Howdy from Austin TX.. trying to decide.. Weber Smokey Mountain or Brinkman Smk + Pit

[texas smiter]

Hi all...

Stumbled across this board last night, and been reading and soaking the info in.
Really glad to see the warmth of the folks, and the wealth of info and wisdom that
abounds!

I am from wonderful Austin TX.

Well... this is the deal. I finally have a place of my own with a yard that I can keep a smoker or grill in.
I am NEW NEW NEW to the idea of "really" smoking meats.
Have limited gas grill experiences... but feel more drawn to learn and dive into the world of real smoke!

I have been looking at the Brinkman Smoke n Pit at Walmart.. and the Weber Smokey Mountain.

I have read some mods are needed for the Brinkman, but that does not deter me. I like the idea of using it as a grill too.

Just wondering if comparing the two even does me any good?
Or just to go with the Brinkman because it is more versatile? Or is it??
I like also the gauge of the steel... surprising for only $138 or so.

The weber is more expensive by far.. and seems to have less cooking area?
But I read cult like following on the web from many folks about it.
Soooooo.... me being NEW NEW NEW.. I need some CLUES! :D

Any thoughts much appreciated. Hopefully will be making me decision soon!
I look forward to a summer of "low and slow!"

 

[kookie]

First off welcome to the smf.................Glad to have you...........You might want to take the 5day ecourse, lots of great info and its free.........Second off I beleive either of the units your looking at are good smokers................It just depends on if you want to mod and how much you want to spend and how you want to use it........There are alot of good smokers out there............Some other ones that you might want to check out are if you want to go electric the Masterbuilt electric or charcoal smoker/grill look at the char-grillers...........I know Sam's club has some good smokers too.....You can go as big as you want or as small as you want..........Hope that helps you out some...............

 

[gooose53]

Welcome to the forum!! If it was me....I'd go with the WSM. I know people who use them at home and at comps and have done very well. As with any smoker you have to get to know it and how it works. Sort of like getting married.....

 

[goat]

Welcome neighbor, I am from Uvlade. Lots of info here.

 

[ddave]

Welcome to SMF. I have the Walmart SnP and, yes, you will want to do the mods. But if you like tinkering and are not deterred by that, having the versatility of being able to use it as a grill is nice.

Don't have any experience with the other unit but if members here say it is a good one then I trust their judgement. Lots of good people here.

Whichever one you get, you'll need to do a few smokes to get used to it. But that's okay because you get to eat your practice meat. I am proof that its pretty hard to mess up a smoke so bad that you can't eat the results. (Sometimes I am the only one that wants to eat them, but, oh well.)

Grab a smoker and have fun. Good weather coming up. Smoke on.

Dave

 

[fatback joe]

Welcome to the forum.

I'll give another vote for the wsm.

 

[master_dman]

I have the smoke n pit.. and love it.
I've used it several times as a grill.. and several times as a smoker.

Can't beat that.

 

[mcp9]

i have a chargriller smoking pro with side firebox. the upside of this smoker is it has a "drawer like "quality that allows you to just dump out the ash instead of digging it out like the brinkman. also, the main pit has level adjustments to raise/lower flames. i like it!!! take a look. academy has some good deals on them right now. so does lowes. i bought mine at academy already assembled, bag of charcoal, and charcoal chimney for $150. good luck

 

[cowgirl]

Welcome to the forum Texas Smiter.

 

[rwc565]

I have a SnP and I love it. You WILL have to do the mods, no question. But until you do, you can tilt the grease tray to act as a baffle. It works, but not as well as a baffle will. Also, I use wood and not charcoal, so I had to replace the bottom rack with heavier guage metal, the one that comes with the SnP is way to light and warps. I also took off the top warming rack, I never used it and with it in you do not have room for the beer can chicken. There are a lot of mods that needs to be done to the unit, but I still like mine.

 

[texas smiter]

Hi all..

Thanks for the warm welcome and well meant advice.
It is well taken!

Have to say... I am still wafering between which one, and the possible third option even as mcp9 suggested!
Think I am going to just sit back and read(or salivate more likely!) through the boards till the weekend...
and then hopefuly decide.

Just a thought... can the weber Smokey Mountain be used as a grill too?

 

[richoso1]

Welcome one from the Lone Star state, you'll enjoy reading around the forums here at the SMF.

 

[rivet]

Hey and welcome. I have recently joined, have a smoke n'pit for a little over a year and have never had so much fun. Modifications are needed, but that's what is so neat about them. If you aren't a tinkerer or a tweaker, then forget it, this baby need mods! But....the rewards are great. To the muffler shop this weekend (hopefully) !