The Webber Bullet Smokers

[fstarsinic]

My hardware store has 2 Webber Water Smokers. Both much bigger than my ECB.

After having to smoke several days in a row on my ECB to get enough food smoked for a large party, I'm considering a new smoker and instead of an offset smoker, I'm now considering just a larger water smoker like a Webber.

There seem to be many benefits to this smoker.

What are the drawbacks? The list prices I see are $299 and $399 depending on size.

 

[mikey]

Check out www.virtualweberbullet.com You can find out all the info & workings of the Weber Smokey Mountain.

 

[alx]

I have used a 18 inch at least 10 years.

The biggest drawback to the 22 inch WSM is they are fuel hogs and unless you do 6 butts etc. alot -it is much harder to maintain temps. and is a waste for just 2 ribs etc.

The 18 inch is a great smoker to start with-and i still use alot.
They are super consistent in temps , which allows more time to learn smoking meat the way you want it.

I would recommend if an off-set etc. is to big etc.

Mikey linked to the bible of WSM.

 

[fstarsinic]

Here's a link to a similar smoker. Anyone have any info on it?
Seems like a killer deal and it has some interesting features.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tab%3DWatching

 

[mikey]

Check these links out.

 

[rickw]

If you're looking for more capacity and ease of use, don't forget low cost to build, check out a UDS.

 

[peebee]

Stealing liberally from this post:

I own this as well as an 18" WSM and there's virtually no difference as far as holding steady temperatures, ease of use, and room. It's not significantly bigger than an ECB, but it does have a hanging bar, so you can hang meat, something that an ECB lacks.

Choosing a $79 smoker over a $300 smoker that run identically in every way is, like they said, a freaking no-brainer. If you have a Sears or K-Mart, it's more than worth your time to check it out.

I'd go out on a limb and say it's the best kept secret in the BBQ world right now.

 

[mikey]

Checked both the K-Mart & Sears site and no luck seeing that smoker listed.

 

[peebee]

Yeah, the item's removed off of the Sears site for some reason, but I assure you it's in the store. The part # for that smoker shows up as a socket set in the Sears computer.

 

[harrylips]

Build your self an Upright Drum Smoker. Gets you 12+ Hours of constant heat without refueling and if you have the resources to make one, it might run you $100 max to make one. even cheaper. I made mine for about $60.

 

[mikey]

Why does that not surprise me? I would hate to see what the socket set part # shows up as

 

[fstarsinic]

Well, I've decided to take one for the team and buy the Pro Q Frontier off ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MakeTrack=true

I'm no expert but I'll let you know what I think of it anyway.

I got an extra "stacker" with it for an additional $33 including shipping.

18" grills, 3 stackers, meat hangers under the lid, all for basically $159 out the door.

 

[fstarsinic]

Ok. So here's the deal. I have not cooked with it yet but here's what I noticed opening the package:

It does not have the wooden handles as pictured but instead has the metal fold down handles that won't stay up.

The lid was dented slightly. I'm sure I can pound that out no problem.

The sections and the lid don't fit super well together and the clips are really required to keep it all from toppling over. Even the top lid seems to need to clip on or it might just fall off. It sort of just sets on top of the section below it and the other sections are the same way.

The coal box seems more like a vegi box to me. Doesn't seem heavy duty enough to take the heat but we'll see.

The legs are nice. That was the only thing I needed to screw together. It's got vents top and bottom. Holes for a digital thermometer probe to fit thru in each section.

I don't know why they didn't make the sections such that one nested inside the other like the ECB. Seems simple enough if not more simple.

So it seems ok for the price but I suspect some frustration in terms of the clips which seems a bit cheap given that it needs to be clipped and unclipped regularly and in terms of removing sections for any reason during a smoking session. I don't see that being much fun at all hoping that a section won't fall off onto the ground while you're trying to clip it to make it secure while the whole thing is at 250F.

Once the whole thing is clipped and clamped it seems pretty sturdy.

And it does have a thermometer on the lid and hanging hooks on the lid as well.

I'll report after I actually use it.
I've seen and touched the weber smokey mountain and it is a lot more sturdy than this is.

 

[bigsteve]

Your eBay seller takes returns. Just a thought.........

Personally, (if it matters) I would return it, and search Craigslist for a better used model, such as a WSM. Meanwhile, I would cook on the Brinkman.

 

[fstarsinic]

I think I'm just too lazy to do that but I can think of some easy mods I can do to make the sections keep from falling off. I can just screw in some metal brackets and it would probably only take me 15 minutes. And the handles are probably easy to modify if I feel i have to. I think once i made these mods I'll be happy with it.

... but, you're probably right. I'll contact them and see what they say, regardless.

 

[bigsteve]

Hey, if a couple of easy mods makes it a good smoker, then you're covered.

I have a cheap smoker. I'm going to use it for a good long time yet (God willing) but the next one is going to be one that doesn't need mods. I get my enjoyment out of the food I make on it, not drilling holes in it.

 

[fstarsinic]

I decided to send it back to the seller and he is so far very generous in his offer to pay for return shipping and refunding me in full.

The bottom line is that it is NO WHERE NEAR the quality of the Weber Smokey Mountain.
Not even close.

The metal is thin, the sections are not quite round which is absolutely essential.

It might be worth getting one "stacker" to attach to the real weber for huge jobs but
it's just not worth it.

The seller even offered to refund $40 of my money back and just keep it but I decided it was best to put the money toward a WSM.

So I sent it back, picked up a pre-built WSM from the hardware store and all is well.... until my wife finds out I spent more money. Shhh....

The WSM is rock solid and a beauty... as far as a smoker goes, anyway.

 

[bigsteve]

Well, make her favorite dish, and make it darn good, then break the news to her.

 

[dace]

You won't be disappointed.

 

[fstarsinic]

First: The seller refunded me all my money. I would not hesitate to buy from him in the future.

Second: The WSM is fantastic. After cooking, I can close up all the vents and it saves a ton of coals in the bottom that I just re-used for the next time. When the next time did come (for smoking some salmon) I just got a chimney going and dumped it on the old coals and I was off and running. It was great.

I could not do that with the ECB becuase you can't shut it down. With the ECB i always ended up with a huge pan of ash the next day (still hot too).

This is way better. Well worth the upgrade price. The additional height inside is great too for standing up racks of ribs, chickens, etc.