2024 the best smokers review
Price: $454.80 - $419.00
(as of Dec 07, 2024 18:04:08 UTC - Details)
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The first bite of tender, fall-off-the-bone meat makes taking it low-and-slow worth every moment. The Smokey Mountain Cooker™ smoker has two cooking grates for smoking multiple items at once, and easily adjustable dampers for precision heat control. There’s nothing quite like waiting all day for dinner.
Material Type: Steel
The Weber Smokey Mountain charcoal smoker helps you achieve an authentic smokehouse flavor at home
It can accommodate a whole turkey and an entire ham at the same time. Item weight- 39.1 pounds
Made of porcelain-enameled steel, this smoker comes with 2 nickel-plated 18-1/2-inch-wide cooking grates
Includes a water pan, thermometer, individual vents on bowl and lid, and heat-resistant nylon handle
Reviewer: C. Peterson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent results from this smoker
Review: I have waited until I gained some experiance with this product to write my review and have to say it is one of the few outdoor cookers I have spent this much money on that I am completly happy with. I am not an expert in the area of BBQ or smokers. My history in this consists mostly of small charcol grills and later when I could afford them larger gas models. After seeing a barrel smoker at Lowes I decided I would try my hand at smoking meat and after some research found the Smokey Mountain to be the best for a novice. Highly suggest you take a look at reviews at [...] Everything said in that review I found to be accurate. I opted for the larger Smokey Mountain so I could have enough space to cook as much as I needed. Setup was really simple and following the instructions on [...] (a great resource!) I started with smoking 2 whole chickens and 4 racks of ribs all at once. I had also purchased a chimney charcol starter and used it to start my coals using the Minion method. I placed the chickens on the bottom rack with a wireless meat thermometer and the ribs on top. It took about 15 minutes from starting the charcol to closing up the unit and starting to smoke. There were no smoke leaks and temperature was simple to control leaving top vent open all the way and adjusting the bottom vents once and a while to keep cooking low and slow 225F to 250F. I didn't sit there and watch it - just checked on it every 30 minutes and later when I found the temperature stable every hour. When the chickens were done I took them out and placed the temp probe in the ribs. When they reached the proper internal temp I removed them and closed all the vents to save whatever unburned charcol remained. The result was fantastic! The chicken was so moist and tasty it did not need any kind of bbq sauce. The ribs were better (IMHO) then the ones I have been paying big bucks for at my local BBQ place and for once my critics (family) had nothing but praise for my manly outdoor cooking prowness. 2 briskits, 8 racks of ribs and 2 more chickens later I remain very pleased with the Weber smoker and don't have any negative things to report except I keep stubbing my toe on the legs. Suggest you don't purchase an additional cover as the one included works just fine. Also as all the experts say it is imperative that you purchase a temp probe so you can moniter doneness. I had never bothered before which is why my BBQ results were never as good. Also have found that homemade rubs (found on the net) are better or at least as good as store bought and much cheaper. Next project is smoked pork roast Southern Carolina style. I have found a brand new tasty hobby with more differing opinions, theorys and science then I could have ever imagined. Good luck with yours - if you start with the large Smokey Mountain you will have a solid start.
Reviewer: Grizzly Bear
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Purchased 14" version for smoking for 2-4 people. Excellent quality and price
Review: Purchased the Weber 711001 14" Charcoal Smoker. It is built like all Weber products, quality and ready to start cooking on. No pre-seasoning required due to porcelain rather than the typical el' cheapo other products with black spray paint over metal. Weber's never paint peel either. The 14" model is perfect for my intended use. I only cook for 2 so it's usually 1 rack of ribs, which you cut into half. Two halves on upper and two on lower if you want to cook a lot of them. Most likely, I will only use upper rack. Already have a Traeger Pellet Smoker + Big Oklahoma Joe Highland for bigger cookouts. Only downfall is the limited size of the charcoal area for ashes. A trade off for the compact size. The 14" will be perfect for 4-6 hour slow cooks. Only wish they had though of putting a cleanout on bottom like the Webber Kettle series. Since ash buildup varies brand to brand, it will be interesting to see if the ash area is deep enough for my intended 7hr 225 degree rib smoking. I did one modification to the charcoal grate. Like I have read on the internet, the grate has large holes where when a piece of charcoal get small, could fall thru. I am also going to be using small amounts of Lump charcoal on top of a layer of typical charcoal for flavor. And add wood chunks for smoke effect. See attached photo for charcoal grate mod. Went to Home Depot, purchased aluminum gutter shield. Cut to fit under charcoal grate and attached to bottom with stainless wire. This will keep smaller pieces from falling thru into ash area. The aluminum will not restrict air flow due to the holes. I have used same material in my big wood smoker to keep ashes from falling out side vents. The aluminum has been subjected to 600 degrees several times and never warped or melted. Since this smoker does not get even close to that kind of heat, the gutter guard will work perfectly. Cooking a Pork Butt on it this weekend if weather clears up. The wire to attach the cut aluminum is for making necklaces, $2.00 at Walmart. The gutter guard was $2.50 for 4 feet. Placed it over grate and marked outline with perm marker. Then tin snips to cut into circle. Hoping to figure out something to attach to outside of main chamber for lifting middle section when needed. Would make things easier to tend to fuel source rather than large hands thru small door.
