Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker 22-Inch Charcoal Smoker – Outdoor BBQ Smoker with Dual Cooking Grates, Porcelain‑Enameled Kettle & Temperature Control Dampers

This is the first smoker I've used/owned. I chose Weber because of my years of experience with their charcoal and propane grills. I decided to get into the realm of smoking after cooking chicken low-and-slow on my Weber kettle with fantastic results. I chose the WSM after reading so many wonderful reviews from novices and experienced users. I honestly didn't compare any other brands so take this review how you will but so far I think this thing is fantastic. I chose the smaller WSM after comparing it to the larger WSM after reading that I can smoke a whole turkey AND a ham on the 18 ½" smoker. Also it's quite a bit less expensive. The WSM arrived intact and in perfect condition. The instructions are simple and assembly a breeze. After reading about the different methods for starting the coals, different recipes, meat prep/trimming etc. (check The Virtual Weber Bullet site) I decided to give the smoker a try by fileting 3 whole chickens. They turned out ok but I was really just testing temperature control and didn't brine my chicken or use wood chunks. The chicken was quite tasty but not what I was after but I felt confident going to my next try, pork butt (shoulder). For this I used an Alton Brown recipe for the brine and rub and it turned out excellent. I didn't add any wood chunks and experienced smokers are probably rolling their eyes at me but it really did turn out great. I wanted to do things in steps so that I could familiarize myself with the temperature control. This pork butt took 11 hours for 2-8 lb butts at around 210 degrees. Amazing how long the charcoal briquettes last in this thing and how steady the temperature runs. For the record I used Kingsford Competition Briquettes (Costco). My third try with the WSM was this past weekend where I did 3 racks of baby back ribs. I used a rib rack and it worked pretty well where nearly all rib parts were exposed to the heat/smoke. I decided to skip the brining and just added a dry rub only and then added bbq sauce and honey mixture during the last hour and smoked them a total of 4 hours. This time I used wood chunks; I didn't have any fruit trees so I grabbed a bag of apple wood chunks packaged by Weber and they definitely helped make a fantastic smoke flavor. After removing the ribs and letting them cool I coated them with another round of sauce/honey glaze and seared them on my Genesis until the glaze bubbled. They turned out very good although I think next time I'll brine them; not that they were dry but I think it might let me smoke them longer. I didn't go for fall-off-the-bone as I kind of prefer to have a little pull left in my rib but let's just say I look forward to experimenting with this terrific smoker all summer long. I couldn't be more pleased with this product after just 3 tries I'm feeling much more confident and have plans to do another double pork butt for a buddy's birthday this weekend. Also I tested the lid's thermometer last night by dipping the end of it (using tongs) in boiling water and it was pretty much spot on at 212F. That's good to know as it gives me some reassurance that the cooking temperature is pretty accurate at least at the lid. Weber got this right. I don't know what I'd do differently on this but I may get lazy later on and invest in a remote thermometer so I can track the kettle and meat temps from inside.

I have probably a dozen cooks on this smoker so far and all have turned out well. I like the small size of this smoker...perfect for smoking 2 slabs of pork spare ribs on the top grill with room on the bottom grill for more. I'm using this smoker with a Maverick digital thermometer I bought from Amazon too...the type of thermometer that shows pit temps and has a probe for food. My advice, buy the Maverick thermometer and forget about using the thermometer that comes in the lid. You want to measure the temp at the food grate where you are cooking and not the temp in the top of the lid, and the Maverick Thermometer has both a transmitter and a receiver so you can view pit and food temps up to 200' away from the smoker. I often use the smoker while I'm inside while it's hot outside, and by having a receiver thermometer, you can keep an eye on your cook w/o standing over it FWIW I also have the 18.5" WSM and I bought a pit blower for it. The pit blower is a fun gadget to use but not really necessary so I don't use the pit blower on my 14.5" WSM. As stated...it just isn't needed. You can keep a fire going at a steady rate (temperature) in this pit without the blower, and by using the Minnion Method of charcoal keeping, you can read about elsewhere, and speaking of which, there is a great online community for the Weber Smokey Mountain smokers (Virtual Weber Bullet). In fact, that forum links to Amazon's website to purchase this pit and other Weber accessories for this smoker I have absolutely no complaints using this smoker, and I felt I did a lot of research before buying it. If you've ever used a Weber grill, then you will realize this smoker will reflect Weber's high quality standards found in their other products. Seriously, if you are looking for an easy to use smoker, then look no further, and buy and use Kingsford charcoal with it (in the blue bag). There's quite a bit of information about what type of charcoal to use and not to use on the Virtual Weber Bullet Forum By adding chunks of specific wood for smoking, you can achieve true wood smoking on this charcoal smoker. I had a horizontal wood fired smoker 14 years ago which was lost through a move, and I wanted to replace it with another smoker of the same type, but I'm glad I bought this smoker instead as it is simpler to use, smaller, less expensive and you can still get the same great wood smoke taste with this one, and use less wood, and the fire is way easier to keep at a constant temperature I'll say this...if you want to smoke packer briskets, you'll need to use the larger Weber Smokey Mountain smokers, and is why I bought the 18.5 WSM smoker, which easily accommodated a 15 lb. packer brisket, after trimming. You could smoke a brisket flat on this 14.5" WSM but if you want to smoke a packer (point and flat) then you'll need the either the 18.5" or the 22" WSM. I think I have the best of both worlds owning two of these (one 14.5" and one 18.5")

