Question: What is the best smoker for me to buy to get started?

Answer: The Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) bullet smoker is the very best smoker for you to begin and continue with. You can use this smoker to learn all the basic smoking techniques plus, even if you get a larger off-set firebox type of smoker, you will continue to use your WSM for many years. In every barbecue contest across the USA, you will find experienced barbecue cooks using the WSM. At the first barbecue contest at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, NV in 2003, the team "Mad Momma and the Kids" tied for first place and won $6,000 and they cooked in three WSMs.

You can buy the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker for around $200 at your local home warehouse store, barbecue store, WalMart or Target and we have seen them for sale on eBay for under $175 with free shipping.

Q: How does a WSM work?

A: The WSM uses charcoal that is burned in a lower fire pan. A pan between the charcoal fire and the first meat rack contains water to act as a heat baffle. Two grill racks are provided for cooking the meat and the smoker is topped off with a domed lid. In addition, there are adjustable air vents on the top and bottom of the smoker. With careful adjustment, this smoker will go for 6 hours on one load of charcoal and give a fairly uniform 240F temperature during this time period.

		dome lid with vents
		cooking chamber with 2 racks shown
		water pan level with fuel door
		charcoal fire pan with vents

Here is a great resource for learning about the WSM, the Virtual Weber Bullet

Here is another great resource for using the WSM, Dan Cannon's web page.
 

After practicing with the WSM for a season, if you want to expand you barbecue horizons or just have a bigger smoker so you can feed more people, there are many ways you can go. Most barbecuers step up to an off-set firebox smoker that can burn wood as well as charcoal.

Q: I heard that someone made an extension for a 22 1/2" Weber Kettle and turned it into a smoker, like the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker.  Do you know where to find this equipment?

A: There is a company that makes extensions for the Weber Kettle, turning it into a WSM type smoker.  However, it is probably better and cheaper to just by a WSM.

Click here to go to their web page.

A second alternative is to make your own.

 Here is link that gives an example.