New 18.5 owner


 
W

Wes M

New member
Hi everybody. Just picked up my first wsm. I wasn't going to get one but I was picking up charcoal at Walmart and saw an 18.5 on clearance for 199. Is this a good deal or should I return it and stalk craigslist? It is just my wife and I and a newborn so I figured an 18.5 should be a good size.
 
100 bucks off is a good buy. Might be able to get one off CL for ~125-150 but heck it ain't brand new. 18.5 is a great size. You'll be surprised how much you can fit on that dude! I have all three sizes and really the 22.5 only gets used for really really large cooks or ribs flat. Having a company picnic next weekend and doing 2, 10 lbs. butts and beams, plan on using the 18. IMHO the 18 is the perfect size. Enjoy your new WSM and share a few pics of your cooks
 
Keep it. Absolutely. It's a great buy. Finding one on Craigslist is not at all common in most places.
 
Welcome to the forum Wes. You got a good buy. I have the WSM22 and am thinking of looking for a WSM18 since for just my wife and I the 22 burns a lot of fuel. I will check out Craigslist but the prices for WSM's there is not all that great. You did good and congrats on a great smoker!!
 
That is a great price. They hardly ever go on sale. Why it was on clearance at HD is curious to me, but you made a GREAT purchase. Enjoy.
 
Great price for that smoker.
You can smoke a lot of meat on the 18.5

Recommend the the Minion Tin Can method (coffee can) and a Maverick (ET-732 minimum) for temp monitoring.
And the large size Weber chimney starter.
 
Thanks for all the comments, think I will keep it. I like smoking on my ots but I thought I might get steadier temps on the smoker so I can spend more time with the new baby. And for the clearance question, the Walmart shipping label seemed to be from 2014 so maybe they are clearing out old stock or something. I actually bought it about an hour south of Columbus in Waverly.
 
Wes M said:
Hi everybody. Just picked up my first wsm. I wasn't going to get one but I was picking up charcoal at Walmart and saw an 18.5 on clearance for 199. Is this a good deal or should I return it and stalk craigslist? It is just my wife and I and a newborn so I figured an 18.5 should be a good size.
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Keith R said:
That is a great price. They hardly ever go on sale. Why it was on clearance at HD is curious to me, but you made a GREAT purchase. Enjoy.
Click to expand...

That is a great price. I had been monitoring prices of all 3 sizes for several weeks, and neither size ever went on sale.

(I ended up getting an 18.5" and assembled it on Sunday, posted about it in a few other threads).

Dustin Flavell said:
18.5 is a great size. You'll be surprised how much you can fit on that dude! I have all three sizes and really the 22.5 only gets used for really really large cooks or ribs flat. Having a company picnic next weekend and doing 2, 10 lbs. butts and beams, plan on using the 18. IMHO the 18 is the perfect size. Enjoy your new WSM and share a few pics of your cooks
Click to expand...

I don't mean to hijack the OP's thread, but had a quick question, and thought I'd ask it here, since the sizes of the various models are mentioned.

I got the 18.5 with the intent to do a turkey. Also with a vertical roaster. (Had this one for almost 4 years).

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004UE87/tvwb-20

What's the biggest size turkey I can do using this vertical roaster, on the WSM? I should put it on the middle rack, right?
 
you'll do fine with the 18. i have the same and it's just me, my wife, and our newborn. i've smoked pork ribs, beer can chicken, turkey breasts, and a pork shoulder or two on mine over the past few years and never felt like i needed to go bigger.
 
Arun L. said:
I got the 18.5 with the intent to do a turkey. Also with a vertical roaster. (Had this one for almost 4 years).

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004UE87/tvwb-20

What's the biggest size turkey I can do using this vertical roaster, on the WSM? I should put it on the middle rack, right?
Click to expand...
That's not a turkey roaster, that's a chicken roaster. The listing says it's rated for 8 pounds, so most turkeys would be out of the question.

Vertical turkey roasters are rated up to 25 pounds, for example this one at Walmart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Weston-Tu...Oven-Baked-Smoking-Grilling-Barbecue/51373143

You should be able to do a 22-25 pound turkey on a vertical roaster on the bottom cooking grate of an 18.5" WSM.
 
Arun L. said:
That is a great price. I had been monitoring prices of all 3 sizes for several weeks, and neither size ever went on sale.

(I ended up getting an 18.5" and assembled it on Sunday, posted about it in a few other threads).



I don't mean to hijack the OP's thread, but had a quick question, and thought I'd ask it here, since the sizes of the various models are mentioned.

I got the 18.5 with the intent to do a turkey. Also with a vertical roaster. (Had this one for almost 4 years).

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004UE87/tvwb-20

What's the biggest size turkey I can do using this vertical roaster, on the WSM? I should put it on the middle rack, right?
Click to expand...

I do not use a roaster just throw that bird on and go. My turkeys always turn out great! I put mine on the top rack.

Congrats on the new WSM's you will enjoy, I am teaching my wife and kids the art of smoking now.
 
Jas said:
I do not use a roaster just throw that bird on and go. My turkeys always turn out great! I put mine on the top rack.

Congrats on the new WSM's you will enjoy, I am teaching my wife and kids the art of smoking now.
Click to expand...

How big of a turkey can the 18" fit on the top rack? I have the 22 and having a little buyers remorse since I can get a 18" for $200. It's just for the wife and I and the 22 seems overkill just for us two.
 
A question Mac, how often to you have guests over. Normally it is just my wife and I but on numerous occasions we have her family over for different events and the WSM22 comes in real handy. I do want to get a 18 but might think of a 14 just for the two of us. If you guys entertain even occasionally, that 22 will be your best friend. Just my 20 cents worth.

Mac C said:
How big of a turkey can the 18" fit on the top rack? I have the 22 and having a little buyers remorse since I can get a 18" for $200. It's just for the wife and I and the 22 seems overkill just for us two.
Click to expand...
 
I thought I was going to get a 14 but when I saw them all side-by-side at the local ACE I immediately knew the 18 was better for me. Even though it will mostly just be my wife and I. For friends and family occasions I have more capacity (and a gas genesis too).
 
Mac C said:
How big of a turkey can the 18" fit on the top rack? I have the 22 and having a little buyers remorse since I can get a 18" for $200. It's just for the wife and I and the 22 seems overkill just for us two.
Click to expand...

Not too often we have family over. I guess my only concern is going with 18 and fitting turkey on it. We did ribs with the 22 and it was fine. However we ended up cutting them anyways. So laying a full rack didn't make any difference at all. I like the 22 because of the size and flexibility it has. Downside is the amount of charcoal it uses. I find myself using about 75% of the bag for two people seems a lot. I do have a Genesis that I use regularly and the smoker has just been the new side toy. The 18 cost $200 and 22 was $340. Both were good deals. Just not sure which one fits us better.
 
Mac C said:
How big of a turkey can the 18" fit on the top rack? I have the 22 and having a little buyers remorse since I can get a 18" for $200. It's just for the wife and I and the 22 seems overkill just for us two.
Click to expand...

Where can you get an 18" for $200? Is it new?
 
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