WSM OR Akorn?

My 2 cents worth:
I grew up on Weber kettles. My father gave me my 1st Weber in the mid 70's when he upgraded from an 18" to 22" kettle. I still have that kettle and still use it at our cabin. I have several Weber kettles, a WSM, and a gasser. I am a Weber fan.

Having said that I purchased a Char-Griller Akorn about 3 years ago and love it. I haven't used my WSM since, and only use my Performer for cold smoking. With the Akorn I do not have to battle the wind which was a big problem as as I am in a pretty wide open area. The Akorn is insulated so I haven't needed to add more charcoal during winter smokes. I can cook low and slow at 250 or I can sear at 600+. I can smoke pulled pork for 18+ people easily, but mostly I cook for my wife and I. The WSM will hold more meat for smoking. Another huge plus for me is the design of the Akorn. I am comfortable using it on the composite deck off of my kitchen and dining room. I would not use a Weber charcoal product for fear of a coal starting a fire.

Three years into it my Akorn still is looking good. I haven't noticed any signs of corrosion. The cast iron grate is a big plus. And the extra stainless steel grate is very handy for veggies etc.

Hankdad1 said:

use my Performer for cold smoking.

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How do ya do this?

^^^

This is the general idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sivMMDnUEpc

Pellets or wood chips both work. If you are smoking cheese, avoid having the heat source directly under the cheese, it may soften and melt. :shock: Yes, go ahead and ask me how I know this.:icon_blush:

For something small, portable and does smoking, barbecue, roasting & grilling: Mini WSM.

Not so good for pizza!

For over a year now I have used my Akorn at least 3-4 times/week. It has held up well in that time. It has endured grease catching fire. 2 winters out side uncovered. Most people won't use theirs like I do. The only thing I don't like about it is the pot metal top vent. It will break if it is frozen shut and you try to open it. Two features on the Akorn I really like are the gaskets and ash pan. The gaskets are like the ones found on ovens, not the felt type like a BGE has. The ash pan actually come off of the bottom and you just dump it out. There is also a guide in the center to make it easy to replace. I did a 13# brisket in about 6 hours on my Akorn today.

My 2 cents: I've had quite a few Webers over the years and they are great grills/smokers. The Acorn like mentioned can smoke for well over 20 hrs on one load of coals. It can sear at 700+ degrees or go nuclear if your not watching/careful. Easier to clean than a weber IMHO. The Webers sear great but they will not hit the higher temps at least that I have ever been able to get like with the Acorn. And that makes a big difference if your looking to sear at high temps like they do in some of the high end steak restaurants. I can go from starting the coals to 700+ degs in around 30 mins. For me I don't care for the cast iron grate so I made my own grate. Running those high temps burns off any seasoning on cast iron so you have to work around that. The Acorn does great pizza also at high temps. I have a few mod's I've done to mine to make it do what I want it to do. Will it last more than 5 yrs, don't know, don't care. On average I replaced most of my Webers after 5 yrs due to wear and tear ( and a lot of wind and dog damage).
If your interested in reading more about the Acorn users info, I'd suggest you go to John's site. Or about any Kamado.
http://www.kamadoguru.com/

I still prefer my UDS and use it twice as much but for smaller cooks I use the Acorn. And my UDS can run at 700+ degrees also.

Curtc said:

I have a Yoder YS 640 Pellet grill on the way,that I can't wait to use, but would also like to have one of these that are small and handy, for doing burgers and steaks. And occasional smoking on them also!!!

Thanks

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Congrats on the Yoder! Absolutely the best value pellet pooper IMO. The WSM is great but isn't designed or built for super high temps. Kamado style will do the high temp cooking as well as smoking. Check out Kamado Joe. Good value high quality. Cost more than Acorn though. Hope to see some Yoder cooks when you get 'em done.

Jsn

i have owned both.

My personal opinion is that I prefer my WSM for smoking and my Weber kettle for grilling.

It comes down to personal preferences more than anything. I have my reasons why I found a kettle or WSM better, but not everyone operates the same.

CBQ said:

OK, the original poster likes his Yoder but wants something small, quick, and cheap for grilling.

I don't think that's a UDS - not for grilling.



http://www.traegergrills.com/shop/detail/BBQ020

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Your'e right the UDS isn't for grilling but Big Poppa is.

Since the question is more for grilling than smoking, I dont really see how the WSM is an option? If he's going to be smoking "occasionally" the akorn does that fine, plus he has his large pellet cooker. I have a kettle and an Akorn and pretty much only use the akorn if I'm cooking a keilbasa for myself or something dumbly simple. I've cooked pizza's and steaks at 600°F + and maintained 225-250 for 10-15 hrs with no issue, regardless of outside temperature. In terms of quality, yes chargrillers offsets are chit, but they actually went an extra mile on the akorn and if you have anything wrong just email them a pic and they'll replace it.

I'll throw up some pics of stuff that came off the akorn in hopes of convincing you!

BTW, you can't beat the moisture in your meats that come off a kamado!

Where is hanover? what temperatures will you be cooking in?

I have both a 18 wsm, and a acorn char griller.

I have used the wsm for smoking, grilling, and like a uds for wings, that said, if you want grilling more than smoking, then the acorn for sure. just know the temp thermo may or may not be correct, mine is not.

pizza, smoke a turkey, great hi temp steaks, all done easily on the acorn. is it the best made, no, but they work well, and will last a wile.

