My head is spinning! UDS vs WSM

[mlk18]

Uh oh, I screwed up. Because I am taking too long to order something my better half started looking at smokers. She saw a Masterbuilt 1050 Gravity and thought it looked really cool and wants me to watch all kinds of videos on it. I told her that in my never very humble opinion Masterbuilt products are made by kids who grew up riding the short bus and thinking miracle whip is the same as mayonnaise. I went through 2 Masterbuilt electrics in 3 years and their customer service fell somewhere between Comcast and Al-Qaeda. I am sure other's have had very different experiences than I have, but I would rather get a drive-thru colonoscopy than buy another Masterbuilt product.

I am currently looking hard at the 26" Weber kettle. I wish they made a copper colored one or still had the blue one's in stock somewhere.

 

[NoCoPK360]

My first smoker was a WSM I bought well over 10 years ago. I still have it and use it occasionally. It works well and is pretty easy to figure out. I also love my Weber Performer kettle which I use all the time. A combo of a kettle and a WSM would pretty much do anything you needed them to do and produce great results.

 

[mcokevin]

Been using my WSM 18 as my one and only smoker for about six years now, would recommend a WSM to anyone - especially if you are new to charcoal smoking. It is stupid simple to figure out. My only consideration is if I should upgrade to a 22.

 

[bill1]

WSM's (and other bullet style smokers) are basically UDS's with a door for tending the fire and adding water to a pan. That's why they're not as "efficient" in the fuel usage--it can be fun/addictive to "take a peek". But if you have a $1000 (or better yet a rich wife!) you're probably not concerned with the price of charcoal.

And if you can fit a kettle in, you can't beat their versatility and ease of use. If I could only have one of my many cookers, the Weber kettle would win hands-down.

But speaking of versatility, the Masterbuilt Gravity covers an awful lot of bases. However it has both moving and electrical parts. So the reliability will never match a Weber kettle or WSM, or even the gasser, no matter whose name is on the badge.

Analogy: All "car guys" like cars. But some like tinkering on them and others don't. Same with BBQ/smoking.

Aside: your wife sounds awfully smart too.

 

[mlk18]

Aside: your wife sounds awfully smart too.

Young, educated, smart, big income, and she's Swedish. Thank goodness she has poor decision making skills when it comes to men.

I have watched so many video, read so many reviews, and spent so much time researching what to buy that at some point the internet should be paying me royalties. Either that or Malcom Reed will come to my house and hand me a thank you card and a fully cooked brisket. I am still not set on any one grill or smoker. I am not really one to tinker and tend to look for a balance of simplicity that yields good consistent results. A buddy of mine has been screaming "CAMP CHEF!" in my ear for 3 weeks now so I am going over to his place this weekend for a low & slow pellet smoked pork loin. We'll see.

 

[bill1]

What I've discovered from this forum is that no one ever seems to regret a cooker they've purchased. Which leads me to suggest that the only choice you'll regret is one that your (incredible) wife wasn't keen about.
It's great that the two of you will get a chance to try one out "in the wild" this weekend. I'd say you'd be smart to gauge your wife's interest as much as your own.
And maybe you should both take your time to make a decision, or buy something cheap now with plans to upgrade later, based on features you BOTH find valuable. After all, this isn't the best time of year to find a bargain in outdoor equipment anyway.

 

[mlk18]

My head is no longer spinning. The purchase has been made. Thanks everyone for the feedback and advice, both in this thread and all over the forum.

I went on a tour of grills/smokers. A buddy cooked me up some chops in a Camp Chef pellet grill, another one showed me his beloved Weber kettle, a friend of a friend showed me his PBC, my neighbor put his Traeger on display (pretty sure he is starting a cult based on it), an employee of mine raved about his offset smoker for an hour, and I went to a dozen stores looking at display models and talking to the "guys" in the back who do the assembly work and repairs. I was less impressed with the quality of the newer Weber products than I expected to be, I decided I just could not rely on any electronic components, I did not want to buy anything that need 4 mods and 3 accessories to make it work the way I wanted, and the steel on many of the grills/smokers I looked at was weaker than a teenage vegan. In the end the only grill/smoker I found that seemed rock solid, was made with very thick steel, and had all the accessories and features I wanted built-in was the Oklahoma Joe Bronco. It was a bit smaller than I wanted so I bought two of them, two extra cooking grates, and some food grade RTV sealant - and I still saved $60 over just buying a single Bronco Pro model. My sugar momma got all excited too. While I was finalizing the deal and arranging for delivery, she picked up a couple large bags of B&B charcoal, several packages of wood chunks, and a number of items she thought looked cool that we ended up putting back. I liked where her head was though. Now she is shopping for 1/2 a cow to join the 1/2 hog we purchased last fall. I have a feeling this is going to be a very meaty summer.

 

[bill1]

I knew you'd make a great choice. And two! His and Hers!

 

[noboundaries]

Oklahoma Joe Bronco. It was a bit smaller than I wanted so I bought two of them...

My sugar momma got all excited too. While I was finalizing the deal and arranging for delivery, she picked up a couple large bags of B&B charcoal, several packages of wood chunks...Now she is shopping for 1/2 a cow to join the 1/2 hog we purchased last fall.

Now THAT is a marriage made in Heaven.

And your wife sounds great, too!

 

[apn73]

I don't think I've ever heard a bad thing about the WSMs, but I have a UDS and have loved it for the last 10 years. I decided on it because I read that they were the closest thing to set and forget it that you could get, and because a bag charcoal will fuel the thing for practically 24 hours (done it). This was before the pellet poopers really took off and became what they are today. I built my own because I didn't want too much money invested if I decided that I didn't like smoking and barbecuing my own food, no problem there!

I bought a NIB 22" Weber kettle off of craigslist as a donor grill, and probably have around $130 invested, including the kettle. The cover and grates from the kettle work perfect on a 55 gallon drum, a little grinding on the outer diameter of the drum to make the kettle cover work, but the extra height you gain by doing that is worth it. I highly recommend the UDS, either home built or factory built, but there's just something really cool about building your own smoker. There are ton of plans around the internet that will help guide in the construction of a UDS, it's very easy and they work very well.