22.5" WSM vs. 26.75" Smoke EZ

[Craigar]

I am looking for opinions from people with working knowledge of either the 22.5" WSM and/or the 26.75" Smoke EZ. Last year I purchased a Weber 26.75" OTG to replace my POS COS Char-Griller. While I love my new grill, I am looking to purchase a smoker to compliment my grill. I have narrowed my choices to the Smoke EZ that will fit my grill and the 22.5" WSM. I am somewhat familiar with the WSM's and have always told my wife that would be my next smoker, but during my due diligence stage of the purchasing process I have not been able to find much information/reviews on the 26.75" Smoke EZ. Any and all information will be greatly appreciated.

Have a great day!
~Craig

[Huskee]

I have no working knowledge of either, only knowledge gained from reading watching observing....but I have a question- would you ever want to have both units going at once, say for a big feast like a superbowl party or family reunion? You'll only have one cooker at a time if you get the Smoke EZ kit.

My money, were I in your situation, is on the WSM.

[Craigar]

Huskee That was my original thought, was to have both the grill and WSM. THEN I got to thinking about the Smoke EZ and wanted some feedback since I haven't run across any for the 26.75" version. The drawback I see with the big Smoke EZ is handling the lid.

[Huskee]

Yeah that thing would be a grain silo!

[Huskee]

Do you have an SnS? That would get you some great results with your current setup for little extra cash. Works in the 26" kettle.

[Craigar]

I have tossed that idea around too, but I have been using a couple of fire bricks and/or a couple of loaf pans with good results. Last week I used the loaf pans for a barrier when I smoked a brisket and for the first 3 hours they held the temp around 200. They worked too good as I probably used too much water. Thanks to you guys for that idea (the SnS principle).

[David Parrish]

Craigar those are good techniques but the SnS will greatly improve your smoking results and gives you super searing powers. Bricks and loaf pans are good but the SnS is great.

[Craigar]

I hear ya! Maybe I will tell the kids that will be my Christmas present.

[JeffJ]

David Parrish threw in an interesting wrinkle with the SnS. My question then becomes capacity. A 22.5 WSM has considerably more smoking capacity (on the food grates) than a 26.75 equipped with a SnS. A 26.75 with the EZ has more capacity than a 22.5 WSM. From what I have read and seen the EZ is an excellent accessory and really does convert your kettle into a bullet smoker. A couple of drawbacks though:
1 - the lid will sit really high, so much so that you might need a step stool to access the top grate for spritzing/saucing/ etc.
2 - Adding charcoal and/or water during the cook requires you to disassemble the whole darn thing during the cook in order to access the coals (accessing the water bowl is less complicated).

Are those drawbacks worth saving some money vs getting a WSM AND having a smaller patio footprint? Only you can answer that. But what I do know about the EZ is that it works as advertised.

[David Parrish]

David Parrish threw in an interesting wrinkle with the SnS. My question then becomes capacity. A 22.5 WSM has considerably more smoking capacity (on the food grates) than a 26.75 equipped with a SnS. A 26.75 with the EZ has more capacity than a 22.5 WSM. From what I have read and seen the EZ is an excellent accessory and really does convert your kettle into a bullet smoker. A couple of drawbacks though:
1 - the lid will sit really high, so much so that you might need a step stool to access the top grate for spritzing/saucing/ etc.
2 - Adding charcoal and/or water during the cook requires you to disassemble the whole darn thing during the cook in order to access the coals (accessing the water bowl is less complicated).

Are those drawbacks worth saving some money vs getting a WSM AND having a smaller patio footprint? Only you can answer that. But what I do know about the EZ is that it works as advertised.

Actually I can't answer this for you. If capacity is your major priority then the Smoke EZ might be the way to go. That said, the 26" kettle with SnS will hold a LOT of food and it gives you two zones. It's also super easy to get to the charcoal for refills when needed.

[Ernest]

One needs a grill and a stand alone smoker.
Go for the WSM 22.5.

[Craigar]

One needs a grill and a stand alone smoker.
Go for the WSM 22.5.

