But if you can afford the extra for the WSM, you will get much better temperature control, and getting good temperature control means you can keep a good consistent low temeperature for doing some truly outstanding smoke cooking.

I am by no means an expert on the subject, only having used my WSM about 10 times. Even so, I have been getting results better than any ribs I have tasted at any restaurant (with the exception of real honest to goodness BBQ joints that cook over hardwood for 12 hours plus...). You can tell real barbecue because it has a pink smoke ring in the meat, which I always get when I use the WSM.

You will want to check on the net for the virtual WSM web page, it has a lot of information, and I found the info there a lot more useful than the methods recommended in the owner's manual.

This cooker is not for the impatient who want instant results, your first few times using it may be frustrating until you learn to control where the temperature is going, not where it is right now. But stick with it and you will start to make some truly great bbq. And understand that you are going to be cooking low and slow, which means it is going to take 4, 5, 6 hours or more to do ribs, but once you get the hang of it, they will be some of the best ribs you have tasted.

More than a fair number of barbecue champions use the WSM get results as good as if not better than those guys using the $1000 plus offset pits. The WSM is a great value and the perfect starter "pit" for someone thinking about getting into serious barbecue.

(You can do yourself a favor by using hickory wood chunks as part of the fuel, and real lump charcoal, not briquettes. Briquettes are nice and all, but they are filled with clay and other impurities, really if you are going to the trouble of using charcoal instead of gas, go with real charcoal if you can find it)


Create your own slow-cooked barbecue with the WSM Cooker   July 20, 2000
Chris Allingham (San Jose, CA)
218 out of 222 found this review helpful

If you're in the market for your first barbecue cooker, or if you currently own an inexpensive cooker that's frustrating and difficult to use, consider purchasing the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker (WSM).

At home in the backyard and on the barbecue competition circuit, the WSM is not the cheapest cooker on the market today, but it's quality and ease of use make it an excellent value. It benefits from the same quality construction, materials, and customer service as all Weber products, and it's superior design makes it very easy to use.

One of the keys to success in creating great barbecue is being able to control the temperature of your cooker. This is critical when cooking "low and slow" barbecue for 10 to 12 hours or longer, for example when making beef brisket or pork shoulder. This is where the WSM really shines! Unlike other cookers, you don't have to babysit the WSM to maintain a low, consistent cooking temperature. A good airtight design and a series of adjustable air vents make precise temperature control and adjustment extremely simple. You control the cooker, it doesn't control you!

Two cooking grates provide the capacity to cook up to 8 slabs of ribs, or two whole briskets, or even six whole chickens! A water pan provides a moist cooking environment for your meats, while directing heat up and around your meat for indirect cooking. A generous charcoal chamber holds many hours of fuel, as well as your favorite smoke wood chunks--like oak, hickory, apple, and cherry--to create that great smoked barbecue flavor.

Assembly is fast and easy, taking only a few minutes with a screwdriver and an adjustable wrench. The WSM also comes with an owner's manual, a premium vinyl cover, and a 10 year limited warranty.

The WSM is a fantastic product that will provide you and your family and friends with years of great barbecue. The quality will be remembered long after the price is forgotten!


A great investment. By far the best smoker i've ever owned.   May 30, 2007
Steven (Colorado, USA)
45 out of 45 found this review helpful

I have only owned a couple smokers in my life, and after purchasing this one - I don't plan on owning anything else. The Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker (WSM) is a simple, yet incredibly effective water smoker.

The WSM has two cooking sections which allows you to smoke a good amount of food (such as a whole turkey and a whole ham simultaneously). The 18 1/2 inch grates allow plenty of food, but you might have to get a little tricky if you want to smoke something like 8 racks of ribs. This can be done if you roll the ribs up and use a skewer to hold them in place. If you aren't trying to entertain large parties, then this is the perfect family smoker.

The WSM is coated with porcelain enamel, much like the One-Touch kettle grills. The grates are triple-nickel-plated. The WSM is very sturdy. The material is nice and hefty, you don't get the sense that this smoker was cheaply made. One of the only issues I have with this smoker is the access door. Instead of being hinged it comes completely off the smoker. It can take a little bit of figiting to get it to attach to the smoker, but this is an extremely small issue.

