Should I go with the 18.5" or 22.5"?


 
A

AdamTriwor

New member
After reading up on the WSM I'm ready to pull the trigger and buy one. I'm just not sure about what size I should go with. As I'm new to smoking at this point, my main interest is ribs and brisket. I don't think I will be smoking more than 3 to 4 slabs of ribs and one 10-15 pound brisket at a time. My concern is would all this fit on the 18.5"? And if it does fit, can I fit enough charcoal in the 18.5" to smoke everything and not worry about having to add more charcoal during the cook. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
sounds to me like the 18 would do you perfectly. I mean , a 15 lb brisket is pretty big , but how often are you gonna do that ?
 
AdamTriwor said:
After reading up on the WSM I'm ready to pull the trigger and buy one. I'm just not sure about what size I should go with. As I'm new to smoking at this point, my main interest is ribs and brisket. I don't think I will be smoking more than 3 to 4 slabs of ribs and one 10-15 pound brisket at a time. My concern is would all this fit on the 18.5"? And if it does fit, can I fit enough charcoal in the 18.5" to smoke everything and not worry about having to add more charcoal during the cook. Any advice would be appreciated.
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I faced this same question a few months ago, and I decided to go with the 22.5" WSM (I just got it a couple of weeks ago). The reason being, I don't have to use all that space, but I have it if I need it.
 
I got the 18 for my birthday in October, and I'm already looking at the 22.
Don't get me wrong, the 18 is awesome, and I've done some great cooks, but I'd like a bit more flexibility that the larger size will give. You mentioned ribs, and seriously ribs will fit much better on the 22.
If you got the extra hundred, and extra room, then go for the bigger one.
 
Purchased my 22 less than a month ago. I went back and forth on size for weeks trying to make a decision. My opinion is this. By owning the bigger size it helps remove one more thing for me to figure out. Being new to the WSM it's nice being able to keep everything on the top rack and not puzzle piece things together to make them fit. It's not that big of a deal to split a rack of spares and use a rack, but it is nice to just lay em down whole and have everything fit. For some that may be half the fun, making things fit, but for me it's nice to not have to worry about the space. 90% of the time the 18 would be fine I think, but there will be times when the space will be used on the 22. Big brisket cooks don't happen all too often for most, but 12-15 lb packers fit much better on the 22. Can you fit them on the 18? Yes. Do you have to be a little creative with foil and meat placement? Yes.
 
ChadB said:
Purchased my 22 less than a month ago. I went back and forth on size for weeks trying to make a decision. My opinion is this. By owning the bigger size it helps remove one more thing for me to figure out. Being new to the WSM it's nice being able to keep everything on the top rack and not puzzle piece things together to make them fit. It's not that big of a deal to split a rack of spares and use a rack, but it is nice to just lay em down whole and have everything fit. For some that may be half the fun, making things fit, but for me it's nice to not have to worry about the space. 90% of the time the 18 would be fine I think, but there will be times when the space will be used on the 22. Big brisket cooks don't happen all too often for most, but 12-15 lb packers fit much better on the 22. Can you fit them on the 18? Yes. Do you have to be a little creative with foil and meat placement? Yes.
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This is a great summary (for someone on the fence). ^^^
 
AdamTriwor said:
Thank You for all the input. Looks like I'm going with the 22"!!
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Good for you Adam! And Welcome to the Forum!

You'll be pleased with the 22". I know I'm happy with my 18", though there are times when I wish I had the 22, they are few and far between. When I wrestled with the question, and rest assured everyone does, I landed on the 18" figuring if I needed to do a really big cook that wouldn't fit in the 18", I do still have my 18" and 22" kettles. Sure they require more baby sitting, but I rarely do really big cooks so I wasn't/ain't worried about it.

Not trying to sway you one way or another, just sharing my experience. Enjoy your new toy!
 
Cool. Having just switched from the smaller to the bigger, it's more important to make sure everything is round. Otherwise, she'll leak and you'll have problems shutting her down. Easy to do and a minor problem.
 
Miguel M said:
Cool. Having just switched from the smaller to the bigger, it's more important to make sure everything is round. Otherwise, she'll leak and you'll have problems shutting her down. Easy to do and a minor problem.
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Had to adjust my lid. It was off by about an inch. Everything fits like a glove now.
 
I have the 18.5" and have zero regrets! It's only my wife and I (for now, she's pregnant) and I way overcook most times with plenty of room to spare.
 
I got the 22.5 then after 3 months built a mini and for Christmas got a 14.5. What did I use most over the winter? Well for Thanksgiving a did a 14 pound turkey on the 22, worked great

but mostly I used the 14.5, why? well it turns out that while my grown kids like BBQ the wife only likes ribs a few times a year, so while I cook dinner for her on the Silver B I smoke for me on the 14.5, it is perfect for small cooks

But if you want to do more than one chicken I would go with the 22.5. I also thought long and hard about the 18.5 but got the 22.5

- better to have the room and not need it than need the room and not have it
 
I am probably going to buy an 18.5 tomorrow, and likely sell my 22.5. I also have a big pellet smoker, so I do not need all the room of the 22.5, plus I like the long cook times of the 18.5
 
Looks like the OP has already decided but for what it's worth - 18 for me.

Had a 22 and honestly I found it a waste of space and charcoal - FOR ME. Some guys think grill space is like horse power - you just can't enough ;). But you just need to take all the advice and then BE HONEST with yourself how much meat you feel will be on that thing on average. I can fit 4 8 lb. shoulders on (2 top/2 bottom)....that's a lot of meat.

If you like to smoke a lot of meat at once or regularly cook for big groups sure the 22" is great. But if you are usually just cooking for you family the 18 is a TON of space.
 
G Savrnoch
I will agree that sometimes the 14.5 is too small and the 22 might be too big, although my shutting the vents all the way you save most of the charcoal, I have been thinking of getting or making a 18.5 charcoal ring, so you get the charcoal size of the 18 but the space of the 22. I Have heard of people who have done that
 
Jeff Padell said:
G Savrnoch
... I have been thinking of getting or making a 18.5 charcoal ring, so you get the charcoal size of the 18 but the space of the 22. I Have heard of people who have done that
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Just remember that there's a lot of space in the 22.5" wsm to heat up with the much smaller charcoal ring.
 
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