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In this topic:
The Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker you cooked on in 2008 was essentially the same product people were cooking on when the WSM was first introduced in 1981. With the exception of changing some rust-prone steel parts to aluminum and changing the lid handle from wood to plastic, it was basically the same product all those years. It was a great product that served us well, but for many years Weber fans had been hoping for some product improvements and innovations. A bigger cooker with greater cooking capacity, a built-in thermometer, a bigger, more stable water pan, a better access door, and a charcoal grate that doesn't drop charcoal into the bottom of the bowl. Well, our prayers were answered in the Fall of 2008!
The new 2009 18.5" and 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smokers In October 2008, Weber introduced an improved 18.5" Smokey Mountain Cooker and a new, larger 22.5" Smokey Mountain Cooker.
Weber was kind enough to provide a pre-production version of the 22.5" WSM so I could cook on it and provide feedback. You can watch my comments as I open the box for the first time and assemble the cooker, and see a comparison between the old 18.5" WSM and the new 22.5" WSM.
Click thumbnails for larger images.
18.5" vs. 22.5" Comparison Photos Smaller parts are 18.5" parts, larger parts are 22.5" parts. Click thumbnails for larger images.
I fired the 22.5" WSM using the Minion Method and a 9-pound bag of Kingsford Charcoal Briquets. I spread 40 hot coals over the unlit briquettes, added 3 chunks of apple wood, and put 2 gallons of water into the pan. The 6 slabs of ribs were cooked on the top cooking grate using a Weber rib rack, 4 slabs in the rack and 2 slabs on either side, flat on the grate. With all the vents wide open, it took about an hour for the cooker to rise to 225°F. I was able to easily control temperature over the next few hours until these ribs were tender. You will notice that there was very little fuel left over after I shut down the cooker. This may be due to the out-of-round condition exhibited by this pre-production unit. Having said that, I think this cooker generally uses more fuel because of its larger size and dampers. The first 3 photos below show a comparison of ribs on the old WSM and the new 22.5" WSM. Click thumbnails for larger images.
I fired the 22.5" WSM using 7 pounds of Duraflame lump charcoal. I spread a hot chimney full of lump over the unlit lump, added 3 chunks of cherry wood, and put 2 gallons of water into the pan. Three chickens went onto both the top and bottom cooking grates. The cooker immediately jumped past 250°F, and even with all the bottom vents fully closed, the cooker ran in the 260-270°F range for 90 minutes before drifting down to 245-250°F and stayed there 2-1/2 hours until these chickens were done. I never did open the bottom vents. The first 2 photos below show a comparison of beer can chicken on the old WSM and the new 22.5" WSM. Click thumbnails for larger images.
I fired the 22.5" WSM using the Minion Method and a 21.6-pound bag of Kingsford Charcoal Briquets. I spread 50 hot coals over the unlit briquettes, added 4 chunks of apple wood, and put 2 gallons of water into the pan. Three pork butts went onto both the top and bottom cooking grates. As with the ribs before and with all the vents wide open, it took almost an hour for the cooker to rise to 230°F. The cooker ran in the 225-250°F range easily for another 5 hours, but during the remaining 5-1/2 hours the cooker languished around 200°F, even with all the bottom vents wide open, stirring the coals twice to rejuvenate them, and having used foil to fill the out-of-round gaps at the beginning of the cook. I was able to finish the butts successfully, but with the cooker temperature drifting below 200°F and with very little fuel left. I need to explore different methods to see how to get more than 11-1/2 hours of cooking time. The first photo below show a comparison of pork butts on the old WSM and the new 22.5" WSM. Click thumbnails for larger images.
6 Pork Butts - Total
untrimmed weight approximately 45 lbs. My fourth test cook was another 45 pounds of pork butt. I wanted to see if I could get more than 11 hours out of a big bag of Kingsford. This time I used 2 gallons of hot water in the pan instead of cool water. It was a calm, warm night and never went below 63°F outside. Someone at Weber told me they got 14 hours of cooking time by starting with a lot of hot Kingsford, setting the top vent just 3/4 open, and closing all the bottom vents for the entire cook. So, I spread a full Weber chimney of hot coals over the remainder of a 21.6-pound bag of Kingsford and set the vents as described above. I used foil to plug the gaps in the out-of-round condition of the cooker. The meat sat at room temperature for 1 hour before going into the cooker. I could not get the cooker temperature over 200°F. After about 90 minutes of this, I opened just 1 bottom vent 100% and it ran at 225°F for a long time. Toward the end of the cook, I had 2 bottom vents open 100%. Once again, at about 11 hours the cooker was dropping to 200-210°F. The meat was done at 11-1/2 hours. I shook loose the ashes to reveal less than a chimney-full of partial briquettes in various stages of burning. Click thumbnails for larger images.
2 Beef Briskets - Total
untrimmed weight approximately 31 lbs. I trimmed a few large areas of fat from each brisket and cooked them using the Minion Method...50 hot briquettes over the remainder of a 21.6-pound bag of Kingsford, plus 2 gallons of hot water in the water pan. I did not refill the water pan during the cook. I cooked overnight, from 9:00pm to 11:00am the next morning. It never got below 59°F outside. It took 2 hours for the cooker to come up to 225°F with all vents wide open. The cooker then ran 225-250°F for the next 6 hours. After that I never measured a temp over 225°F even with all vents fully open and stirring the coals once. The brisket on the top cooking grate reached 185°F after 12 hours of cooking and got foiled and moved into a dry cooler to rest for a few hours. I moved the brisket from the bottom grate to the top and cooked for another 2 hours. It only reached 180°F after 14 hours of cooking, and at this point the cooker had dropped to 177°F, so I removed it from the cooker. You can see the monster smoke ring achieved by the slow ramp-up of cooker temp during those first 2 hours. I am coming to the realization that the 22.5" WSM consumes more fuel in general than the 18.5" version. Yes, you're potentially cooking more pounds of meat and putting more water in the pan, and both of those affect fuel usage, but this new cooker also radiates more heat because of greater surface area, and it has to heat a larger amount of air inside the cooker, and more air is drawn through the cooker because of the larger vent dampers. All these factors affect fuel consumption. Click thumbnails for larger images.
Grilled Skirt Steak Decided to use the 22.5" WSM as a "Smokey Joe on steroids" to grill skirt steak over lump charcoal. Delish! Click thumbnails for larger images.
I was invited to meet with Weber's R&D and marketing staff at Weber Corporate Headquarters in Palatine, IL on August 25, 2008 to discuss the new Weber smokers for 2009. You can read my trip report here. The 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker shown in this article was provided compliments of Weber-Stephen Products Co. I was neither obligated to post a review of the product nor was I paid to write this article. As always, I retain editorial control over any content I post on my website. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. Photos of 18.5" and 22.5" WSMs: 2008 Weber-Stephen Products LLC. Updated: 01/05/2016 |
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