Guildencrantz's Full Review: Weber-Stephen Products Smokey Mountain Cooker Smok...
Reading the rave reviews here I must say that I think I got a reject. I actually had to double check my grill to make sure that it's a Weber and not just a look alike. Well, it is a Weber and without actually being able to verify that a few things have been fixed I'm never buying one of these smokers.
My father was born and raised in Kansas City. As such good barbeque, cooked slow and low, was a huge part of growing up. He always had a Weber grill and it always lasted. He had only two grills while I grew up and the only reason that he got the new one is that it was bigger and had a lovely cart instead of the tripod. Great durable charcoal grills.
Well I received the Weber Smokey Mountain as a gift and was in love from first sight. Not having the skill at side stacking that my father has an actual smoker would be perfect for me to get the results I want without grilling the meat.
Aesthetically this smoker looks a lot like Weber's traditional kettle grills except between the base and the lid is a ring of steel with a door in it. The lid has a thermometer and traditional three hold vent. The base has three feet and three of the three hold vents. It's a classic look that also provides functionality.
Internally it's 18" in diameter with a coal chimney at the base, a liquid pan about halfway up. Directly over the liquid pan is the first grate. There is then a gap and at the top of the grill is another grate. The door, for feeding the fire, is situated just under the liquid pan and provides a nice size for feeding wood and charcoal.
This design is all fine. The steel is nice and solid, the lid fits very tightly to the rest of the unit and it feels like a Weber. Where the complaints come in is around the covers for the holes. Namely I'm referring to the vents and the feed door. Both are extremely flimsy. I've always known Weber to use extremely sturdy vents, but this grill is excessively flimsy. I can bend the tab that's used to rotate the vent without much effort. As a matter of fact one of the bottom vents is missing the tab completely and another's is bent flat because of various bumps. It's not like this grill has been beaten, it's that these tabs are not up to the usual Weber standard of quality. But that doesn't even touch on my real complaint.
I can deal with the vents, as long as they close and open I'm fine. The real problem with this grill is the feed door. It doesn't close. Yes, it latches shut, but it doesn't close. This door isn't hinged, it actually comes off the grill. It attaches by a lip at the bottom of the door that slides into the grill and a latch at the top. However the latch isn't nearly tight enough and the door tends to hang back from the grill about 1/2" at the top. Even at the bottom this gap is close to 1/4". When smoking airflow is essential for maintaining heat, with this kind of gap right in the side of the smoker it's extremely hard to maintain constant heat without continuous babysitting. On windy days where cold air is likely to get in through this gaping hole you need to find a quiet corner or devise some kind of wind guard to help prevent drastic changes in temperature. Even so I've used this grill a number of times and it was never a huge problem until I did a smoked pork butt. It was a 12 hour smoke and there were several times where I thought I'd lost it.
One other minor complaint is the liquid pan. First of all it doesn't sit all that securely. There are three nubs extending from the wall of the smoker that hold the pan in place. This just isn't super secure and I've lost a pan of liquid onto my coals. That wasn't nice. If they added a handle so that it was easier to set the pan into place this might work better. Adding a ring to hold the pan would also be nice. Combining the handle and the ring would probably be best. I'd also like it if the door extended above the lip of the pan so I could add more liquid during cooking without going through the grates.
Complaints aside it is possible to smoke a nice piece of meat in the Weber Smokey Mountain. I've made all kinds of cuts from leg of lamb to pork butt and it always comes out beautifully, even if it's a bit of work tending to the temperature. I should also note that I'm still convinced Weber makes good products and am extremely happy with the quality of my grill.
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