I would have to concur. I have been telling my wife for about 3 years now, that the 22.5 WSM was going to be my next smoker and then seeds of doubt always seem to creep in. This will be the year I pull the trigger on a WSM come hell or high water.

[Ernest]

Craigar It's a fantastic cooker.

[Craigar]

I have coveted thy neighbor's for many years, especially after owning a Brinkmann Gourmet Smoker for a number of years. The only way I could control the temp in that bad boy was to smoke when the temp was below 50, the colder the better. My smoking season was about mid October thru March. It worked pretty good as a grill as I would put the base on top of the mid section to get it up at a more manageable height. The accountant in me always thinks there is a cheaper way to get to the same result. More often than not, I have realized you get what you pay for. This year I am going to blow the dust off of the old checkbook and make the leap of faith.

[Ernest]

HAHAHA! I know quite a few accountants, I avoid going with them anywhere where I know that exchange of money will be involved.

[Craigar]

Smart man!

[Beefchop]

Tough call...I would buy the separate WSM. I realize that it's about $150 more than just buying the SmokeEZ but I think you'll like having a dedicated smoker and charcoal grill. The SmokeEZ is a great design overall, but I don't like the design of the charcoal ring or the proximity of the lower grate to the charcoal ring - I would think the lower grate gets too much heat (someone complained about this on one of the forums) on the Smoke EZ. That said, the solid middle of the SmokeEZ is superior to the WSM fire door design, but the water pan on the WSM has greater capacity. Of course the SmokeEZ comes with a rack that allows you to hang fish and sausage...they seem to be pretty evenly matched but I would prefer the WSM.

Also, you can buy a BBQ Guru or Auber fan for your WSM and run it out of the box. Sure, you can drill a hole in your 26.76" kettle and fit a Guru or Auber blower, but I'd rather not drill holes in my kettles. If you are purely about economy then the kettle/SmokeEZ combo is tough to beat.

[Craigar]

Actually when I put pen to paper and ran my 10-key, by the time I added some extras for the big Smoke EZ the difference in cost between the Smoke EZ and the 22.5 WSM was only about $50. At that point I might as well have two separate rigs as Ernest has suggested.

[JeffJ]

For my Christmas wish list I am debating between a WSM 22.5 and a 26.75 kettle with SnS. Here's the thing though, it's important to take into account what I already have. I have a 22.5 Performer with the following accessories: Smokenator w/ hover grill, Gourmet BBQ grate with the drop in cast iron wok and cast iron griddle, rotisserie ring and kettle pizza. I also have a 14.5" WSM. The problem with the 14.5 is ribs (2 weeks ago I squeezed 15 pounds of pork butt into it and it turned out great). This Sunday I am doing 3 slabs of baby backs in the Performer with Smokenator for my dad's birthday because they won't fit in my little WSM. The Smokenator is a pain but it produces good results. I really like the SnS but it creates less indirect zone in a 22.5 over the Smokenator. Now, it would sound like the 22.5 WSM should be a no-brainer. However, when I cook dinner in my kettle I am often doing both meat and potatoes, or corn, or brussels sprouts, etc. When I do that a dinner for 4 fills my grate. If we are entertaining another family things become problematic - although I do also have a 3-burner Weber gas grill for overflow. My point being that having the extra capacity with the bigger kettle for larger dinners would be great. With the SnS the 26.5 becomes a good smoker, but not quite as good as a WSM in my opinion. For me, the 14.5 WSM is able to handle most of my smoking duties and on those odd occasions I need more capacity than it has to offer, a 26.75 with SnS would probably fill in nicely.

It's interesting that I am in an almost identical quandary. I need to add another rig but I still haven't decided which one makes most sense. Some of you might suggest getting a PBC instead. I've given that a lot of thought but I think the big WSM or the 26.75 w/ SnS is a better fit for my situation.

Normally I would create my own thread for this but since my situation is nearly identical I thought it was OK to just post it on this thread. Any feedback on this is greatly appreciated.

[Craigar]

Having the 26.75 I am looking for more room so I am going to go with the 22.5 WSM. I have thought about getting some sort of grate to put over the catch pan under the main level to see if I can gain some extra space for something like ribs. For me, the WSM will fill a want and will come in handy when needed.