My daughter even used it along with a bubba keg to win a kids q GC...

I am different than most here, as i replaced my weber performer with the acorn, i use the keg most, but prefer the keg or acorn over weber grills. just my .02

any questions ask away.

Okay... I own an Akorn, kettle, two UDS' and a mini WSM. Ill try to answer the op question without blathering too much here. Akorn, for the money is an excellent way to get into kamado cooking and imo are very well built units. Mine went together without a hitch and has given many great cooks. One of my favorite things about it- It KILLS on pizza!!! With a heavy stone, you can make wood fired quality pizza with ease. Ok to the kettle since its been mentioned. Super versatile! For grilling, quick smoking then reverse searing you can't beat em. There's a reason they're in so many backyards across America, and most people don't even realize you can smoke on them too. Cost comparatively much cheaper than an Akorn, so that may be a factor in your decision. UDS are simply awesome cookers too, but unless you build it to grill I.e. so you can raise basket under grate, you won't be grilling on one. And you have to build it which turns some folks off the idea.

I don't own a large WSM, but I do have a mini WSM that I built with a smokey joe gold. Excellent cooker for smoking, reverse searing and grilling. Easy to smoke on it then simply remove center "barrel" (which is a tamale pot) then put grate right on kettle bottom for searing meats. That said this is on a much smaller scale than an actual WSM. Not so sure I'd want to mess with an 18" or 22" lid and barrel while hot when trying to setup for grilling after a smoke to finish over coals. And as bbgeekess stated, you'd be bending over to do so. I don't have that issue with little smokey joe gold as its a "tabletop grill", plus its my traveler smoker so I deal with it if no table available.

I don't know, a 22.5" kettle sounds like it might fit your needs well, as does an Akorn but you're gonna shell out some more clams for one of those. Unless you find one on sale like I did:thumb:

Sounds to me like the Weber kettle at $150 would be a cheaper option than the Akorn for around $350. Again, I love my WSM for smoking *and* grilling, but if you have a dedicated smoker already and are just looking for a quality and *cheap* griller, I'd get a Weber kettle.

Curtc said:

Thanks for all the suggestions, Def gives me something to thinks about!!

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Mini WSM grilling :



Mini WSM Roasting Chicken :



Mini WSM can warm smoke at 200F for bacon:



Some ribs on a Mini WSM :



I cooked this pork butt in my Mini WSM -- it was my first:





Here she the day after I built her :



This might be all you need to complement your Yoder, unless you need to grill for more than 2-4 people. It's small, portable, fuel saving & does your smoking and grilling.

It costs under $100 to make it.. just an idea.

It is my 1 year anniversary with the AKorn and it was a purchase I'll never regret. the two things that give it the edge for me is the heavy cast iron grate and the double insulated steel that allows me to cook when its windy and cold without affecting internal temp. in fact, I burn less fuel on my akorn than my gasser.

The only modification i've made to mine was buying a weber replacement grate. I use this to set a water pan, heat deflector or coals when I want to bring fire closer to the meat for searing. Oh, and once it unexpectedly started pouring while I was doing an overnight butt, problem fixed by cutting an empty plastic coffee can with side vents to use as a rain cap.

I left this joker unattended once with both vents open, and it got so hot the cast iron was glowing red and the temp gauge was maxed out, I was sure I screwed up the cooker.

Not so, although I did have to go around and tighten all the bolts afterward.

The only downside to the Akorn i've experienced is cooking surface. It is about the same cooking surface as weber 18" kettle.



I love my Akorn, and will always chime in on these type threads.

Curtc said:

THANKS, Yes majority of my smoking/grilling will be on my Yoder, I just wanted to get something to have, so I can occasionaly get that chrcoal/wood smell on the deck, to throw a rack of ribs on to smoke, or to fire up a steak or or burgers. As I paid top dollor for my pellet smoker, just looking at an inexpensive option which involves charcoal/wood smoking.. The Akorn sounds like they way I'm going to go!!

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Another thing you'll love about an Akorn is the cast iron grates- you'll get killer grill marks(flavor!) with these.
Not knocking the kettle(see my other post) but the wire grates IMO dont cut it for steaks and burgers. Yes CI grates can be purchased, but at upwards of $70 for the craycort grates and cost of kettle, that puts you up in Akorn price range. That's what helped my decision on an akorn(my kettle is a vintage one and was a gift).
You don't need to spend over $300 on an Akorn either-(though I believe they're worth it) they're on sale pretty regularly. I paid $250 for my red one on amazon with free shipping, and my dad paid $160 for his charcoal grey one at Wally World which was a farkin steal. Keep eyes peeled and you'll find a good price.

Edit- as bbq disciple stated above, buy yourself a weber replacement charcoal grate for the 22.5 kettle. It allows you to set up for indirect cookin or bring the coals right up under the main grate for super hot searing. They sell a special stone for this, but IMO the grate is better as it gives more cooking setup options.

Will work for bbq said:

I have an Acorn and a WSM, if I want steaks and burgers I pull out the Acorn and if I want to smoke I grab the WSM. Yes I can smoke on the Acorn but why would I since I have a WSM if I want pizza I'll pull out the Acorn as well.

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+1 on this.