New Gateway Joins The WSM Team!


 
James J

James J

TVWBB Pro
Some of you may remember a few years back I customized our WSM smokers for the Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que team.

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Well today we just finished the new addition to our team!

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Still have to let the paint cure, install the thermometer, and add the casters.
Looking forward to firing it up on Saturday!
 
James J said:
Some of you may remember a few years back I customized our WSM smokers for the Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que team.

View attachment 59826

Well today we just finished the new addition to our team!

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Still have to let the paint cure, install the thermometer, and add the casters.
Looking forward to firing it up on Saturday!
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I was thinking of adding some flames to one of my rigs. What type of paints are you using?
 
Chuck-roaniecowpony said:
I was thinking of adding some flames to one of my rigs. What type of paints are you using?
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Graphic paints by House of Kolor. TCP Global has flame kits from 8-16 colors in 4oz bottles for pinstripping and airbrushing. You need to research painting over the baked enamel (it can easily scratch off) and dealing with temperatures. The Gateway comes with a gloss finish that’s rated up to 500 degrees. Mine is a matte finish good up to 1100. I never run them much over 300.
 
James J said:
We’ll find out this afternoon when I fire it up for the first time!
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If nothing else, it's one piece to pick up and move (even while cooking), it has handles to easily move it, and you can stand upright to adjust the draft. That matters to those of us who have bad backs.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
It appears to me that it will have more air flow than a WSM. Those two intakes might be larger than the daisy wheels on a WSM.
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It does seem to have more airflow and it seemed to react quicker to adjustments. As to your first question Lynn, I think there are both pros and cons with the Gateway versus the WSM. The Gateway weighs 150 pounds and is more difficult to transport than the 3 sections of the WSM. I can also see ash clean up being an issue and as much as it doesn’t come apart. As Chuck previously mentioned, the vents can be adjusted easier without having to kneel down. Even though I’ve only fired up the Gateway once, it seemed to perform similar to my 22 WSM. The Gateway Smoker seems to be the new fad on the circuit, and I’ll have to admit I jumped on the bandwagon. The deciding factor for me was the fact that I could custom paint the matte finish with better results than the baked enamel on the WSM. The gateway typically comes with a gloss finish, and they will custom paint flames and logos for an additional cost on both the gloss and matte. I still transport my custom painted WSM’s to competitions, but box them and take precautions to avoid scratching the graphics on the baked enamel. Overall I’m glad I made the purchase and welcome it to my WSM team.
 
James J said:
It does seem to have more airflow and it seemed to react quicker to adjustments. As to your first question Lynn, I think there are both pros and cons with the Gateway versus the WSM. The Gateway weighs 150 pounds and is more difficult to transport than the 3 sections of the WSM. I can also see ash clean up being an issue and as much as it doesn’t come apart. As Chuck previously mentioned, the vents can be adjusted easier without having to kneel down. Even though I’ve only fired up the Gateway once, it seemed to perform similar to my 22 WSM. The Gateway Smoker seems to be the new fad on the circuit, and I’ll have to admit I jumped on the bandwagon. The deciding factor for me was the fact that I could custom paint the matte finish with better results than the baked enamel on the WSM. The gateway typically comes with a gloss finish, and they will custom paint flames and logos for an additional cost on both the gloss and matte. I still transport my custom painted WSM’s to competitions, but box them and take precautions to avoid scratching the graphics on the baked enamel. Overall I’m glad I made the purchase and welcome it to my WSM team.
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Before the pandemic, summer of 2019, I went to a KCBS event here in OKC just to look at everyone's set up. Other than Jambos, drum smokers were the most common, followed by Yoder pellet poopers.

Do you hang ribs directly over the coals in that drum ? Or do you use a grate ?
 
I really like Gateway - I think the big advantage over the WSM is the "tight" construction so there's less air leakage vs just about every other kind of cooker out there. Sort of enables hot and fast cooking and might make the cook a little more weather resistant. My 22" WSM is pretty tight (lava lock gaskets on lid and cajun bandit door) and I still have to fiddle with the vents a lot on moderately windy days.....

I think the only cons on the gateway vs the 22" WSM are the higher purchase price, difficulty in cleaning out the ashes and the fact that they're less mobile vs WSM and smaller drum cookers like the pit barrel.

My guess is most guess is more teams use the grate vs hanging in competition for ease of mopping/spritzing etc..
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Do you hang ribs directly over the coals in that drum ? Or do you use a grate ?
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Yes, they were directly over the coals, and I did not flip them. You would think that they would tend to burn at the bottom, but they did not. When I wrapped them, I removed the hanger and added 2 grates. This weekend for the competition I am only doing four slabs and will be laying them flat on the grates as John mentioned.
 
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