Weber Mastertouch vs. Smokey Mountain

[Mattyt7]

I've decided my 24" smoke vault needs a friend and what better friend than a charcoal smoker? I've pretty much narrowed it down to the Weber Smokey Mountain (18" or 22") or the Mastertouch and am looking for some advise from anyone who has (or has had) both.

A little background on my needs/wants:
- I will pretty much exclusively be using it for smoking. I already have a Weber Spirit gas grill that I love and still intend to use it for grilling burgers, steaks, quick sears on things, etc. If I were to get the Mastertouch, I'm sure I would grill on it occasionally, but that's not a huge factor for me.
- I mostly like to smoke baby back ribs, chicken, pork tenderloin, pork butt and tri tip with the occasional brisket packer or turkey (Thanksgiving) mixed in there when we have the company to eat it. I'm usually not smoking for a lot of people at once, so I don't need a ton of capacity, just enough room for the larger hunks of meat like a packer brisket or 2-3 racks of baby backs.
- My main attraction to the Mastertouch is the price. If people who have one are happy with its ability to be used as smoker, it very well might be the one for me.
- I know the smokey mountain is the obvious answer for smoking, but another key factor for me is the budget. For $200 in savings from the 22" smokey mountain, I'd love to be able to do the same things with the Mastertouch.

My main questions:
Using the charcoal baskets off to one side in the mastertouch for indirect smoking, is there enough room on the grate for 2 racks of baby back ribs (with or without a rib rack) or a packer brisket?
Similar to the first question, but in regards to the 18" smokey mountain, is there enough room to lay 2 baby back ribs down on each grate (without a rack)? How about a brisket?
I will be new to using charcoal and understand that there will be a bit of a learning curve for dialing in temps, but will there be any significant difference between the 2 types of smokers?

Thanks for any advice in advance!

 

[noboundaries]

The Master Touch is a grill first, and a smoker second. I learned to smoke on my Weber Kettle, but long smokes were a PITA. I still use my Kettle, constantly, but only for grilling, and anything that can be smoked in less than 1-6 hours where temp control isn't a big factor. Yes, you can hold pretty steady temps with the grill, but you can only load so much charcoal in those baskets, or the Smokenator attachment, or the better attachment whose name escapes me at the moment........Slow n Sear! They cost $100, so hey, you're at the price of an 18" WSM, and not that far off from the 22" WSM.

There are a lot of folks here with the 18" WSM, and everyone debates whether they need the 18" or the 22". I've never heard a person with a 22" say they wish they got the 18", but a few folks with the 18" have said they wish they got the 22". The nice thing about the 22" is everything fits; full packers to untrimmed spare ribs. It is just me and my wife 95% of the time, but folks are already asking me to bring pulled pork to holiday dinners. I've got 4 in the freezer and will either do all four at once, or two and two, depending on the timing of the events.

The main advantage of the WSM is set and forget once you have the quick learning curve figured out. I smoke butts and briskets overnight and sleep like a baby in his 7th decade of life. You can load enough charcoal in the 22" to go 14-20 hours whether smoking one butt, or six. I'll put ribs on in the morning, then go shopping, to a movie, or park my butt on the couch and watch football without interruptions.

Think of it this way; its going to last you 20 years at least. About a year after buying the grill, you're gonna be shopping for a WSM anyway. My dad always said "Buy first what you'd buy last. It might be more expensive now, but you'll save a ton of money by not having to upgrade."

Whatever you get, you'll be happy, Matty, because Weber makes nothing but great grills and smokers that last for decades.

 

[Mattyt7]

The Master Touch is a grill first, and a smoker second. I learned to smoke on my Weber Kettle, but long smokes were a PITA. I still use my Kettle, constantly, but only for grilling, and anything that can be smoked in less than 1-6 hours where temp control isn't a big factor. Yes, you can hold pretty steady temps with the grill, but you can only load so much charcoal in those baskets, or the Smokenator attachment, or the better attachment whose name escapes me at the moment........Slow n Sear! They cost $100, so hey, you're at the price of an 18" WSM, and not that far off from the 22" WSM.

