WSM or Kettle


 
G Savrnoch

G Savrnoch

TVWBB Super Fan
So for the last few months I've been considering some changes and I am stuck......stuck to the point of total frustration. Long story short, I have a nice Napoleon gasser and just sold a Bradley digital smoker. The Bradley was my first step into the world of smoke and I was drawn to it due to ease of use. And although I had some fun a produced some good food with it, I wasn't thrilled with my finished product in comparison to some of my pals with charcoal units - so I started reading....and reading....and reading and realized I won't be able to produce great BBQ using electric.

So I have considered the BGE and although I have the coin, not sure I want to spend that much to grill and Q. I love cooking outdoors but I just don't know if I need to make such a big investement at this point. So now I'm stuck between a Weber One Touch Gold or Performer 22.5" or a WSM. I love the flavour of charcoal cooked/smoked food vs. NG or LPG so I think once I start down this road I may not ever look back at the Napoleon other than doing a few quick hot dogs for kids etc.... We don't cook for big numbers, my family is 4. At most we'll entertain 12-16 once or twice a year. I do enjoy cooking all year as long as I can carve a path to the grill through the snow I'm good.

I guess I'm asking would you go WSM and leave the grilling to the Napoleon or would you go to a Kettle and do both. I've seen and heard some guys have great success on their kettle for smoking....more work than a WSM yes but still some fine Q.

All thoughts appreceiated.
 
G I have a 18.5 WSM and a 22.5 Performer (among others, lol). I use the WSM for everything I smoke and the Performer for everything that I grill. Also have a Weber gasser that gets used when needed too. I feed 4 and find that both will make enough food for the 4 of us. Guess its up to finances and availability for your purchase. I'm sure you could smoke just fine on the Performer but I never have. You could buy both for the price of the BGE if you were looking at a large sized one.
 
First of all, I’m sure you’ll get lots of opinions and this is only my own. I have the Performer, 22” OTG and the 18-1/2” WSM. I truly enjoy using all three. Given you plan on grilling as well as BBQ, I suggest the Performer. I suggest this over the OTG simply for the convenience of the Performer. The gas light assist is nice but it has other things going for it. The height is much more comfortable than the OTG. It enjoys the same cleaning system as the OTG. The table with the charcoal storage is something you will eventually take for granted once you get spoiled by this thing. Tool holders are standard and even the top vent is insulated so you don’t need a glove to mess with it.

If you truly enjoy the flavor of charcoal over gas, I think you’ll end up using the Performer for almost everything. We cook outside 3 to 5 nights a week, all year. The Performer gets used the vast majority of the time. You’re coming from a gasser and the convenience that goes with that. You should get something you will enjoy using and not something that will sit in the corner for “occasional” use. Yes you can smoke on the Performer and yes you can grill on the WSM but neither does the other as well as a dedicated unit. Regarding the BGE, I thought about that a lot. What turned me off on it was the cooking surface area. Again, this is just my opinion and your mileage may vary……

Good Luck & let us know how you make out.
 
A nice plus right now too is my local BBQ shop is selling the igniter equipped Performer $60.00 off which puts it at the price of the non-igniter performer $339.00 CAD. I was going to get the non-igniter unit and just use the chimney but for the same price, I can get the igniter unit but I would still get the chimney, the igniter is just a bonus. Again I don't want to sound well off - we're not, but I can afford up to a large BGE.....because I've been saving my pennies for a quite a while for this purchase and since I'm not a big kitchen cook but jump at the outdoor stuff, DW has green lighted the purchase. I think for nothing else at this point than to shut me up....I've been thinking/talking grills and smokers for weeks straight now. :cool: I wil spend more if needed, but I also enjoy getting great product for less money. Another option is get the Performer to get the feet wet. If I want to dive deeper into smoking performance I could get a WSM another day - that seems to be popular ;).
 
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Another option is get the Performer to get the feet wet. If I want to dive deeper into smoking performance I could get a WSM another day - that seems to be popular .

Duh! Everyone here know that. :)
 
G Savrnoch,

If I could only have one grill it would be a Big Green Egg, large size - hands down. Money aside, my next choice would be either a 22" Weber One Touch Gold or a Weber Performer.

The WSM is a great smoker, but if you're not sure how much dedicated smoking you'll do, start with the One Touch Gold or Performer, and try smoking on that. I've been able to get over 13 hours of cook time at 250 on my 2005 Performer on a single load of charcoal - plenty enough time for an 10 pound pork butt or brisket. A great feature on the Performer - well, some of them - is the gas assist start. The table and charcoal bin will come in much handier than you think. The thermoplastic table is a great place to put your food before or after cooking - VERY handy.