Reviewer: JESUS J. FELIX
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: muy buen asador, weber es garantÃa!
Reviewer: Alfonso Garcia
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Excelente producto, con el respaldo de que es weber, llego antes de lo previsto, facil de ensamblar, una chulada!
Reviewer: Monik
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Fue un regalo para mi esposo, estaba buscando algo de buena calidad a un costo accesible y fue una gran decisión. Ha preparado cosas deliciosas, muy recomendable
Reviewer: RB
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I'll preface my five star rating by saying I did about seven upgrades to the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker before using it. It voids the warranty but I did not care about that. Unlike parts in gas BBQs, there really isn't much to go wrong with the WSM. The WSM was delivered promptly, in excellent condition and as advertised. I have only used it once so far but the family vote was unanimous: the WSM flavours the food better than either of my propane BBQs which cost 3-4 times as much. The WSM is fun to use but the trick is patience. You need to get the temp stable before you start cooking. If you want to smoke meat you should be in the 200 to 225F range although the WSM can get much hotter around 350-400 to BBQ. Here are the upgrades I did based on research before I made the purchase:1) Upgraded to 5" River Country (RC-T5) adjustable thermometer (available from Amazon) so I could see the temps from much farther away2) Added a second charcoal grate (available from Amazon) perpendicular to the stock charcoal grate and held in place with wire. This slows down the rate at which coals fall to the bottom3) Upgraded the top grate with flexible hinges for indirect cooking (available from Amazon)4) The stock door is flimsy tin and some people said they have leaks so I upgraded to stainless steel with better handle (cajun bandit)5) I added the stainless steel hinge for the WSM (available from Amazon)6) I added locking caster wheels to the bottom of the aluminum legs so I could wheel it around my deck (available from Amazon or your local hardware)7) I added steel handles to the drum center section so I could pick up the top and middle section together.I will also say that the mods above are not necessary to using the WSM but they certainly make using it much better and easier. Remember, if you do any mods and drill holes into the WSM, use heat rated rust paint for touch ups. There are online videos where you can watch many of these upgrades and decide for yourself.June 28 2024 Update: Am still using the Weber Smokey Mountain and luvin' it! It is covered when not in use and still looks great. For beef jerky I recommend between 160F and 180F for between 5 to 6 hours. For cedar smoked salmon (with Dill, lemon juice, salt & pepper) I recommend about 2 to 2.5 hours at around 225F.
