First WSM Recommendations? 14.5 or 18 Inch?

[Anton32828]

Hello all,

It did not take me long to catch MCS.

I'm thinking of buying a Weber Smokey Mountain. I usually cook for four people, so I don't need a lot of capacity. After reading through various posts on this site, I can think of some reasons to prefer one or the other.

14.5 Inch: uses less charcoal. More economical.
18 Inch: more capacity. More accessories available (I think). Perhaps better temperature control?

So, what do you all think? Thanks in advance for your advice!

[EdF]

Get the 18". You won't regret it.

[JOE E]

I have the 18 and am very happy with it. It can do 4 racks of ribs and plenty of pulled pork for 4. Once its broke in it runs very well for me.

[Steve B]

Always get bigger if you can.
You may not need the extra space all of the time. But when you do, it’s there.

[Mr. Bones]

In my experience, which may be of some intrinsic value, I've never thought: "Dang, I wish I'da bought me a smaller cooker"
In fact, any remorse has been kickin myself in th slats fer not gittin more real estate...
Yer Mileage May vary.
I have Smokey Joe's, fer when it's jus me, an Smokey...

[ecowper]

Mr. Bones I’m pretty sure nobody ever said "gee, I wish that thing was smaller"

[Mr. Bones]

ecowper Reckon that's so, brother!

[Murdy]

What about my gut?

[SmokeyGator]

Go large or go home. You don't have to use all the capacity all the time, a cooker isn't a dishwasher that works best when fully loaded. But you can never make a small cooker larger if you want to cook more or larger things.

So unless you know with absolute certainty that the 14.5 inch will be large enough for whatever you might ever want to do.......go with the 18. The small price difference is cheaper than having to buy the larger cooker later after realizing you should have done that from the start.

[RonB]

+ 1! You can always cook less on a larger cooker, but you can only cook so much in a smaller cooker.

[Corvus]

I own both and each does what it was designed to do.......in my experience, I can control the temps better in the 18". YMMV

[Troutman]

22”, you will thank me

[Anton32828]

Nah. Don’t want to cure MCS right away, do we? 😎

[Anton32828]

Thanks gents! 18 it is!

[Obi-Dan]

Good choice. I’ll just add a friend bought the 14.5 and regretted it on the first cook.

[shify]

I got the 14.5 and it’s def too small. Just upgraded to a PBC in part because i outgrew the WSM even if I’m not cooking for a dozen people. It’s nice being able to cook more than 2 chickens at a time!

[ecowper]

I actually am going to bid for you getting the WSM 22 .... here’s my thinking ... and I’m a proud owner of a WSM 22, but only after a lot of research and consideration

The WSM 22 can hold a large brisket (14-16 lb) without issue on the top grate. It can run 6 slabs of ribs on the two grates, no problem, laid flat. It can easily cook 6 chickens. Or 2 large turkeys. Or 6 pork butts. Or 2 slabs of beef short ribs on one grate.

Bottom line is that the WSM 22 can cook an amazing amount of food. But, more importantly, it can cook certain pieces of meat without needing to do something awkward to make it work. YOu can cook a brisket without having to separate the point and flat. You can cook slabs of ribs without needing a rib rack.

And it is only $100 more than the WSM 18.

More importantly, when you decide to cook for 30 guests on Labor Day ... you can do it easily.

A 15 lb brisket


a 20 lb turkey


a bunch of beef ribs


a bunch of pork ribs

[Spinaker]

Very true, getting a brisket on a 18" cooking surface is tough.

[ecowper]

Just to be clear, I spend a lot of time finding charcoal on sale ;-) ... the WSM 22 burns about 1.5 lbs of KBB per hour ... in other words, an 18 lb bag of KBB gives me 12 hours of the WSM running at about 240F. If I buy Kingsford Pro, I get 240F for about 10-11 hours. It’s okay, I buy a lot of KBB at Home Depot

[ecowper]

Oh and here is 6 slabs of back ribs ... you can see the second trio of back ribs n the bottom grate.

[Anton32828]

Thanks ecowper! Now all those photos are making me hungry.

[ecowper]

Anton32828 me too, but sadly I have to get on a plane and travel for two weeks. No BBQ for me today

[Troutman]

See, even Mariners fans think the WSM 22 is the best bang for the buck

[ecowper]

Mariners fans are pretty smart

[lostclusters]

+1 22", the more smoking real estate the better. You will most likely want another or some other one for even more space later on.

[ecowper]

I have a WSM 22 and a Hasty-Bake Gourmet .... still not enough real estate

[lostclusters]

Anton32828 you may be cooking for only four now, but if you do this well that number will grow to quite a bit more later on.

[JeffJ]

I have the 14 and love it, but I acquired it for its portability.

If money isn't a factor, the 18 is probably a better choice.