Thinking of buying a wsm 14.5"

I would love to have one, I say go for it. What kind of foods do you normally cook.

Well, instead, try to make an ugly drum smoker from a 16 gal drum. Much cheaper.

I have two 14.5" wsms and I love them. I can cook a lot of food in them. They need to use a water pan. Without it IMO the temps aren't stable enough but a water pan keeps the temps in check. Don't know about grilling in one as I have never done it. Not saying you can't just I have never tried it.

Long cooks are possible at 12 hours plus. You have to use lump charcoal as the briquettes make way to much ash. It fills up the bottom with briquettes. If you want to cook about 8 hours briquettes are fine but beyond that lump charcoal makes a lot less ash and will get you a longer burn time. It burns hotter so you have to close your bottom vents way down. I have run it with only one bottom vent slightly open but the top wide open. I prefer lump charcoal for everything but if you want briquettes an 18.5 would suit you better.

The 14.5 takes time to get use to it but it is a fantastic cooker. I also have a 22.5 and I prefer my 14.5 wsm.

Low fuel consumption with two cooking racks and if you throw in a brinkmann rib rack you can fit 2 full racks of ribs in the top rack or 4 racks trimmed down to fit. Just watch how their positioned as if they touch the rub won't set properly. I have cooked half brisket in the smoker just fine also. Its a good little cooker. If you cut chicken legs into lollipops you can fit about 20 standing on the meat end bone straight up. You can take the top rack out and stand a whole chicken up on a beer can, pop can, or chicken sitter.

Its a pretty good smoker.

I have a WSM 18.5 I love it for what it is! is that $450 USD you have to pay for a WSM 18.5? Holy crap!!! Honestly for 2-4 people a 14.5 should be enough.

Someone mentioned "grilling" in their post, Didn't read anything on your post about grilling but I'll share my input. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225996 Is one of my cook threads on "grilling" on the WSM. It's a real Pita to break it down and You don't get proper grate space. Worked very well for what it is, but If you have a dedicated grill for grilling then its pointless to try to grill on a WSM.

No matter which route you go the whole WSM family is a fantastic set of smokers! Building a drum smoker might be your best bet though at the prices you have to pay for a WSM.

Edit: I was suppose to say for 2-4 people a 14.5 was enough. typed it wrong and fixed it

I have a 14.5 & love it. It's a great little cooker. Very stable temp control. Seems to be the go-to around here because there's only two of us. Feeding 6 people from a cook should be no problem. I've made a stacker, hanging rack, rotisserie ring & gender bender for it. It can cook almost anything these days. Have done a small full packer, hung chickens, smoked bacon & etc. Can even grill with it.

Uses very little fuel compared to my 18.5 WSM. I never use the water pan. Have gone 10 hours using Kingsford lump briquettes. I haven't used "regular" lump in it.

At that price I'd make time to build a drum.

I don't know how handy you are but you could always build a mini. 3 lbs of charcoal will go at least 12 hours. Total cost to build one is around $100 after thermometer, extra rack and paint if needed.

You wouldn't regret it. Wsm is a great cooker!

Buy the 18", better too big, than too small. If you find you outgrow the 14.5", sure you can buy another, but now you're tending two cookers instead of one.

You can cook a lot of food on a 14.5 WSM. I had one and could easily cook for a half dozen people or more. Easily do 6 racks of baby backs coiled. 4 pound meatloaf, two whole chickens, 10 pound pork butt etc. The best thing about the little guy is that they are miserly on fuel and very easy to control. I used the water pan in mine but only when I was cooking on the bottom rack.

grillinguy247 said:

I don't know how handy you are but you could always build a mini. 3 lbs of charcoal will go at least 12 hours. Total cost to build one is around $100 after thermometer, extra rack and paint if needed.

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if you can get a Weber Smokey Joe and an extra grate cheap enough the mini is a nice way to save about half of the cost of the 14.5" wsm. several of us have built them and they work very well. i believe a 32qt tamale pot fits perfectly. only tools you need are a drill and a jigsaw to cut the out the bottom of the pot. this will allow you to smoke (pot in place) and grill (pot removed). if it sounds like a tough project don't worry...drill a few holes, cut a circle and you are basically done. i like it so much i made a bigger (Jimmy) out of the Weber Jumbo Joe. i never use my mini since building the Jimmy.

wonder what shipping would be to Zambia??? i would be glad to send it to you if the cost wasn't too crazy. it's kind of a shame to have it just sitting there when someone could be using it.

surprised no one mentioned making a mini WSM...


(photo is NOT mine)

WSM 14.5 are awesome. I've cooked three 7 pound butts and fed about 30 family members. Also cooked large thanksgiving turkey. Use minion method and water. Really efficient, very easy to clean and super portable.