The reason people love this smoker is because with a single batch of charcoal you can smoke for an incredibly long time. If you use the minion method then you can smoke for up to 18-20 hours without adding anymore charcoal! For those who aren't aware, the minion method is where you fill the charcoal ring with unlit charcoal, light about 10-15 briquettes and place them on top of the unlit charcoal. Please don't use the minion method with pre-soaked coals. My first smoke was a brisket and for the first 5 hours it stayed exactly at 245 degrees without any adjustments! I thought my thermometer was broken... it wasn't - this smoker is incredibly efficient. Another example is the second time I smoked with this. I smoked a 10 lb brisket, started at midnight. It finished 5:00 PM the following day. That's 17 hours right there. I roused the coals a bit and was able to smoke some stuffed jalapenos for another 2 hours. That's 19 hours on a single batch of charcoal! I am very impressed. I have a Brinkman smoker and when I used that smoker I would get about 2 hours of burn time. The WSM is just so much more efficient and has MUCH better air control.

Here are a couple of tips if you plan on buying a WSM (and you should!).
Get a decent enough thermometer, such as a candy thermometer so you can check your temperature at the lid. This will become instrumental in your cooking.

Unfortunately the WSM has a small water pan. What you should do is buy a replacement Brinkmann Smoke N Grill charcoal pan (don't get the water pan, make sure you get the charcoal pan). You can buy one directly from Brinkmann for about $13.00. If you look hard enough you can find them online for around $5.00 - $10.00. The Brinkmann charcoal pan fits perfectly inside the WSM as a water pan (some say it fits even better!). It also holds more then double the amount of water then the standard WSM water pan. This allows you about 7-8 hours of cooking before needing to refill the pan, which is much better then the 2-3 you get with the standard water pan. Once your temps stabilize you can easily do overnight cooks and also get some shut-eye!

To conclude I would like to say that if you are even thinking about getting a vertical water smoker then stop looking right now. This smoker is near perfect in every single way. With a few tiny modifications you can own one of the best smokers in the world at this price!


Actually 4.5 stars   November 15, 2004
D. Wolf (Fairfax, VA USA)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful

I love simple products that are well built and do exactly what they're supposed to do. The WSM fits the bill quite well.

The smoker is easy to assemble, the directions to use it are clear and the results are fantastic.

Highly recommend using a chimney starter with the WSM. It's the easiest and quickest way to get your coals going. Also, be judicious in adding wood for smoking - a little goes a long way; especially if you soak the wood chips or chunks in water for a while before adding to the coals. You want the wood to enhance the flavor of what you're cooking, not replace it.

The webpage www.virtualweberbullet.com provides a incredible amount of practical information and the people who participate in the discussion boards are really helpful.

The reason for only wanting to give the WSM 4.5 stars is that it should come with a built in thermometer. I bought a probe-type candy thermometer for $8 and clipped it to the dome vents and it works fine. But, at $179, Weber should have included one. This is a minor issue; if you're looking at buying a smoker I highly recommend this one.

Before buying the WSM I looked at the Brinkman. While it's basically the same design, it isn't nearly as sturdy. The extra investment in the Weber is well worthwhile.


This is one of the greatest smokers ever!   February 9, 2006
Konrad Haskins (Seattle Area)
27 out of 30 found this review helpful

The Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) has taken 1st Place in both Pork shoulder and Beef Brisket at the Jack Daniel's Invitational Barbecue World Championship. I wish I'd won those awards but was only a witness to those two.

I have taken first place in Ribs at the Montana state BBQ championship with a WSM. The American Royal Invitational in Kansas city requires you to be a state grand champion just to enter. Cooking against the best of the best we took home tenth place in ribs on a WSM.

The WSM turns out world class BBQ. It will run for up to 18 hours on a single load of charcoal and wood chunks (which are better than chips). If you need to refuel you do NOT need to lift the top there is a side door for adding charcoal and wood chunks.

The the hardest contest in the world to earn an invitation to is the Jack Daniel's Invitational Barbecue World Championship. At the Jack you'll find many teams cooking on the WSM.

My credentials include over 70 BBQ awards. Five time Grand Champion including two time Montana State BBQ Grand Champion and the Nebraska Grand Champion. Invitations to six invitation only world championship BBQ contests.