Since getting my large Egg a few months ago I don't use my Performer quite as much - in fact, since getting the Egg I haven't used it at all. But because of the reasons I mentioned above it will remain part of the grilling arsenal indefinitely.
 
I don’t have a Big Green Egg, but I sure have BGE envy. No doubt they are a great grill and do pretty darn good at smoking. I am sure it would serve you well.

As for me, I am a Weber guy and not afraid to admit my extreme bias. I grew up using Weber products and have figured out what I can and cannot do on each one. As you can see from my signature below, I owe a few of them and use them all. If I were in your circumstance, given my bias and the fact that I grill much more than smoke, I would plan on purchasing a Performer first, but then purchase a WSM as soon as I could afford it. There are some workarounds for smoking using your Performer, but the first time you fire up your WSM you will wonder why you put yourself through all that, especially on a long cook. Last but not least, I would look for a Weber gas grill with a side burner. At that point, there is truly virtually nothing you can’t cook outside.

Have I spent enough of your money yet?

Enjoy the search.
 
If you are only going to get one cooker i would choose the 26.75 Weber Kettle very versatile, awesome grill and smoker.
 
I agree with Noe, if it's only going to be one grill then 26.75 would be the one to get - lots of realestate.
 
Get a used kettle for a few bucks and see if you like to use it to also smoke with it. If not, then you can narrow down your choices and can always sell the kettle.

Our everyday cooking is on a Performer. I also have a mini WSM as well for family meals. The 22 WSM is for larger cooks. For example I last used it for a party of about 50 where I smoked three beef Shoulder Clods on a overnight cook.

You can also add two additional cooking racks to a Performer or 22 Kettle to increase capacity.

Our cooking is a little more than traditional barbecue (ribs, pork, brisket). I try and include lots of chicken, fish, veggies, potatoes, bread, and grill fruit like apples to complete the meal. For this I prefer a kettle but I can see where a 26.5 would be nice to get a little more real estate, but I've been doing OK with just a the Performer and an additional rack.

If I'm not mistaken the 26 is about $300 or so and I just don't see any used ones around like Performers or Kettles.
At that price point is a used Performer and a Cajun Bandit Stacker which will give you additional capacity when needed.

If cold weather cooking is important, the BGE with it's superior insulation may be a better option.
 
I would vote for kettle/performer but to throw something else out there. Have you thought about the 3in1 that napoleon offers? I don't know anybody that has used one but just thought I would suggest something different.
 
J Reyes said:
If I'm not mistaken the 26 is about $300 or so and I just don't see any used ones around like Performers or Kettles.
At that price point is a used Performer and a Cajun Bandit Stacker which will give you additional capacity when needed.
Click to expand...

Sorry to post twice on this, but I think J Reyes hit the nail on the heat. "Used Performer and Cajun Bandit Stacker". If you can snag a decent used Performer for $150 - which is very doable - then with the CB stacker w/deflector-charcoal ring package puts you at about $300. And you get the best of everything (very large capacity smoker, high heat grill, etc.). Heck, if the CB stacker had been out a year or so ago I'd only have ONE grill.
 
Here is what I did and what I should have done.
I purchased a Weber 22.5" OTG new for $128 a couple of weeks ago. I just purchased a new 18.5" WSM via this web site.
Now I have a Weber Summit 470, OTG and a WSM to round out the outdoor cooking combo.

What I should have done was to buy a used OTG or Silver. You can find them for about $50 on CL or EBay in good shape.
I even found a new one in the box for a great price on CL (the person got it as a gift and never used it).
The WSM is a little harder to find on the "Used" market so I'd still buy that new.
Look around, you may be able to find what you want and pay 1/2 the price for a used grill and a smoker.
Good luck.



G Savrnoch said:
So for the last few months I've been considering some changes and I am stuck......stuck to the point of total frustration. Long story short, I have a nice Napoleon gasser and just sold a Bradley digital smoker. The Bradley was my first step into the world of smoke and I was drawn to it due to ease of use. And although I had some fun a produced some good food with it, I wasn't thrilled with my finished product in comparison to some of my pals with charcoal units - so I started reading....and reading....and reading and realized I won't be able to produce great BBQ using electric.

So I have considered the BGE and although I have the coin, not sure I want to spend that much to grill and Q. I love cooking outdoors but I just don't know if I need to make such a big investement at this point. So now I'm stuck between a Weber One Touch Gold or Performer 22.5" or a WSM. I love the flavour of charcoal cooked/smoked food vs. NG or LPG so I think once I start down this road I may not ever look back at the Napoleon other than doing a few quick hot dogs for kids etc.... We don't cook for big numbers, my family is 4. At most we'll entertain 12-16 once or twice a year. I do enjoy cooking all year as long as I can carve a path to the grill through the snow I'm good.