There are a lot of folks here with the 18" WSM, and everyone debates whether they need the 18" or the 22". I've never heard a person with a 22" say they wish they got the 18", but a few folks with the 18" have said they wish they got the 22". The nice thing about the 22" is everything fits; full packers to untrimmed spare ribs. It is just me and my wife 95% of the time, but folks are already asking me to bring pulled pork to holiday dinners. I've got 4 in the freezer and will either do all four at once, or two and two, depending on the timing of the events.

The main advantage of the WSM is set and forget once you have the quick learning curve figured out. I smoke butts and briskets overnight and sleep like a baby in his 7th decade of life. You can load enough charcoal in the 22" to go 14-20 hours whether smoking one butt, or six. I'll put ribs on in the morning, then go shopping, to a movie, or park my butt on the couch and watch football without interruptions.

Think of it this way; its going to last you 20 years at least. About a year after buying the grill, you're gonna be shopping for a WSM anyway. My dad always said "Buy first what you'd buy last. It might be more expensive now, but you'll save a ton of money by not having to upgrade."

Whatever you get, you'll be happy, Matty, because Weber makes nothing but great grills and smokers that last for decades.

Appreciate the insight. I’ve been mulling over the 18” vs 22” Smokey mountain for a little bit and just so happened to stumble upon the master touch, which brought me to post. In your eyes, does the flip up grates make it easier to add charcoal as necessary for longer cooks? Also, when you leave your wsm, do you have an ATC, or are you confident to leave it even without one?

 

[loosechangedru]

I've had the 18.5 wsm for several years. Wish I'd gotten the 22, but for the most part it gets the job done. Only trouble I have is getting a full packer on it. I don't think I can get 2 full racks of uncut spareribs on, but I do st louis style anyway and that fits just fine. A couple mods and a thermostat controller and it really is fool-proof. I also have a weber spirit, for the convenience. For me, the frosting on the cake would be the kettle, but I need a reliable gas grill and a dedicated smoker first.

Edit: I've left the house before I bought my Flameboss 100, and I've generally been fine. A controller removes a lot of the "did my temps drop" stress while you're at the store, though.

 

[noboundaries]

Appreciate the insight. I’ve been mulling over the 18” vs 22” Smokey mountain for a little bit and just so happened to stumble upon the master touch, which brought me to post. In your eyes, does the flip up grates make it easier to add charcoal as necessary for longer cooks? Also, when you leave your wsm, do you have an ATC, or are you confident to leave it even without one?

Flip up grates: essential for adding hot and cold charcoal in a Kettle.

Am I confident to leave the house without my ATC hooked up to my WSM? Absolutely. In fact, I only use the ATC on overnight smokes, and only as a temp drop backup because I know my vent settings. If the wind whips up or it starts raining, the temps can drop. I used the ATC a lot when I first bought it with some money burning a hole in my pocket. Nowadays it gets very little use. The right charcoal, a denser one like Royal Oak Ridge or Weber, is essential for non-ATC long smokes and constant temps. I used Kingsford Blue Bag for decades, but they've changed their formula several times in the last few years, and lowered the briquette density 25%. I started having temp issues that went away when I switched to RO Ridge, which is cheaper than KBB year-round. In the WSM loaded with RO Ridge I can run for hours at anywhere from 150F for jerky to 350F for turkey.

You absolutely can smoke a butt with the Master Touch Kettle, but use a high temp, like 350F, so it is done in 6-9 hours depending on the size of the butt. Briskets too, though you can lower the temp to 300F and it will be done in 8-10 hours. Turkeys, spatched, are easy too. I've done up to a 23 lb turkey in the Kettle. 350F high temp.

