Newbie Decision Paralysis ;)

[loumazoo]

Hi there! Brand new here but have been reading and re-reading reviews in an attempt to make a decision on what to buy.

I’m brand new to the smoking and BBQ world. I have one disastrous campground grill grate charcoal attempt under my belt. That was about 10 years ago so I think it sufficiently scarred me. Currently waffling between a Pit Barrel Cooker, Weber Smokey Mountain, Weber Performer Deluxe…a pit boss because of their awesome military discount…among others. As you can tell - I really don’t have it narrowed down!!

I don’t have a ton of time to dedicate to this at the moment, so my dad is thinking a cheapo gas grill would be enough to do hamburgers once a week. I was looking for something I could grill and smoke with…basically I have no idea what to do 🤣 Mainly would be cooking for my son and myself. Looking forward to reading the forum and learning more.

side note - the best beer I’ve ever had was in a brewery in Denver and I’ve been on the hunt for something similar ever since. It was green chile flavored!

[Sid P]

Welcome! Since you want to both grill and smoke and you’re not cooking for a large group, the Weber Performance Deluxe you mentioned along with the Slow ‘n Sear Deluxe will be all you ever need.

https://snsgrills.com/collections/slow-n-sear/products/slow-n-sear-deluxe

[SheilaAnn]

loumazoo +7 it’s just the two of us as well. Either the SnS actual or a tried and weber kettle with the insert (my set up) will be perfect! Of course, if you join, then you can be entered into the monthly drawing and win one! 😜

[realdocBBQ]

While a kettle will probably do the trick, I really think the Weber Ranch Kettle is more in line. That's how we roll here - plan for future, as you're sure to become a neighborhood sensation and demand will only increase.

[Soonerpop]

Yep, start with a Weber kettle. Very versatile.

[Purc]

Welcome to The Pit from Texas.

All the cookers you are considering are great. Since you want to both grill and smoke, I would suggest the Weber Performer Kettle. It is very versatile, easy to learn and you can do almost anything on it. I'm on my second kettle in 20+ years. With the kettle you can do 2 zone grilling: direct and indirect grilling. Using the charcoal snake method, you can smoke low and slow and even hot and fast smoking. I have grilled direct and indirect almost everything and have smoked chicken, ribs, pork butts, briskets, etc. with just the kettle. I have purchased several accessories: SnS, Vortex, rotisserie, etc. that make the kettle even easier to use and have more fun in using plus I love my BBQ toys. I only purchased my OKJ Bronco because I wanted to grill burgers for lunch and I was already smoking ribs on the kettle, so I realized I needed/wanted a second cooker. I was also considering the WSM or the PBC and the Pit members suggested the OKJ Bronco, it was on sale, I bought it and love it. The Weber Kettle and OKJ Bronco make a great pair of cookers. I use them both. I love the Weber Kettle.

Regardless which cooker you purchase, please make your very next purchase a good instant read thermometer and a remote leave in thermometer for the meat and the grill grate. These are necessary to be successful when you grill and smoke on any cooker.

Most of all have fun and enjoy the learning experience of making great BBQ. The members of the Pit are very experienced with all of these cookers and can answer all your questions. Please post pictures what you purchased and of your cooks. We will love to see them.

Again, welcome to The Pit and Thank You for your service.

[RiverJeff]

Welcome from Nebraska! Look at all the info you have just in your first post Great help is here when you need it!

[Jfrosty27]

Weber kettle Deluxe with Slow & Sear insert. That set up can do anything. I second the need for quality thermometers. One instant read to check doneness of your cooked items. And one leave in setup to monitor grill temps. The thermometers are a must regardless of which cooker you choose.

[58limited]

Welcome!

[Draznnl]

Welcome to the Pit from the Florida Suncoast. Best of luck in your cooker search.

[Uncle Bob]

Since you say a military vet discount is important to you, I would urge you to sign up at Home Depot for their military discount program. You'll get 10% off almost anything you buy there, including Weber products (which I would agree with others is a good, more versatile first step). Lowes has a vet program too but they tend to exclude many products that have manufacturer agreed pricing (e.g. Weber).

