Which grill to buy for grilling/smoking?


 
M

MarcusWilliams

TVWBB Member
I'd like to get started on grilling/smoking this summer. Personally, I prefer meat cooked low n' slow, but the kids may want burgers and hot dogs, so I'd like to get a grill that can reasonably perform both tasks. I expect to cook for 4-6 people, and entertaining large group is not a consideration. My top consideration now is the Weber One-touch Gold or Silver, either 18.5 or 22.5. Not having used a charcoal grill before, I have a few concerns:
- how much higher is fuel cost?
- how hard/time consuming is it to maintain temp for a long cookout (4-7 hours)?
- is the 18.5 big enough for 4-6 people or should I get 22.5? I prefer the smallest that can meet my needs.
 
Welcome to the forum Marcus! There is a friendly and helpful bunch here

Let me see if I can answer your questions, at least give my opinion

Fuel cost is not bad, if you use wire baskets with your grill you wont go through much. I find the cost of a tank of gas to be ridiculous these days. You can find good deals on charcoal around holidays (like 4th of July) and load up to get a better rate

If you plan to do low and slow on a weber kettle, you can use the snake method (do a search on here) and you can maintain temps for quiet a long time. A lot of people use their kettles as smokers on here with great success.

If you were getting a WSM then I would say a 18.5 is plenty big enough for 4-6 since you have 2 racks, but with a kettle I would go with a 22.5 especially if you plan to do rib racks.

Just as an added note, if you want the best of kettles, try to get a performer platinum which has the gas assist. This is an amazing and easy grill to use and you get the best of both worlds (charcoal and gas). Never heard anyone have anything bad to say about it. I have one myself and love it. They are a little pricey, but depending on where you live, you can find some good deals on them on Craigslist. Even older models are good

Before I bought my smoker, I had not used charcoal much either. Now I have 3 charcoal and one gas. I prefer to use charcoal and you will find most people on here will say the same

Good luck!
 
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I have an 18.5" WSM and a 22.5" kettle.
For your requirements the 22.5" kettle would the better choice...either silver, gold or Performer.

Easy to grill on and easy to set up for long cooks spiked with smokewood.
If there was a BBQ Cooker Hall of Fame the 22.5" Weber kettle would be the first inductee.

Although technically you could grill on the WSM, IMO it is not practical.
For ease of use, a table is needed and the cooking area is small.

Try to buy your charcoal on sale....especially when it gets down around .25 per pound.
 
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Don't forget that one benefit to the WSM, other then the fact that it is a great "smoker" is that you can remove the center piece and make a grill out of it. This would cover both your needs and when smoking you have one of the best backyard smokers around. If you plan on doing more grilling then smoking another option would be to get the 22.5 inch OTG and also purchase the Cajun Bandit conversion kit. You can then set it up for smoking similar to the 22.5 WSM and have the best of both worlds.
 
Marcus....welcome and get ready to have some fun and good eats. You can't have good eats without the fun. When I got serious about grilling I was lucky enough to find a Platinum Performer Brand new in the box for half the price. It's a great grill and I was able to smoke a 10 pound turkey breast on it with a lot of work. Honestly with the number of people you have I would suggest a 22.5 kettle, if you can afford a performer get it but if not no big deal. I think all of your needs would be met with a 22.5 and lots of research from this site, but if you have any questions....just ask!
 
Marcus,
I started with a 22.5" kettle, it sounds perfect for what your needs. If you need more cooking space later you can buy a WSM or another kettle.
 
OMG, if I had to give up my Performer, or my WSM, I'm pretty sure I would shoot myself instead. :) Welcome aboard. Hope you get what you want!
 
Marcus the weber 26.75 is the ideal grill and smoker. Not to big and not to small its the perfect grill.
 
If it's to 4-6 people to serve the 22.5" Kettle is the way to go because you can grill the burgers, steaks and hotdogs and slow cook with the snake for your butts. Perfect, now you just need to decide between the OTG or the Performer both good just in what you want to spend. I have a OTG. Oh and once you perfect your cooking you will be cooking for more people because you will love to do.
 
First,welcome! Second, it really sounds like you need a 22.5 kettle. Perfect for one or two, or 4-6. And low and slow is pretty easy! Heck, even I've done low and slow on my kettle. And I've got a WSM!
 
Phil Perrin said:
First,welcome! Second, it really sounds like you need a 22.5 kettle. Perfect for one or two, or 4-6. And low and slow is pretty easy! Heck, even I've done low and slow on my kettle. And I've got a WSM!
Click to expand...
Yep, I have both and the kettle gets more playing time lately.
 
Weber kettles are pretty easy on the charcoal budget. As soon as you take the food off the grill, close the vents. The fire will go out and the unburned charcoal can then be used for the next fire. Learn that trick and you won't be afraid to build a big enough fire for easy grilling.

