You'll get as many opinions as responses, lol... but I JUST went through the similar debate. Lived with one 22" kettle for years (OTP, Gen 1). Just turned into a Weber dork within the last few months. I now have two 22" kettles, a 22" WSM, a Smokey Joe, and a 26er on the way from a friend.
I had the kettle... and wanted to get into smoking. So I researched a bit, saw a WSM on CL ($250 in great shape)... learned about the SnS... debated which route to go. SnS looked more practical, cheaper, and probably adequate for my needs. I'd smoked ribs ONCE prior to buying these, using baskets. So, I decided to buy the SnS... and ordered it. Before it arrived, a friend who is into (amateur/local) competition BBQ told me I'd be foolish to pass on a locally available 22.5 WSM for $250... and convinced me that it would be awesome. So I bought it as well.
Tried the SnS, and thought it was great. Love it for smoking, love it for 2 zone... love it for searing.
Tried the WSM, and thought it was great too! Lots of fun, and there's something even more fun about using something big.
Then, I couldn't leave well enough alone... nor use these things more than once or twice before I spent more money... so I bought a PartyQ (off of ebay for $100), and two adapters. Drilled my kettle, and made it interchangeably functional on both the kettle and WSM. Figured I'd want it to smoke some brisket with a temp controller. Haven't even done that yet. Learned that the temp controller is totally unnecessary for a rib cook (4-5 hours), as the bigger challenge is really keeping it from being too hot, IMHO.
Once I used the Slow N Sear several times, I had it pretty well figured out. Great addition. You won't regret it.
The WSM is great fun as well, but I'm already finding I don't use it... just because I don't really do huge cooks. It is fun in its own way for sure... but you use about a half bag of charcoal to do anything, it seems. And it is more of a production. And now... I've got another really big thing taking up space in my garage that will be rarely used. And I couldn't help myself... before I became a bit disenchanted with it, I bought casters ($35) and a hinge ($50) before I realized... I'd rather not give up the real estate in the garage, and don't really need the WSM.
If I had it to do again... I'd definitely buy the SnS. ZERO regrets on that. It's multiple functionality makes your grill better 3 ways, and I think tangibly so. It makes a great 2 zone divider (great for grilling chicken breasts, and many other things)... and makes it possible to sear the **** out of anything you want to really sear. Also, makes it EASY to smoke ribs... and with a rib rack, 3 full racks is no problem on the kettle. A brisket, or 2 pork butts should be easy as well, but you'd have to add water, depending on how you like to do it. If you're never going to do more than 3 racks of ribs (and you can probably do 4), or 1 brisket, or 2 butts... you probably don't need anything else for smoking. I had the temperature figured out almost immediately... 2nd or 3rd cook with it.
If I wanted more than the SnS... would ALSO buy a stacker, like the Smoke EZ or Cajun Bandit. If I decided I wanted greater capacity than the SnS, or just for the fun of doing it a different way having the whole grate and more air/smoke, etc. I think smoking the 'normal' amount of 3-4 racks of ribs would be a bit easier on a stacker, simply because you have ALL the space, and don't have to crowd. (But crowding 3-4 on the kettle with SnS isn't exactly difficult... just a bit more annoying than having all the space.) It might also be a bit better for the 12+ hour cooks... because you can add more charcoal/water from the get-go. And if you needed to go huge with 10 racks of ribs... or 6 butts, or whatever, then you can.
Frankly, because the stackers are fairly similar to the WSM... and you take up less total real estate by using your kettle, I think they are a no-brainer as a substitute for the WSM. Particularly since your grill will always be a grill, and the WSM is really only a smoker.
At this point... I regret the WSM. Not because there is anything wrong with it... it is great, and a lot of fun, but i couldn't resist accessorizing it, now have $335 in it... and it takes up a ton of space. I simply won't use it very often, and because of the accessories I bought, if I sell it, I'm going to lose $$$.
So my recommendation is start with a SnS. They're great, for multiple purposes, and you may decide you don't need anything else.
if you do want something else, buy a stacker afterword. Besides, you have 2 kettles... so you could do a 'big cook day' and run both kettles for some smokey goodness.
DON'T do what I did, get overly excited, and buy everything at once. That said, if you can find good deals on stuff used, no harm in picking up a WSM. They are neat, and a great weber product that a lot of people wouldn't live without. And if you have the room or desire to have one of everything, why not?
So, there's the $.02 from a guy who JUST did all this within the last 3 months.
Good luck! Its all fun, really.
Topic: Slow n sear (Read 888 times)