[ssennott]

Lowe’s also offers the same discount

[Donw]

Welcome from Maryland. It took me decades to appreciate the versatility of a kettle. They are like the Swiss Army knives of the BBQ world. They do it all well.

[HawkerXP]

Welcome to the Pit!

Weber or Slo n Sear kettle with insert can do it all.

[LA Pork Butt]

As others have mentioned the Weber Deluxe would be my choice. Every cooker does great at one thing like grilling or smoking and everything else requires a work around. I think the Weber best fits what you are trying to do. It will shine as a grill and works well as a smoker. My favorite smoking method is to use the snake or fuse method which you can find the how to on YouTube. Also as you take your first venture into smoking make it a pork shoulder or Boston Butt which are the same cut of meat. If you want a shorter cook time try some St. Louis cut spare ribs. But, most of all have fun!

[RonB]

Welcome to The Pit and thank you for your service.

I agree that a Weber kettle is the most versatile, and lots of companies make accessories for them. I love my Kettle.

People have cooked for 1000s of years without thermometers, so they are not absolutely necessary. However, you will better results quicker using them. (Once you know what temp you like your steak, it's much easier to hit that mark.) Thermoworks seem to be the gold standard, (and are very accurate), but if your budget doesn't allow, buy what you can afford. I would start with one you can use to check the temp occasionally, then get one with a leave in probe when you can afford it. Here are two of the less expensive Thermoworks products:

https://www.thermoworks.com/thermopop-2/

https://www.thermoworks.com/dot/

[Skip]

Welcome from Minnesota.

[Oak Smoke]

Welcome from central Texas! I agree with the Weber idea.

[jfmorris]

Welcome to the Pit from Alabama! Glad to have you onboard!

If you want one cooker that can do it all - the Weber Performer Deluxe you mention is the one grill in my backyard that I would never part with. And I've had as many as 9 grills, currently down to 5 (gave 4 away to my kids or a friend). Sooooo many accessories for the Weber 22" kettles make it the most versatile of all my grills. And you can smoke OR grill on it. No smoking is going to happen on a gas grill. And the issue with the PBC, the WSM or even the Pit Boss pellet smoker is that while they will smoke just fine, they are not really grills. You are not going to flip burgers and dogs on those when you just want to grill something. Remember that most pellet cookers are really smokers - not grills. The fire is a little pot about 3 inches in diameter, buried under a heat deflector. No direct heat to sear anything there...

The propane ignition on the Performer Deluxe makes startup easy. I still use a charcoal chimney to get the coals going well over the propane ignitor, then dump them out on the charcoal grate, or into my Slow 'N Sear insert, or Vortex insert, depending on what I am doing. You do need to give yourself an extra 25-30 minutes to get it going compared to a gas grill (I have a Weber Genesis gas grill), so it will require a little more time investment, which may preclude quick week night cooks, but its never a problem on the weekend.

I've grilled, smoked, griddled and even deep fried (using a dutch oven) on my Performer Deluxe. I've done 20 pound turkey's for Thanksgiving using a rotisserie. With a vortex insert its a wing cooking machine - basically think giant charcoal powered "air fryer". I've smoked 20 pound briskets using the SNS insert, as well as 5-6 slabs of ribs, 3-4 whole/split chickens, and so on and so forth. Even have made wood fired pizza on it!

Sometimes the 22" grate can be limiting, but I make it work with creative use of an elevated cooking grate to add space, and a rib rack to stand my ribs on their edge.

And as I mentioned before, there are tons of accessories available for 22" Weber kettles, so if you start with the grill, you can add more things as you go on to help make it more flexible. My must have for smoking is the basic Slow 'N Sear insert, or a Vortex for indirect high heat chicken cooks. A plancha turns it into a griddle. There are rotisserie rings and pizza oven accessories, and you can even add a fan controller to give it automated temperature control like the pellet grills.

Good luck making a decision!

Jim

P.S. was it a hatch green chili beer? Those are in season now, and come from New Mexico... Just wondering! I just recently made a habanero pepper beer here, but am wondering what green peppers they might have used. Serranos also come to mind....

[Panhead John]

I agree with everything Jim says above….I’m just too lazy to type it all out myself. 🥸

[loumazoo]

Thank you for all that good info!! And now that you said it, I’m sure it was hatch green chile beer!