Which Smoker - Brinkmann Vertical Smoker or WSM

first of... comparing the wsm to the skd is apples and oranges.

one is a vertical offset, the other is a bullet. They work differently and have different characteristics. The WSM will give you from a 8 to 14 hours nearly unattended burn. The SKD is a stick burner that you need to feed every 45-90 minutes. The offset cooker will not give you unattnded burn for extended periods unless you use a charcoal backet or some time of specialized technique. Both can use charcoal or lump, for longer burns, but only the SKD can be used for all wood which will give you heavier smoke flavor if wanted and thicker rings(not that that matters). The SKD will also allow you those days of therapy with a cold beer, pile of wood and a few hours of tending and cooking and unwinding. The WSM you can go to bed and wake up to brisket for breakfast. Capacity however cannot be compared. The SKD will hold 4-5-6 timres more than the WSM or more if u buy additional shelves.

forget the access issue. The wsm s a set and forget device.. u dont need extensive access. If your lookin you aint cooking... and with the limited capacity, you wont be opening it to add more food that often. I have never heard someone complain about access, but capacity is more of the issue.

for the extra 50 dollars, go with the WSM. Built and designed better than the brinkman. I had an older brinkman bullet, and it did not perform nearly as well as the wsm. You still need to babysit the brinkman bullet.

bottom line, decide what u want between the wsm and the skd. Forget the brinkman bullet.

Want to set and forget and no need for large capacity. Go with the WSM. Champions cook on WSM's so u know the result is excellent.

baby sit a stick burner, get smokey and sooty and play with fire all day.. feed lots of people.. go with the SKD.

And one more thing to add... the cost of 2 WSMS may be less or equal to a SKD, so that is a way to double your capacity should u want to set and forget, but capacity of one isnt enuf.

Listen to Phil, sometimes he may ramble but this is not one of them. He knows his smokers and when he suggests one it is a good one.

I agree with Trout, listen to Phil. I faced the same decision as you, and I ended up with the BSKD (Although at a substatially lower price!), and I love it. But I will say that I am impressed with the quality of the Weber products. Half the fun of my BSKD was making and installing the mods, which made this cooker much more effecient. As far as I know, the webers need very little modification to cook championship que. For $50.00, there is no question that I would go with the WSM over the BVS, but if you can swing it, I think that you would love the BSKD. Just decide on what and how you want to cook, as Phil stated above.
Noah

Holy crap on them prices Carbon!

what modding would u do the the WSM? Its excellent right out of the box. Only mod i considered was a couple of handles on the side so its easier to lift.

Don't forget to get a larger water pan for the WSM if you go that way. Nothing wrong with the one in the box, but you will like the advantage of not having to refill the water pan for longer cooks.

I've been debating drilling a hole and putting this $25 grill/smoker thermometer in my WSM's lid also... but if it is as inaccurate as the one in the door of my SKD, I don't know if it would be worth the trouble. Gotta buy a special drill bit just for one hole if I do.

heres a couple 2 cent points.

One, a thermometer in the lid is going to give you lid temps, which will be significantly higher than the pit. Personally, i use a probe dropped thru the top vent and placed at grate level. A lid one can at best just be a general gauge.

The WSM is porcelin(sp). Be vewy vewy careful drilling that stuff. i didnt bother with a special bit, just used a new/sharp one, went slow and kept the bit oiled up. You dont want to take a chunk of procelin off when u drill thru.

Handles are the best mod of all. Thats on my list.


Regarding the oversize brinkman charcoal pan for use as a water pan. I have been using it for a few years. the stock Weber pan holds mabe a gallon of water, the brinkman hold maybe 2-3? Woud make sense that the brinkman will last longer right? well.. wrong, not always. :? :? Many times, while using 2 WSM's side by side, running at temps within the same range(225-250), the bigger water pan dried out faster.

Not sure of exactly why, but my theories: 1 - The bigger pan is much deeper, which brings it closer to the coals and it boils out faster. 2- the wsm pan is convex on the bottom, the brinkman is flat. The flatter pan allows more surface area to me in contact with more heat, which also adds to faster boiling.

Both work, but side by side, there have been times where the stock pan lasted longer and i was refilling the larger pan. Personally, i stopped using the brinkman pan as much.

While waiting for it to arrive check out www.virtualweberbullet.com

It's a site dedicated to the WSM and has several useful and very doable mods - handles on the barrel, ways to mount a thermometer, at least three discussions on fire management including the Minion and modified Minion methods, etc. One guy even did a detailed survey of the heat characteristics at different levels in the cooker.

The tips they give will make the first cook session a breeze!

One guy even did a detailed survey of the heat characteristics at different levels in the cooker.

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This sounds like Brian mapping out his smoker.

jt said:

One guy even did a detailed survey of the heat characteristics at different levels in the cooker.

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This sounds like Brian mapping out his smoker.

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Naw not me........... :roll:

Tim and 'kick or KC did an in depth study of the Bandera a year or so ago.

CarbonToe said:

[
...................Anyway, to coin a phrase I've bitten the bullet - I've just ordered a WSM!!!!

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Congrats, you are going to LOVE it when you get your hands on it. My bro has one, and I think would que everyday if he could eat all the meat, he lives alone.