Weber Smokey Mountain vs Kettle

[cjm7171]

Good day, ladies and gentlemen.  I'm a kettle veteran.  I have learned much from this forum through the years, including the snake method for smoking meats on the kettle...which brings me to my reason for being here today.  I am always very happy with the way my meat turns out using the snake method.  It works in warm weather and even in Michigan winters.  I am kind of getting the itch to purchase a Smokey Mountain though.  Those of you that have both, and have used the snake method...is it necessary?  What benefits will I see?  I'm guessing less charcoal use will be one.  Please inform.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Capacity, and the ability to do some things differently such as hanging meat come to mind for smokers. A smoker also makes a dandy grill for direct cooks that would cause you to use low heat for direct cooks on a kettle.

[HoosierKettle]

A wsm will have much longer burn times. Overnight cooks are easier. Easier to maintain temps over long periods of time 12+ hours without adding fuel.


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[Big Dawg]

What @HoosierKettle said.  Especially if you add a DigiQ ! ! !





BD

[BlueArch91]

When you move to the WSM you will want to check out the 'Minion Method'. It is the way I find best for long 10-12 hour smokes. I have smoked both in my kettle and my WSM. Long smokes with less tinkering and higher capacity is the advantage. You will be hard pressed to do a butt over a brisket in a kettle! In the end I love all my Weber's, each having it's own area of specialization.


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[Filibuster]

   If you're smoking for a lot of people or want to hang your meat a WSM is your go to toy. A kettle with the proper Cajun Bandit accessories will come close capacity wise.
   Right now my go to smoker is my 18" outrider with CB stacker and charcoal ring and it's no sweat for four people. The minion method is my favorite way, never tried the snake method don't want the coals that close to the kettle. So in essence I'm glad I've got both WSM's but if I had gotten the outrider with CB accessories first I never would have gotten them.
   

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[Mike in Roseville]

I've done both the snake on a kettle and have multiple WSM's.

Infrequently, the snake works fine. I've done ribs, butts, and small packers on my 26" with a snake and they have turned out great. I find there is a little more "fiddling" to dial temps in on a kettle.

I love smoking on the WSM. It's as close to "set it...forget it" temps as you can get manually. You'll get an occasional spike, but not having to "chase the snake" on a WSM (as you would with a kettle with a packer brisket) is a lifesaver.

Long story short, I love "smoking" on my smokers and "grilling" on my grills.

[gus9904]

Agree with all of the above, mastering smoking on the kettle is awesome and you learn a lot. But you can cook more quantity and tinker less with the WSM.


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