18" Weber Smokey Mountain Review
by Francis
(Orem, UT)
As the owner of 5 barbecue grills and two smokers, I have to say the 18” Weber Smokey Mountain is probably the easiest smoker you’ll ever use. It is truly one of those smokers where you can get the charcoal started, pour water into the water pan, place your meat on the rack and then set it and forget it. I’ve nicknamed my smoker R2 just like the little robot in Star Wars but for this review, I’ll just refer to the smoker as the WSM.
When I bought the smoker, I already had a horizontal smoker but thought it was a bit too large for the amount of meat that I normally smoke for the family. Usually, I’m cooking either a couple of racks of pork ribs or one 10-15 pound pork butt. The WSM can actually hold a quite a bit of meat considering there are two racks but in my case, the upper rack is usually good enough.
Since I ordered my WSM through an online company, I had to wait for it to arrive. When it did, I opened up the box, read the instructions and put everything together in less than 30 minutes. What is really nice is the smoker also came with a pretty heavy-duty cover which provides more than adequate protection from the elements. I’ve had mine for three years and with the exception of a little color fading, the cover is still in great shape.
This is the first Weber I’ve ever purchased and now I know why people are so loyal to the brand. The WSM is well made in that it keeps the smoke in and holds the temperature really well compared to other smokers that I researched on the Internet. The first time I used the WSM, I was constantly monitoring it to make sure the temperature was just right and that the vents were adjusted correctly. Now that it’s been used many times, I just leave it alone and even run errands if needed.
Since all I’ve done is rave about the product, let’s talk just a bit about some shortfalls. My WSM did not have a temperature gauge. What I did was take a cork that would fit into one of the air holes on the lid, shoved a thermometer though it and left it there to monitor the heat. Also, the WSM’s water pan is not large enough to handle smoking times of 8 hours or more so I went to a competitor’s website (Brinkmann) and ordered the charcoal pan for their upright smoker. The charcoal pan fits perfectly in the space where the water pan is held. This allows me to use twice the amount of water than what the WSM water pan holds. Also, the model I have did not have an ash pan so any ash just falls out of the vents on the bottom of the smoker. Since I have a concrete patio, falling ash is not a safety issue.
Keep in mind that my WSM is three years old and from what I’ve read, Weber has upgraded the smoker quite a bit. I believe the current model is priced around $300 but it is well worth the money. And for those of you who want a larger model, Weber has released a 22” version of the WSM.
