I saw a photo of a 14-lb packer brisket sitting on a 22.5" kettle, and it was touching both sides of the kettle. It, obviously, would do the same on a standard WSM. I don't like this. The 26.75' kettle, however, would give that 14-lb packer some breathing room. If you had your druthers, would you still choose the 22" WSM over the 26.75" kettle for smoking? Why?
WSM versus 26.75" Kettle
- Thread starter Roguejim
- Start date
midwestchilehead
Extreme Member
Yes, because the WSM is built for smoking, while the kettle is built for grilling. You can smoke on the grill, but it takes a lot more fire management skill and attention. Yes, the bigger grill will give you more room on the cooking grate, but will also take more fuel and is less efficient as a smoker. And while a full packer brisket may initially touch the side of a 22.5" WSM, it will soon shrink up to the point it no longer touches the side. I can usually avoid touching the sides initially by slightly curving he brisket or smashing it together. Or, you could always separate the flat and the point, then lay them back together for cooking.
I have the 22.5 WSM and I have done up to 18 LB full brisket. The brisket only touches for a very short period because it begins to shrink very quickly. I honestly do not mind it the short time it may touch. With the tricked out features you can do on the WSM I love mine and it cooks an awesome piece of smoked meat!
So can my Electric smoker hahahahah - That is for pods howeverhogleg said:My Longhorn can fit 4 packers not touching
I wouldn't call it, wood efficient though.
I have both and they are awesome in their own. Sometimes I'm lazy and just use the 26.75 for smoking, no worries. If your only wanting a smoker get the wsm.
Here is a good thread on doing a brisket on 22.5 weber. One of these days i will try it.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=189906
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=189906
I love my 18" WSM. Hands down, it holds temps easier than a kettle. After having it all spring/summer, I wouldn't even consider a kettle if I was smoking. But if you are looking for more room, I would Look into the Weber Ranch. That thing has some serious room. 
http://www.weber.com/grills/series/ranch-kettle/ranch-kettle
http://www.weber.com/grills/series/ranch-kettle/ranch-kettle
You can hang meat in a $65 smoker as well as a WSM but many including myself are not a fan of hanging meat unless we are talking about....
Does the 26.75" kettle require a lot more fire management skills than the WSM? A 22.5" kettle certainly doesn't require much, although there is a short learning curve involved. Frankly, pork butts on a kettle are easily done. Yeah, they're a forgiving piece of meat, too. Chicken is also easily done. There are ample posts at bbqbrethren.com demonstrating the ease and effectiveness of kettles (mostly 22.5" size) as smokers. Now, I'm a little biased because I'm getting used to my 22.5" kettle now, The one and only problem I had was with a brisket, that was during my first time smoking on the kettle. Temps got away from me, and the edges of the flat got burned. My only real niggle with the kettle is the proximity of the burning coal to a large piece of meat, like a brisket, which might reach clear to the edge, and get singed by the burning coal/wood below (fuse method), Better temp control next time might solve that problem on its own. A Cajun Stacker and diverter would definitely solve that problem...But, there's something about having an extra 4.25" of added space on the perimeter that is attractive to me.FreeportBum said:
Monday's butt at 160F, IT.
I do not think the cook is even and all juices flow to one end. My previous smoker had rib hangers and never liked them. It just is not for me I suppose.Jeff H said:
Roguejim said:
Yes, imo. My kettle goes through charcoal faster than my smoker. On a nice day with average wind I can run 235 degrees for 10+ hours on 1 full load of charcoal in my WSM. In that same amount of time I'd be adding charcoal to the kettle every hour-ish and temps are harder to hold using the larger bottle 3 vents. My kettle has zero mods or additions though, so YMMV.
I've seen a couple cooks you've done on the kettle now RJ - all of them looking pretty damn fine. You're getting good results from the kettle. I think you'd like the 23" WSM.
Take a look at this large oval kamado grill. This one will be the next grill I purchase.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr1n3PqMrfU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr1n3PqMrfU
Yeah, you and everyone else are probably right about the WSM. Sometimes I just like to argue to hear the other side. As for fuel consumption, with the pork butt above, I got 7 hours out of a single 2-2 fuse with coal to spare. I was also cooking at 280-290F. I guess I haven't bought into the "low and slow" as being superior argument. I'm not sure why you would have to add charcoal every hour in a kettle, either...why is this?SmokenFire said:
Just to comment about cooking at these higher temps, I wrapped that butt at 160F (no stall), and took it to around 200F when the bone was loose. I vented it on the kitchen counter until it dropped to about 170F, and then poured off all the juice, 16oz, into a measuring cup. After de-fatting the juice, it went back into the pulled pork. My point is that the high cook temp did not result in a dry or burned product. Even without adding back the juice, the pork was still moist. Oh, and the smoke flavor was great.
JoynersHotPeppers said:
That's utter bullshit =)
Juices are one way - out of cut ends of muscle fiber strands ...
There's interstitial fats, and there's fats within the liquid content of the fiber ...
The overarching goal, for all meat, is to render out the interstitial fat, while retaining as much of the fat/liquid content within the muscle strands in the meat.
Where the juices flow to, is wherever gravity dictates.
In a barrel, you have a heat source below the meat, this is inherently better for smoking, and since heat rises and the top of the barrel is largely closed, the temperature gradient from top to bottom is small.
The opening on the PBC, for instance, is a compensation for elevation relative to the sea, otherwise it's a tuned size/shape.
Having now spent a lot of time using my Weber kettle as a smoker, I can totally understand how a device can be tuned. I pre-program my Weber for temperature by positioning the vents to be a certain amount open to create the temp I want. This is why it's ESSENTIAL to use the rebar bars in the PBC even if you aren't hanging that much meat - they fill-in a lot of the circumference of the vent holes.
It's a pick-any-two/three thing ... all smokers are good in 2-3 ways, and bad in 1 way ... you get to chose where you want the weakness is, IMHO.
SavinaRed said:
Me too. We largely agree on grills, obviously.
^^^You need another beer cause I am right in my WSM 
I have two temp probes one on each rack and the temps are NOT the same therefore a hanging piece of meat WILL NOT cook evenly.
BTW, I hope you enjoy the heat heated your way mi amigo!
I have two temp probes one on each rack and the temps are NOT the same therefore a hanging piece of meat WILL NOT cook evenly. BTW, I hope you enjoy the heat heated your way mi amigo!