Question..

I am debating about selling my WSM 18" that i have had for about 5 years. I love the food that comes off of it but hate the clean up of the water pan / ashes at bottom of unit as well as having to clean 2 grates.. I am wanting to buy either the OTG 22.5 or Performer.
I also have a relatively new Genesis Gold Weber Gasser that i use often. I just want to start using charcol more often when able and have an option..

Can I still smoke efficiently on the Performer or OTG ??? I assume ribs and chicken will be easy but what about Pork Butt because of the longer times ?

Has anybody else ever made this move as well??

Thanks in advance..
Hal

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Hal V:
Question..

I love the food that comes off of it but hate the clean up of the water pan / ashes at bottom of unit as well as having to clean 2 grates..

Hal, I also have the WSM 18" Classic for about 2 years. I always line the outside of the WSM water pan with HD Aluminum foil as decribed in one of Chris´s videos on this website which makes clean-up a snap. The grates have not presented a major cleaning problem. With that said, the OTG is one super-duper BBQ Grill which I use more often than my WSM!

Richard

WSM Classic, OTG 22 1/2"

Hey Richard,
Yeah, I do too with the aluminum foil..
I guess I am just looking for another option to use more often like you said.

As long as I can still smoke with a OTG or Performer, I would be very happy...

I just got my performer this summer and have had my WSM for some time now. I did 2 Pork Butts last month in the Peformer. I did the cooking indirect, with a foil pan to catch grease. I did the Minion method on the coals, and the Peformer held temperature for over four hours. You could not tell whether the Mr. Brown was done on the Peformer or the WSM.

Short answer: I still have my WSM, but I'm doing a lot of smoking on the Peformer. If the better half made me totally thin the Weber herd, the Performer would be the last to go. I know that's heresy on the WSM board, but if I get disbarred/excommunicated/ostracized/expelled, I'd start a Performer forum like this one.

Before I had my WSM and the crappy Brinkman, all I had to smoke on was the Performer. Now granted, I did not have the experience and knowledge about smoking I do now, but the smokes never turned out anywhere near as good as they do on the WSM. It takes too much effort IMO to keep a constant temp over a long period of time on the Performer, so mine is strictly a grill and not a smoker. If I had to choose which one goes, I can't say for certain which one it would be. I love the meat the WSM churns out, but I like the convenience of the Performer as well.

Just get both. (I know, easier said in this economy)

I have a 22.5 Platinum and also a 22.5 WSM. Several months ago I had the opportunity to buy a NIB center section of the 22.5 WSM. IMHO I have a pretty good set-up. When I want to grill I use the Platinum, when I need more capacity to smoke/bbq a lot, I set-up the Platinum with the center section in addition to the WSM. With the Platimun-WSM hybrid I found out I can add another grill (third tier) to increase the capacity. All I know is that it worked for me since I smoked 108 lbs of ribs and 4 briskets for my son and new DIL's wedding.

joe

If you could only pick one, the performer. I smoke on mine often and have no problem w/ 7+ hour cooks at a steady 260-275. And of course its the ultimate grill too.

I would take the WSM over a 22" kettle anyday. I don't use water in the pan, I just line the pan with foil. I grill more food on the WSM than I smoke. Grilling is easy on the WSM, leave out the water pan and the food goes on the lower grate. Ashes are easy, pick up bowl every 5 cooks or so and dump, I use lump. I have 2-22's and 2-18's and one Summit Gold D. Use the 2K gasser to light my coals for the WSM, and the kettles just sit there and make nice homes for the spiders. So I had to choose one, it'd be the WSM for sure. JMO

Hal: I forgot that before I purchased my WSM I bought a gadget called the "Smokenator" which is a baffle which enables one to smoke on the OTG 22 1/2" only. It cost me around $60.00 from an outfit in San Jose, CA who state that it helps control the temperature inside the OTG. I used it a few times with so-so success(more the falt of the OTG Operator) on Pork Ribs. So, after I bought my WSM Classic it now collects dust and spider webs.

Richard

quote:

Hal: I forgot that before I purchased my WSM I bought a gadget called the "Smokenator" which is a baffle which enables one to smoke on the OTG 22 1/2" only. It cost me around $60.00 from an outfit in San Jose, CA who state that it helps control the temperature inside the OTG. I used it a few times with so-so success(more the falt of the OTG Operator) on Pork Ribs. So, after I bought my WSM Classic it now collects dust and spider webs.

good to know, maybe now leaning toward keeping the WSM and adding the Performer ..Gasser on the patio too... :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Hal V:
maybe now leaning toward keeping the WSM and adding the Performer ..Gasser on the patio too... :-)

Sounds like a great lineup for this year's Gator Football Season! I want to add a Weber Q 320 to my lineup when I am able to convince my Coach(wife).

Richard

Hal,

If you can afford it, i recommend getting both, the WSM and performer.

If you decide to go with performer only, then i recommend getting a smokenator. I recently ordered one and cant wait to get it and try it and hear great reviews on it.

elmo

A Performer is not going to make your Q or grilling any more special, than just using a OTG or the WSM.
JMO of course

Tim

At first I thought I'd use my wsm all the time and my OTG would sit in the corner of the patio, unused. Was I ever wrong. The kettle is just so darn good at everything from ABT's to Brisket that I still find myself using it often. I also use it for my paella pan, dutch oven (baked beans) and any other small job that doesn't warrant firing up the bigger wsm. The kettle offers excellent temp control.