What to buy Weber smokey Mountain 22.5 or Horizon 20" Classic

[iceman72475]

Hello everyone, I am trying to decide what smoker to buy. I have narrowed it down to two. One is the weber smokey mountain 22.5 the other is the Horizon 20" classic. I know these smokers are very differant but both seem to have their up sides.
I am leaning towards the weber simple because of all the reviews. It seems very easy to use with little maintenance during long smokes, I am worried about burn out with this smoker.
That being said I have had my heart set on a Horizon for about two years. I like the heavy duty construction as compared to anything at Walmart, or home depot. The draw back for me is loading wood every hour. Its fine and even fun for the first 4 or 5 hours but by hour 8 or 9 it tends to get old. The other thing with the Horizon is I love the thought of passing it down to great grand kids.
I have a family of 7 thats why I am looking at the bigger smokers. I would greatly appreciate any and all feed back. Thank
you.

[Trumpstylz]

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/spo/3591074927.html

And get a wsm. You're in pit country- I'd get a wsm andwait for a good one to pop up on CL (or just wait). This one does look good though, and it has the NB name on it. There are a lot more where that came from on CL- search "smoker" "offset" "offset smoker" and "reverse flow". I'd def take a look at this OKlahoma joe as well-
http://tulsa.craigslist.org/for/3460589447.html

Hasty bake-
http://tulsa.craigslist.org/for/3547827978.html

THis guy seems to do good work:
http://tulsa.craigslist.org/app/3508232599.html
http://tulsa.craigslist.org/app/3480139797.html


http://tulsa.craigslist.org/for/3577892553.html

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/for/3526660780.html

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/for/3577892553.html

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/for/3591106250.html

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/app/3520328791.html

The weber is more of a set it and forget it, while you will kinda have to baby the offset.

[Harbormaster]

Originally Posted by iceman72475

I am leaning towards the weber simple because of all the reviews. It seems very easy to use with little maintenance during long smokes, I am worried about burn out with this smoker.

Concerned about burnout in what sense? Burning out the bottom of the pit or burning out on using a WSM?

You don't need to worry about the WSM burning out.

I started on a small offset and I still have it, but my go to cookers are my WSMs just because I don't have to tend a fire all day and night.

But there is something special about burning sticks.

[TomB]

I love my 22" WSM. Lowes will match pricing and ship to store.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

[lcbateman3]

Cooking on my WSM 22 as I type this.

Love it, pushes out great food on a consistent basis. Little work when it's windy/cold, but great.

Only reason I'm looking at other smokers is for capacity.

[Texas Turtle]

The Horizon probably has more capacity but the WSM is much more convenient in terms of the constant effort required to do long cooks on the offset. I started with an offset and picked up a cheap WSM off of Craigslist. The offset is showier if you are having a big party, but the WSM is better if you are doing small cooks for the family. I use both, sometimes at the same time. The offset is better (IMHO) for stuff like ribs and chicken that need to be tended, turned, or spritzed (if you do that sort of thing) because I tend to get temp spikes in my WSM if I open it very often.

[BBQ Bandit]

Nothing wrong with the 22.5' WSM's capacity.
Smoked 6 butts comfortably (3 on each rack) without a problem.