums it up. Kinda hard to FAIRLY evaluate anything that you are unfamiliar with. While I love my wsm I can't wait for my excell to arrive this week. Weber got behind and now they must ketchup.
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ummmm yeah, that's one way to look at it. he is familiar with q'in. also, this is a fair representation, and something for people to consider who are just starting out. easier control of temps is a major difference in my book, as well as temp versatility.

also, with the new bullets, both regular and big caliber units, coming, i don't think they will be "behind".
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Don't get me wrong, I love my wsm, actually all my webers, but every review I have seen on this site is obviously biased towards weber. I understand this though I don't agree with it. I bought the excel and as soon as the weather clears I'll make my decision. Weber will sell me a 26.5 kettle but they were too late on the bigger wsm.
 
This is a site for WSM enthusiasts, so of course it should be no surprise that any bias will tend toward the WSM. I would expect the same on the ProQ forum, or the Big Green Egg forum, etc. It will only be with time, experience, and several years of usage that some consensus emerges about how the WSMs and ProQ units really compare.
 
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