Weber Smokey Mountain 22 in Black Charcoal Cooker Smoker by Weber at Fleet Farm - $349.00 YMMV B&M
$349.00
$459.00
+7Deal Score
8,178 Views
Fleet Farm in Wisconsin has these on sale in the store for 349.00 for the 22 inch and 299 for the 18 inch. They also have 10 % off for military and veterans until the 22nd.
Depends what you like to cook. You need to mod this one a bit. The PBC is 33gal, so a bit bigger. PBC is great for ribs; a modded WSM makes great brisket. PBC is supposed to have a larger 55 coming out soon, similar to gateway drum.
Looks like the PBC doesn't go beyond 18.5". I like the WSM because it has two grates so that I can cook 4 large pork butts at one time. Doesn't look the PBC has more than one level of grates, but I might be wrong. It does have an interesting vertical cooking setup.
Depends entirely on what you are cooking. If you're doing pork butts for pulled pork, you could easily feed more than 6 people. Probably ribs too. It's just that a rack of ribs sometimes is more than 18" across. Sure, you can curl them up (and use a skewer along with standing them on edge) or cut them into smaller chunks and use a rib stand to hold them in place. Sometimes, though, I would prefer just to have a whole rack that doesn't have a weird curl to it or that requires me using extra gear.
I will admit that I've fit whole turkeys and butterflied legs of lamb in the 18" without a problem. And the downside to the 22" is that will probably require more fuel. I'm just hoping that if and when I do get a 22" that my BBQ Guru will fit the intake port as it does on the 18".
Just want to comment to let people know about air controllers (I use a bbq guru myself). They completely control the air coming into your smoker to regulate the temp. Once my pit is rolling, I can go 8 hrs without touching it because of my guru. I use a mix of good lump and split wood (usually pecan).
Looks like the PBC doesn't go beyond 18.5". I like the WSM because it has two grates so that I can cook 4 large pork butts at one time. Doesn't look the PBC has more than one level of grates, but I might be wrong. It does have an interesting vertical cooking setup.
Quote
from halcion1
:
Depends what you like to cook. You need to mod this one a bit. The PBC is 33gal, so a bit bigger. PBC is great for ribs; a modded WSM makes great brisket. PBC is supposed to have a larger 55 coming out soon, similar to gateway drum.
Thank you both! Valuable information. The PBC dose that intriguing hanging system, which apparently works quite nicely. The Weber is better-looking though. I'll do some more reading.
Depends entirely on what you are cooking. If you're doing pork butts for pulled pork, you could easily feed more than 6 people. Probably ribs too. It's just that a rack of ribs sometimes is more than 18" across. Sure, you can curl them up (and use a skewer along with standing them on edge) or cut them into smaller chunks and use a rib stand to hold them in place. Sometimes, though, I would prefer just to have a whole rack that doesn't have a weird curl to it or that requires me using extra gear.
I will admit that I've fit whole turkeys and butterflied legs of lamb in the 18" without a problem. And the downside to the 22" is that will probably require more fuel. I'm just hoping that if and when I do get a 22" that my BBQ Guru will fit the intake port as it does on the 18".
It fits fine on the 22". I actually use two fans on my 22/guru setup. I know it's probably overkill, but it helps hit higher temps for chicken and is less wear and tear on the fan motors.
WSM no question in my mind. For a bunch of reasons. There's nothing the PBC can do that you can't do on a WSM, but there's a lot you can't do on the PBC. If you want to use a controller for all-night cooks, the WSM is set up for that. You can use a water pan (or not) on the WSM. And there's tons of aftermarket mods and accessories for the WSM. Much easier to transport and clean because it's modular. I could go on, but having owned and used both, I sold the PBC and kept the WSM. And the WSM will hold its resale value – it's never hard to sell a WSM for close to what you paid if you take decent care of it.
18" will suffice and it's what I have, but a 12+ lb packer brisket or a full rack of ribs are a pretty tight fit, I usually have to fenagle the lid on initially (the meat shrinks down enough after a short amount of time where it's usually only somewhat difficult to get the lid on immediately after putting the raw meat on the smoker)...I got mine from Lowes on clearance for $165 so it would have been too much more to get the 22", but if it's within $50 or so I'd probably go for the upgrade...I would definitely like to get something bigger down the line
I have the 18" and this spot on advice. The 18" is very efficient compared but 22" harder to move. 22" makes better fires and can take logs of smoked wood. 22 grate can transfer easy to Weber kettle too. If you are trying to transfer and sear or rest.
I've had the 18" for years. Only time I run into issues fitting things in there are with full briskets and ribs. Full briskets are usually pretty big and I've had to cut a couple inches off the end to get them to fit. With Ribs, I usually cut the racks in half and use the Weber rib rack. So, you can work around it pretty easily.
Only other issue I've had with it is temperature control being really finicky due to air leaks around the lid and door on the side for loading more charcoal. The temp gauge is also off quite a bit from the Weber wifi thermometer that I use. I would definitely recommend some sort of trustworthy wifi thermometer. I've had really good results with it, just more babysitting than some would like. But if you're the type that's going to park yourself in the backyard with beer, music, and magazines then it's all good.
They sell a gasket kit for the door, and middle section to cut down on air leaks. Just installed it last year, so far so good.
They sell a gasket kit for the door, and middle section to cut down on air leaks. Just installed it last year, so far so good.
I think that would help. I've always had issues with temps running away in the afternoon sun even with all the bottom vents completely closed. Sadly mine's also taken a beating from some crazy wind storms this past year which didn't help matters. Going to have to retire it.
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Depends what you like to cook. You need to mod this one a bit. The PBC is 33gal, so a bit bigger. PBC is great for ribs; a modded WSM makes great brisket. PBC is supposed to have a larger 55 coming out soon, similar to gateway drum.
With PBC, you can hang ribs. 6 racks no problem.
I will admit that I've fit whole turkeys and butterflied legs of lamb in the 18" without a problem. And the downside to the 22" is that will probably require more fuel. I'm just hoping that if and when I do get a 22" that my BBQ Guru will fit the intake port as it does on the 18".
I will admit that I've fit whole turkeys and butterflied legs of lamb in the 18" without a problem. And the downside to the 22" is that will probably require more fuel. I'm just hoping that if and when I do get a 22" that my BBQ Guru will fit the intake port as it does on the 18".
WSM no question in my mind. For a bunch of reasons. There's nothing the PBC can do that you can't do on a WSM, but there's a lot you can't do on the PBC. If you want to use a controller for all-night cooks, the WSM is set up for that. You can use a water pan (or not) on the WSM. And there's tons of aftermarket mods and accessories for the WSM. Much easier to transport and clean because it's modular. I could go on, but having owned and used both, I sold the PBC and kept the WSM. And the WSM will hold its resale value – it's never hard to sell a WSM for close to what you paid if you take decent care of it.
I have the 18" and this spot on advice. The 18" is very efficient compared but 22" harder to move. 22" makes better fires and can take logs of smoked wood. 22 grate can transfer easy to Weber kettle too. If you are trying to transfer and sear or rest.
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Only other issue I've had with it is temperature control being really finicky due to air leaks around the lid and door on the side for loading more charcoal. The temp gauge is also off quite a bit from the Weber wifi thermometer that I use. I would definitely recommend some sort of trustworthy wifi thermometer. I've had really good results with it, just more babysitting than some would like. But if you're the type that's going to park yourself in the backyard with beer, music, and magazines then it's all good.
They sell a gasket kit for the door, and middle section to cut down on air leaks. Just installed it last year, so far so good.