Still Confused?


 
Yappers lively forsure everyone has there own opinion . Its not as bad as HH or foiling but it is a hot topic . I am like you I enjoy reading the replys ! Besides Iam gona buy a 18 even thou I have a 22 just so I can answer with experiance on both . I love my 22 thou
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I've got the little wsm, but honestly, for a lot of reasons already mentioned, I'd rather have the big one for cooking ribs, big briskets, and bunches of chicken.

Is the little one adequate? Sure, unless you're catering... but not the best one if you stretch full slabs across the bottom grate, flat OR in a rack. Also, don't fill it up with chicken and just temp one thigh for doneness. It an cook pretty uneven when full, and this really hurts with chicken, not as much a big deal with more forgiving things like pork butts. As a pork butt cooker, though, I love the little one. It's just that you could cook twice as many with the big one!
 
Jeff, have you actually seen both sizes?

Call your local ACE Hardware and see if they have both sizes on display, and then go look at them.

I went by the local ACE and compared the two side-by-side. The 22" is HUGE!
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Jeff-

I went on a business trip, only to return to a 22" on my deck, from my daughter for fathers day. I of course was happy for the present, and considered the WSM a good return for four years spent on college education, but was intimidated by its size. The thing is HUGE.

But I am glad that I have it. The more I smoke, the more I want to smoke meat for more people! Opening day of football season I am maxing it out on Butts. Not sure if that is 6 or 8, but I am maxing it out! Gonna impress a lot of people.

JG

ps. for all the times I wanted to get rid of my daughter, I am going to keep her!!!
 
Originally posted by G Force:
Jeff-

I went on a business trip, only to return to a 22" on my deck, from my daughter for fathers day. I of course was happy for the present, and considered the WSM a good return for four years spent on college education, but was intimidated by its size. The thing is HUGE.

But I am glad that I have it. The more I smoke, the more I want to smoke meat for more people! Opening day of football season I am maxing it out on Butts. Not sure if that is 6 or 8, but I am maxing it out! Gonna impress a lot of people.

JG

ps. for all the times I wanted to get rid of my daughter, I am going to keep her!!!
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Congrats, JG! what a girl!

Maxed out with butts will be four each grate, with nine pounders....72 pounds of butts...That's a lot of Q!!!
 
I got the 22.5, and I'm really glad I did. I haven't come close to maxing it out, but just knowing I have tons of room makes me confident in having lots of friends over for great barbecue. Of course I tend to over-do things.... More on that when the outdoor renovation is finished....

Back on topic, I liked Geir Widar's comment:
I asked myself "Have you ever wished for less grate, or more grate?"

I bought the 22
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I chose the 18.5" after much thought.

I have no experience with the 22.5", but here are the reasons I chose the 18.5"

Key reasons were(purely based on what I read here because I had never seen in person or eaten from a WSM before.)

In no particualr order:

1.Smaller/takes up less space
2.I will rarely cook for more than 6 to 8 people.
3.Uses less fuel (and smoke wood I presume?)
4. At the time it was $160 cheaper than a 22.5" si I could buy my maverick and other goodies at the same time.
5. The 22.5" has not been out long. The 18.5" has been out for more than 20 years. If it(18.5") is good enought for everyone else for the last 20 years, it's good enough for my nooby backside too.

The only pro's to the 22.5 to me were the larger capacity (which I had already decided I did not need), and the plain ol' impressivness of it size.

I ended up with a damaged bowl and mid section that Weber let me keep. So I might just tweak them up and build a second 18.5" sometime and that should cure the capacity problem if I ever have one.

And, as a side note I was able to lay 3 rack of BB ribs from Sam's down flat on my 18.5" no prob. I would just roll 'em up like the 20 year veterans if I ever had to though.

Buy one or the other and COOK Brother COOK!
 
What i did to increase space, i leveled my 18.5 wsm , took a ots 22 and set on top, leveled it and traced around the bottom, cut out the bottom of the ots, bolted it to the center section of the wsm , sealed it with high temp silicon, plenty of room now for the cost of 69 for the ots
 
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