Results: 14.5" WSM Satisfaction Survey


 
Just catching up on this old thread...

I remember when I mocked up about 1/2 dozen of the 14s. I told Weber "You'll sell a TON of them. People will take them camping, people who live in apartments, etc. Make it a "gateway" smoker and they'll move to an 18". Sell them at Walmart and the big box stores!"

And nope, they wouldn't have it. The felt the didn't sell enough the first time around. "But that was then and this is now."

After Weber and I parted, the 14 was released and well.. Here we are talking about it over 10 later after those first mockups.
 
Mike you were on to something with those mock ups. I bought one as soon as they hit the shelves. Since added a second for the RV. I have all three size WSM and the 14 is by far the one I use the most. Turned three of my co-works on to the 14. Awesome cooker in my opinion.
 
Dustin Flavell said:
Mike you were on to something with those mock ups. I bought one as soon as they hit the shelves. Since added a second for the RV. I have all three size WSM and the 14 is by far the one I use the most. Turned three of my co-works on to the 14. Awesome cooker in my opinion.
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I just found one that was given to me back in the day; 1 of 6 and I'm pretty sure 1 of two left from then. One guy in the machine shop took one home to burn old legal papers like bills and such.

I'm gonna take some pics of it and post them up. It never had a real water pan. In the old days, the bottom half of the Weber torch was the water pan. They had long ditched that tooling as the torch was disco'd and shipped to over seas. (as the water pan for the 18 is a lid for the 14. I used a bowl from a 14 to bump it up to what is used now.. is it still that big one?). Anyway.. I found some old "pan" of some sort for water. I don't know what they actually started shipping it with.

Thanks for your awesome approval. I just go to the 18 I have, also a bit of a subtle proto. It has a thermometer, the old pan, the large pan. I also had a 1-touch bottom with stubby legs that I could use with it -now I use that for a fire pit.
 
Rusty James said:
Mike D,

Can you tell any difference in smoke flavor between the 14.5" WSM compared to the larger WSMs?
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I can't tell much smoke flavor difference. Most of the cooking I was doing with it was a variety of foods and recipes to see if they would work and taste halfway decent. I didn't compare the ribs of a 14 to that of the 18 or 22.

It's an interesting trade off/balance. Let's say a rack on the 14 is the same as a rack on the 18. It should absorb the same amount of smoke and flavors.. if you balance and manage the charcoal and wood chips portion the same. So I'm not really answering your question! But I believe nearly identical results are achievable but you may have to adjust your game plan.
 
Oh you know me.. Lurking here and there. :)

The 14 was finally released in 2014? Or is that when the shipping year of the spec page you've created? Funny to think it sat in their files and my old notes for 6-8 years before they released it.

So the original did use the first stamp of the old torch from the 70s (subsequent operations formed it into final product and assembly). When I was messing around with it, the torch had moved to Asia for production and a couple were sent back but the shape had changed -and it looks like the one I have, but mine does not have enamel finish, I just used it as bare metal.

The door looks like something I would have drawn up, but the doors on the 22 were a problem due to the compound radius. For the 14 I snipped up an 18 door.

It'd be interesting to measure the components I have and compare them to your spec sheet.
 
I need to gain more experience. I started with the 22 close to two years ago and later thought a smaller unit would be worthwhile. So I purchased the 14. On what few smokes I tried I could not keep it going without refueling (i.e. shoulder at 225-250). A bigger downside is the fact that--in my opinion--the food had a taste that I associate with my PBC where the drippings fall to the lit coals and somewhat alter the taste. I like that taste sometimes but not always. Then I purchased the 18. The 18 and 22 satisfy my taste buds but I still desire to learn how to use the 14.
 
Rusty James said:
Reckon Weber will make an even smaller smoker? :p

Probably not, unless it is a novelty item.
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When I pushed for this in 2007, they thought of the 14 as a novelty item! I guess the same was of the phone apps too: "Let's see if this 'cellular device thing will stick around'"

Mind you this was 2007 and I couldn't even get Weber to use Meeting Maker to organize and plan a meeting. A person had to send around emails, call, walk around all over the property to find people to conduct a meeting. Welcome to 1957.....
 
BFletcher said:
I need to gain more experience. I started with the 22 close to two years ago and later thought a smaller unit would be worthwhile. So I purchased the 14. On what few smokes I tried I could not keep it going without refueling (i.e. shoulder at 225-250). A bigger downside is the fact that--in my opinion--the food had a taste that I associate with my PBC where the drippings fall to the lit coals and somewhat alter the taste. I like that taste sometimes but not always. Then I purchased the 18. The 18 and 22 satisfy my taste buds but I still desire to learn how to use the 14.
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I can completely understand this. Shoulders can be tough on a 14 just because of size and time.

Have you tried doing a half shoulder? I've been thinking of trying that sometime. Taking a 6 or 8 pounder that's easy to find and just slicing it in half. At 99 cents a pound, little money investment. I actually spend more in charcoal!!!
 
 
Robert-R said:
I love my 14.5 & use it way more that the 18.5. It's a giant killer, imho.

I've made a few modifications that make it extremely versatile:

https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?57...p-Hanging-Rack-for-the-14-5&highlight=stacker

https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?64702-More-Stackers-for-the-14-5&highlight=stacker

https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?63237-Made-a-Rotisserie-Ring-for-the-14-5&highlight=rotisserie

https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?63...-for-the-14-5-Rotisserie&highlight=rotisserie

I doubt that Weber would ever make any of the above.
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Yeah.. I doubt they would as well. Took them years and years to re-release it after the redesign.
 
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