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I would definitely get the 22 inch kettle. The 18 just doesn't have enough room, either for indirect cooking of a large item like a turkey, or for grilling with some room to the sides of the fire to hold stuff that already been grilled. I would consider an 18 for a one or two people or where space is extremely limited. Otherwise, the 22 is the way to go.
 
Noe said:
Marcus the weber 26.75 is the ideal grill and smoker. Not to big and not to small its the perfect grill.
Click to expand...

I second this. I find the 22.5 a little small for smoking (can only get the food so far away from the heat), and not a ton of cooking space that's not directly adjacenty to the heat. I have a 26.75 and a 22.5, and I very rarely use the 22.5, I really only use it for the rotisserie.

If you want to smoke sometimes and grill (high heat) other times, the best bet is to get a kettle for grilling and a WSM for smoking. if you want to only use one unit for both, I'd go with the Weber 26.75.

Here's what I do, learned it here, I don't know how to post pics of my setup. But when I'm smoking on the 26.75, here's what I do...

All the charcoal goes on the left-most 25% of the charcoal grate. I wall-off that portion of the charcoal grate with fire bricks, helps contain the heat on that side. I pour a pile of unlit charcoal behind the wall, then usually add about a dozen or so lit pieces of charcoal to one end of my pile. I also put a water pan on the cooking grate as a barrier between the heat and the food that's cooking (I use disposable foil pans). If I stay on it, I can get about 4-5 hours of 250 degrees with minimal futzing. You can get much longer with a WSM.

I can't cook a pork butt without having to refuel a couple of times. But I usually do ribs, for which i don't need to refuel.
 
Marcus,
Alot of good information thrown out at you from alot of good people with the BBQ passion that is why I love this place. I am with all here a kettle is a very versatile grill you can do so much with it and it is not real difficult to handle. Myself I have told many folks if you buy a kettle get the gold for the ash removal, of if you are real lucky and find a performer on say CL grab it it is the Cadillac of kettles.
What ever you get share with the folks on the site and become part of the family. Oh and if you buy new order from the site on Amazon so you can support the site even more.
 
Nothing different to say then the others but if I were to start all over again I would be checking craigslist. You maybe able to get a kettle and wsm for very cheap. You will find weber products don't really die, I would go as far as saying they don't even really age. Good luck
 
If you want to grill and smoke and this is your first grill i would get the 26.5 if it is your price range. Offers greatest flexibility for direct, indirect and smoking. I have a Ranch Kettle and never use my 22.5". A 26.5 will provide lots of space and room and the ability to learn how to smoke.
 
Might as well make my first post too! I've been reading this forum for a few years and have to say that this place is the absolute best resource/community out there for this kind of information. Thank you all!

I started a few years ago with a single 18.5 WSM with the plan being to utilize it as a grill as well. After a few cooks I realized that yes you can grill just fine on it with the center section removed, it really wasn't ideal. Now I have a 22.5 one touch gold to compliment the WSM and couldn't be happier. I say get both! :D
 
Thank you all for the warm welcome and helpful tips. I really appreciate it. It seems the OTG 22.5 is the runaway favorite of this board. I will likely get that, while also considering the 26.5. Space isn't a problem, but what about fuel consumption? Since it's bigger, would it use much more charcoal or take longer time to heat up? I'm expecting to just grill some burgers, hotdogs and veggies for my immediate family of 4-6 people most of the time. Don't want to get something that will waste fuel or be overkill, although I can definitely see the benefit of larger cooking area for smoking. For smoking, is it easier to maintain consistent temp with a smaller or bigger unit?
 
MarcusWilliams said:
Thank you all for the warm welcome and helpful tips. I really appreciate it. It seems the OTG 22.5 is the runaway favorite of this board. I will likely get that, while also considering the 26.5. Space isn't a problem, but what about fuel consumption? Since it's bigger, would it use much more charcoal or take longer time to heat up? I'm expecting to just grill some burgers, hotdogs and veggies for my immediate family of 4-6 people most of the time. Don't want to get something that will waste fuel or be overkill, although I can definitely see the benefit of larger cooking area for smoking. For smoking, is it easier to maintain consistent temp with a smaller or bigger unit?
Click to expand...
I like to use the Weber charcoal baskets....seem to help me conserve fuel. Close the dampers after the cook to snuff out the coal.
Here are the basic configurations (outboard and centered) and you can use just one as I did yesterday for a 4 hour 225F cook on some block-cut short ribs.
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I need to go see one of the 26.5 Kettle cuz the cost is twice as the 22.5 OTG, I use the 22.5 it is cramped if I try to cook to chickens or 3 racks of ribs for quantity smaller it's perfect and you can do 1 butt.
 
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