Reviewer: GreyMittens
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Edit: June 26th 2015 - I see this smoker is no longer available via amazon.ca (amazon prime) and that the other two stores who sell it have it priced over $500.00. I paid 360.00 for this early January with amazon.ca. Local bbq stores / home depot also sell it for $360.00 still. Do not pay much more than that for it, or at least shop around!What an absolute joy this smoker is. Purchased it off the positive reviews from amazon.ca and the 600+ 5 star reviews from amazon.com. I ordered this from amazon.ca and paid the extra 2 or 3 bucks for next day shipping - hoping to have it arrive before the weekend as a chinook was to be passing through and temps were around 15C.The smoker arrived in time, however, it didn't ship with the 3 grills needed to cook (boo!). Yes I was bummed but I have to say the Weber customer support was *awesome*. Phone support from 7am - 9pm Central time was a nice surprise as I called after work and assumed to get an automated message saying to call back between 9-5 or something. The lady on the phone took my serial number down (on the top lid vent) and said she would expedite the grills to me right away - no questions asked. These arrived 2 business days later via FedEx. Mishaps do happen from time to time at assembly but support was great to get me back in grilling action.Now for the smoking:I read a few tips on the weber and there was a great write up for this unit on amazon.com (it's the top rated review - can't miss it) where the guy is basically a competitor and runs a school on smoking. Follow his tips and you'll be pleased. I did my first smoke with beef ribs. Temp was about 2C and pour cold coals in the smoker. Then you light the coals in your chimney starter:http://www.amazon.ca/Weber-7416-Rapidfire-Chimney-Starter/dp/B000WEOQV8/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1422715633&sr=8-10&keywords=weber+kettleI was new to smoking and didn't quite get you had to prelight coals and use those to get your smoker going. At least that seems to be the most common method. I let that chimney starter sit on my gas BBQ and stuff paper under it (or light it on the coals on bottom rack of smoker). It doesn't take long for the briquettes to start up and go on their own after.Once those are glowing hot you pour them over top the unlit coals in your smoker. Open up all the vents (top and bottom) and let it get to around 200F. Ribs go on and temp was around 225-250. I closed the 3 bottom vents 1/2 way to keep it around that temp. The top vent ALWAYS leave fully open. I was able to manage the temperature quite well by bottom vents.These beef ribs cooked for about 3.5 hrs at 225 and were awesome. Basic seasoning with salt, pepper and some garlic powder. I also used 3 chunks of weber hickory wood.http://www.amazon.ca/Webber-17056-Hickory-Chunks-5-Pound/dp/B000LNY4C6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422715927&sr=8-1&keywords=weber+hickoryThis really gave the ribs an amazing taste but some find it pretty strong. Over all, I was really pleased with the ribs.Smoke 2 - Pork ribsSame steps above but this time 2 hours into the smoke I took them off and put some sauce on all sides. Wrapped them in foil and put them back on for another hour. Wow - just amazing. Wife and I loved them and had friends over to enjoy too (after initial trial run I felt confident to serve guests 🙂 ) Turned out perfect. I also put on some potatoes, dill, butter and onions in a foil wrap and let them stay on for 3 hours too. Veggies turned out great. (poked a few little holes in foil to let smoke in). On this run I used the weber Applewood chunks. It doesn't take like apple but the smoke taste was a little weaker than hickory.Rib update: For absolute fall off the bone ribs, I have found the key is to cook around 200 - 225 for 3 hours. Then take them off, sauce them up with bbq sauce or even salsa and wrap in foil. Put back on the smoker for another 2-3 hours. Insanely good. Yes you are looking at a 5-6 hour cook but you have *got* to try it. I also would put on a wood chunk every hour for the first 3 hours. Once wrapped in foil I did not bother.I find the smoker easy to use and more importantly - fun!. It's now Feb and I suspect I will do a few more winter smokes but really looking forward to summer and trying a 12 hour smoke on some larger types of meat. Having this simmer all day long giving off smokey goodness ... For the price of this thing, it can't beat. Add to cart and move along!gmEdit: The smokers after 2009 I believe (as shown in the picture) do have a built in thermometer. I bought a second one and inserted in the side cut out for a probe (also built in by design now from weber) to see if the one from weber was accurate. Both read exactly the same so if you buy this newer model, you should be fine with the default weber gauge.Edit 2: I recently did a roast and purchased the igrill mini to monitor inside temps:http://www.amazon.ca/iDevices-IGR0001-iGrill-Mini-Thermometer/dp/B00I25PGZO/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423847806&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=igril+miniThis thing is really awesome and for long cooks or meat that you need to monitor temp, it's a breeze and could watch the temp of the meat while inside on my ipad or iphone (also works with android)Edit 3 (Oct 8th): Have used this all summer almost every weekend. Briquette prices seemed best from Walmart or the odd Super store special. Walmart also surprised me with their selection of wood chunks in the bbq section. Very large chunks, inexpensive and wide range of wood.
Customers say
Customers like the temperature control, ease of use, and performance of the food smoker. They mention it's easy to hold steady temperatures, works great, and has excellent build quality.
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