When I got the WSM after using the Kettle for 6 months, my wife thanked me for giving her the weekends back. I was spending all my time babysitting the Kettle. You can slip away for an hour or two, sometimes more, but ninety minutes seemed to be the point when my temps would start going one way or the other and I'd have to make a vent adjustment, load more fuel, flip the meat, etc. I've seen folks say they can go 4-6 hours without any attention. That hasn't been my experience. With the WSM, I load n go no matter what's in the smoker.

 

[fuzz415]

i have a WSM 22' and love it. ive had it for over 6 months now and have about 12 cooks on it. IMO if you are looking for a smoker WSM all the way over a kettle.

in regards to the 18 vs 22" wsm
i primarily cook for my wife and i. normally that means one rack of ribs + extras (chicken thighs, tri tip, steak, chuck roast, etc) this means that i will not normally fill the 22" charcoal ring. i usually fill it about half (minion method) - about 5-7 LBs of Kingsford blue. i find this will typically give me right about 6 hours of 250F, cruising - no touch, go on with your day.
i have been seriously contemplating buying a 18" wsm charcoal ring to allow for more efficient charcoal use. this is the only complaint have of the 22" that for a majority of my cooks i dont use even half of the grate space. HOWEVER - i had a party the other week - 5 rack of ribs, 2-4lbs chuck roasts and everything was just plopped down on the grate, no rib racks, no fiddling with meat placement everything just fit...awesome. that alone made the 22' worth it.


i have yet in any of my cooks ever experience the "fill the whole charcoal ring and have the WSM last 12-14 hours" however. i live in a fairly windy area off of the coast however

 

[Mattyt7]

I appreciate everyone’s input. I think I probably knew all along that the wsm makes more sense if smoking is my main objective. Gotta try and save a buck every once in a while right? On the other hand, if I get the master touch now and then convince my wife I still need a smoker down the road, maybe I end up with both! Ha ha!

 

[maineac]

Late to the game as usual.
One of the many attributes of Webers is their versatility; you can smoke on a grill or grill on a smoker.

But I would get whatever it would be used for 90% of the time and in this case it sounds like a smoker. As for the 18" vs 22", again, I would get what it would be used for 90% of the time. If it's just you and your wife an 18" will be fine. And it does come with two levels of grates. It's just our nature to always want more. I got this like new WSM 18" for $200 off Craigslist.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

Check out the "Snake" method for smoking on the Weber kettle. A friend of mine has turned out some impressive "low and slow" pulled pork using this method.

 

[gmc2003]

I've got a 26" kettle, 22" kettle and a 22" WSM. The 22" kettle is the workhorse of the group. However the 26" is starting to chip away at the 22's usage time. The WSM is great for longer cooks like brisket, butts and chuckies. However for most other smokes the kettle gets the call.

Here's a size comparison between the 26 and 22. I was impressed.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/it-finally-came-my-roided-kettle.279896/#post-1878513

Chris

 

[Mattyt7]

For those who like a follow up/conclusion to a thread. . . I ended up going with the 18.5” WSM. The maiden voyage will be a pork butt tomorrow. I appreciate all of the input!

 

[chopsaw]

For those who like a follow up/conclusion to a thread. . . I ended up going with the 18.5” WSM. The maiden voyage will be a pork butt tomorrow. I appreciate all of the input!

WSM is so much fun to use . Make sure you post up the results . Now ,, keep your eyes on Craig's list for a used kettle .
Enjoy .

 

[kelbro]

Good deals on grills can be had this time of year.

 

[loosechangedru]

WSM is so much fun to use . Make sure you post up the results . Now ,, keep your eyes on Craig's list for a used kettle .
Enjoy .

Good deals on grills can be had this time of year.

That's exactly what I just did. Found a new-in-box Weber 18.5" One-touch Gold (discontinued because it's basically the mastertouch with only the bells and whistles I need, and a much lower price) on LetGo for $40. Someone's always trying to get rid of one for some silly reason, which keep your eyes open for 2 months or so and it'll happen :)

You're gonna love the WSM!