2013 weber Jumbo joe wsm????

It should take a 30 gallon steel drum. They can all vary slightly in diameter so get your Joe first then match it up. It may take awhile though, steel 30s aren't very common anymore and not every drum is a good fit to the kettle. It's a worthwhile endeavor, just might take a little persistence.

I guess my question is, if you don't have the Jumbo Joe yet, why not just get a WSM?
A Jumbo conversion is going to be the same size as an 18.5" WSM, right? And the WSM is designed to be a smoker. The Jumbo is designed to be a grill.
The mini-WSM built on the SJS or SJG platform fills a niche for a smoker smaller than the WSM.
I can see the lure of doing a build, and if it's what you really want to do, Chris's advise is spot on.

I'm with Harbormaster on this. But perhaps the issue is price. The 18.5 WSM is great but not cheap at $300 and they don't come up too often on CL. However were I to do the conversion I would be inclined to start with a CL 18.5 WSM and shorten the legs or fab some short legs.

Is there a particular reason to use the JJ instead of a kettle? Kettles are much more available on CL. Just looked at the Weber site and I see that the JJ has a single daisy wheel bottom vent vs the ash sweeper so it would provide better temperature control (unless you find an older 18.5 kettle with daisy wheel bottom vents. The WSM has always had the daisy wheel vents AFAIK.)

Has anyone tried the Pro-Q BBQ stacker for the 18.5" WSM on a Smokey Joe Jumbo? Stifflers Surplus has 'em for $33 but shipping is $25, still probably a good deal if it fits.

Why couldn't you grill from the base of the WSM?

I've got a jumbo joe now so I'm interested as well with any info.

Have you considered a mini-WSM? It is a surprisingly capable cooker and will use less space than any of the cookers described above. It performs admirably as a smoker - as well as my bigger smokers. For grilling I have the choice to use it as designed or leave the water pan out and grill on the top grate with the middle section in place. That provides a sort of indirect grilling which works well for stuff like moinks, turds and so on. I find that it fills the bill for me on many occasions. Were I to choose something that would be both useful and save space, it would be my choice hands down. Here are my smokers. A JJ with middle section would likely be more compact than the 18 WSM (in the middle.)

Smokey Joe vs Jumbo Joe mod=Jumbo expensive

I've been researching these two mods quite a bit and I've come to this conclusion. The mini Smokey Joe mod is the better deal. Basically it comes down to fact that the Jumbo Joe mod doesn't scale well in the conversion. Here are the numbers, based on Amazon/Target/Home Depot etc. prices.

Smokey Joe $30
32 qt stock pot $21
Extra Grill $8
Total $59
WSM 14.5 $200
% ratio 29.5% the cost of the 14.5 WSM

Jumbo Joe $60
80 qt pot $103
Extra grill $14
Total $177
WSM 18.5 $300
% ratio 59% the cost of the 18.5 WSM

I did not include the bolts and screws because those are items that many of us have laying around and are a very small percentage of the total mod. Same goes for terra cotta pot saucers and steamer pans/diffusers. The problem here is the pot. The large 80 qt pot has to be special ordered, and the larger the pot the greater the cost. Now Craigslist can provide some deals, but you'll rarely find a Jumbo Joe and an 80 qt stock pot that would actually fit the JJ. Smokey Joes can be scored for $10 quite commonly on CL, yard sales or thrift stores, JJ not so much. One can also go into Target tonight and assemble to the entire suite of materials required for the Smokey Joe mod. After finding a JJ at Target the other day for $40 I'd considered the Jumbo mod, but when I ran the numbers I realized that it just wasn't a good deal, especially since there were two WSM 18.5's on CL, one for $120, the other for $150. I'll keep the JJ cause I think it stands well on its own, but for now I may build the Smokey Joe mod. However, I'll keep my tape measure in my pocket in the highly unlikely event that I see a big stock pot that might fit the Jumbo Joe.

Check out fwismoker's Jimmy build:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173767

Y'all haven't seen my Jimmy? I've used it for about a year now and did lots of posts with it.

mylo b said:

I've been researching these two mods quite a bit and I've come to this conclusion. The mini Smokey Joe mod is the better deal. Basically it comes down to fact that the Jumbo Joe mod doesn't scale well in the conversion. .

Click to expand...

It's still a better cooker than the 18.5 WSM.

No door needed, gets way hotter, easier to tend coals if needed, its also a grill plus it has a bail, stainless easy to keep clean, sears like no other. Imo there is no comparison to the wsm version.

just picked up a JJ at target for $19. So I'm interested in this mod as well

@Fwismoker can you tell me which 80qt pot you bought? Thanks!

Get a Cajun Bandit 18" Stacker and get serious!

I have a 30 gallon drum and the diameter is too large to fit the SJ.

Made a Drum smoker instead and had to tack weld a flange cut from an 18" kettle inside the lip of the barrel to accect the lid.

hmmmm... maybe the bandit would be the way to go as it comes with everything needed... Thanks!

I have a JJ that I made into a smoker using the Pro-Q BBQ stacker and love it. on the lower grate for a water pan I use an old ash tray from a weber 22.5" silver that I tore apart to make a UDS. do it! I love mine.