I guess I'm asking would you go WSM and leave the grilling to the Napoleon or would you go to a Kettle and do both. I've seen and heard some guys have great success on their kettle for smoking....more work than a WSM yes but still some fine Q.

All thoughts appreceiated.
Click to expand...
 
I was in the same position as you last year. I bought the Platinum grill and added the Smokenator. The Smokenator has worked well for me but this past spring I bought a WSM 22.5. I used it about 5 times, liked it but thought it was much bigger than I needed so switched to the 18.5 WSM. I did this because of the amount of fuel it used in relation to the amount of meat I cooked. I love my little 18.5! My guess is before long, after your first choice you will have both.

I would definately go with the Performer and I would check out the accessories available like the cajun bandit smoke ring extension you can put on your kettle giving the extra height for smoking but overall I would sooner have my kettle and a wsm. I would choose those two over a BGE. If I were considering a ceramic cooker I like the Primo oval.
 
Gary S said:
I would definately go with the Performer and I would check out the accessories available like the cajun bandit smoke ring extension you can put on your kettle giving the extra height for smoking but overall I would sooner have my kettle and a wsm. I would choose those two over a BGE. If I were considering a ceramic cooker I like the Primo oval.
Click to expand...

This falls outside this discussion, but I agree with the Primo Oval over the large BGE. In fact, that's what I was searching for. But when you have the opportunity to get a flawless 1 yr old BGE w/nest for 400 bucks you jump on it! :)
 
Thanks for the all the advice and based on all of it yesterday I jumped in. From my local shop (BBQs Galore in Burlington ON.) I bought a new Weber Performer. My thoughts are I know I need to grill regularly and only smoke occasionally so the Performer seemed like a good start point for me. From what I've seen with some hands on attention the kettles can be very good smokers for limited cooks. If I find the smoking is something I want to jump deeper into, like many of you have said, a WSM will likely be beside the patio in no time. But I figure I can get my feet wet with charcoal smoking with the kettle. Again coming from a Bradley electric smoker I'm excited to taste the difference. Even though the unit came with the igniter I also bought a chimney, a cover, a variety of Weber's chips and a bag of lump charcoal (Dragon's Breath IIRC). So I pick up the Q this morning and I'm already thinking what should I cook this afternoon/evening. Any cook ideas for an "uber-charcoal-noob", something forgiving???

Thanks again to all, I will likely start kicking around here a bit more as there is a ton of experience here I can learn from. ;) Cheers.
 
Congrats on the new Performer. If you keep your eyes open for a couple of firebricks you'll find that you can do pretty much everything (long smokes, high temp pizza etc...) with it.

IIRC my first cook was chicken pieces. If you want something simple and really good try Roadside Chicken :

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?33874-Roadside-Chicken

Keeping the baste in a metal dish/pot on the cool side of the grill and dunking the pieces seems easier than brushing, at least to me, and might work even better.

If I can suggest a couple of important things to remember :

1. make sure you have a "cool zone" with fewer (or no) coals so you have some control over temperature

2. if you have the lid on then you're less likely to get grease fires (and things cook better too) - but it's not absolutely guaranteed so you need to lift the lid and check regularly just in case
 
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Chicken works real well like John says. There are some great wing cooks for the kettle, check out the thighs with the BBQ Pit Boys. They do tons of stuff on the kettle`using smoke wood. You might find Royal Oak charcaol is the best bang for the buck.
I was at Ont Gas BBQ today too and I was thinking about your post as I looked at Primo, BGE, the Kegs and of course our beloved Webers. I just wish Weber made an insulated smoker anyhow bought a winter blanket for my WSM.
 
Congrats dude. Since you went with the Performer, when you do decide to go the smoker route I advise going with the Cajun Bandit Stacker instead of buying a WSM. Chances are you'll need only a smoker or grill at any given time, and you'll end up with basically the equivalent of the 22 inch WSM for less than the cost of an 18.
 
OK well DW had ribs for me ready to go....so a little rub and on they went. I found keeping the the temps consistent was pretty easy, every hour or so a few more chunks of coal and some more chips. Vent adjustments were minor to keep things in line. After four hours the ribs came off and they are currently wrapped in foil and resting. The house is just filled with the smell of smokey wonderfulness :cool:. Thanks again boys for all the help with this decision. Looking forward to getting to work on this thing some more. It was a lot of work sitting on the patio supervising it and drinking beer....but that's the kind of guy I am.

And thanks for that tip W Tyler on the Cajun Bandit, they are hard to find here in Canada but I will look into it.
 
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