Questions about my new Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5".

[daniels]

I bought one yesterday and put it together last evening.  Assembly is easy enough but I have a couple of items I noticed.

1) The middle section is just a tad out of round.  It may be about 1/8" to 3/16" wider in one direction than another.

2) The lid will rock back and forth a bit when put on the middle section.

Maybe I'm spoiled by my Weber 22.5" kettle that I bough in 1979 and still use but I don't remember it having any 'play' in it like this does.

Are these two items something to be concerned about?  I'm wondering if the smoke residue will fill in any leaking gaps after a couple of smoking sessions.

I know not to expect anything to be perfect these days and this smoker is very close to perfect...but not quite.

What do you think?

 

[mossymo]

Congrats on the WSM Dan! I do not own one but I am guessing from what you described is after heating it up, seasoning it and smoking with it a few times things will settle in and tighten up. I have researched the heck out of WSM's; haven't pulled the trigger on getting one yet, but I do think you got yourself a heck of a smoker that will give you many good years of service!

 

[SmokinAl]

Mossy's right, heat it up a couple of times and if it still seems out of round. You can lay it on the grass on the side & gently push down on the side that's wider than the other. Do it a little at a time & you can get it back in shape. Also after a few uses any gaps & seams will plug up. It will also want to run a little hot the first few smokes until it gets a coating on the inside.

 

[porked]

Have to agree with Al and MossyMO, you'll be fine. I would attempt to get it back rounder and it shouldn't be that hard. Once you get this thing rolling and learn how to use it by experience you're gonna love it.

 

[dward51]

When I got my 18.5" WSM in 2005, the middle was a little out of round also.  I just did like the others suggested and lightly rolled it on some cardboard on the floor of the garage (carpet in the living room would also work, but I had hardwood floors). 

 

[jirodriguez]

You got two choices either do the cardboard and light pressure to try and re-round it, or contact Weber. Weber will probably just send you a new middle section at no charge.

Also if the body is out of round check that the top grate can not fall into the body if it gets slid off to one side and then has a load set on it. My body was a bit out of round as well (both the smoker and my belly.... lol), but it wasn't so bad that I had to get a replacement. However the upper grate would fall into the smoker if there was a big load on it, I ended up placing 3 washers between the inside wall of the smoker and the upper rack supports. This pushed the upper rack supports in about 1/4 per side and that was perfect for solving that issue.

You got a great smoker and Weber  has awesome customer service, so don't be afraid to give them a call.

 

[sprky]

All the above got ya covered. I would have told ya the exact same thing.