Anyone that has ever owned a Weber product knows the quality that is designed into each of their products, this smoker is no different. The 22.5" Smokey Mountain Cooker is built very sturdy and extremely easy to assemble. I was able to un-pack and assemble by myself in about 30 minutes. The most time consuming part of assembling this cooker was unpacking the items from the box, my cooker arrived complete with no damage what-so-ever. Be prepared to spend a little time to adjust the door, I had about 20 minutes tweaking the fit of the door to achieve an air tight seal. Adjusting the door was not difficult and very worth the effort. The instructions that came with the cooker suggest the use of water in the pan, but after my first smoke I decided that the cleanup was too time consuming to continue using the water. I applied a layer of aluminum foil to the water pan and inserted a clay pot base that I also foiled. The clay pot acts as a heat sink, the same purpose as the water. I covered the entire pan and saucer with foil; which I change out after every cook, making sure no drippings have entered the clay pot base or the dry water pan below. I do recommend seasoning the cooker before you first real cook. Creating the buildup on the inside of the cooker helps to seal any small air gaps that might exist. When I seasoned my smoker I dumped about 6 pounds of charcoal into the ring and added about 30 lit pieces of charcoal, dropped a few pieces of smoke wood on, assembled the cooker, put a gallon of water in the pan, opened the top vent and one bottom vent and let it do its work. I left the cooker alone until the fire was out and the smoker was cool, about 14 hours. Seasoning the cooker is extremely important to future cooks to help maintain consistent temperatures. I highly recommend using the water during the seasoning process to help the smoke stick to the inside of the cooker and get into all of the nooks and crannies. I have smoked two briskets, some pork butts, and lots of ribs with successful cooks every time. The temperature for the brisket and butt cooks (three different cooks) were rock steady for 14 hours+. It is nice to be able to sleep through the night while cooking a large chunk of meat and not having to worry about it like I did when I was trying to smoke on my kettle grill. If you enjoy low and slow barbecue without all of the fuss of constantly feeding the cooker charcoal and logs; the Smokey Mountain Cooker is perfect. If you don't like peaceful sleep and consistent temperatures, there are many other cookers out that will suit your needs; but please don't give our beloved Bullet friend a bad name! P.S. - if you are not an Amazon Prime customer, you may want to consider it for this item. I ordered my smoker 2 days before Memorial Day hoping to use it for the holiday party we had planned. I signed up for Amazon Prime, and paid the additional few dollars for next day shipping and the smoker (76 pound shipping weight) arrived the next day! The cost to expedite ship this item was very high, but by using Amazon Prime I reduced the shipping by 60% or more and got free two day shipping on most items for a year and instant movies on my TV. Prime was well worth the cost even for just this one item!

We have gone through three other smokers before deciding to try this model. We had tried side-by-side smokers with the firebox, cheap vertical smokers, and finally the Weber Smokey Mountain (22.5"). We use this smoker at least once a month, and sometimes 2 or 3 times a month. I would say we have probably used this smoker close to 30 times now. The smoker is made of durable material, and there are no signs of rust so far. It took roughly an hour to assemble the smoker, most likely because we had a 1 year old running around the house. It has a large water bowl that works great for keeping the meat moist and the temperature down. The bottom of the smoker can hold a large amount of charcoal and wood, and doesn't interfere with the water bowl as there is plenty of room. Now, onto how well it smokes. We have tried brisket, pork butts, ribs, beer can chicken, sausage, vegetables, pretty much everything. Here is how I set everything up. I fill up a Weber chimney with charcoal to the top and put newspaper underneath the chimney. After it is grey 3/4 of the way up, I take it out and poor some unlit charcoal into the bottom of the smoker. I then poor the lit coals on top and add ONE-THREE SMALL chunks of wood. There is a reason I capitalized the quantity, which I will touch on soon. I then put the water pan on, fill the water pan to the top with a garden hose, and then assemble the rest of the smoker and shut the lid. MAKE SURE that you keep all of the valves open, and never close the top vent. If you want to control temperature, you play with the bottom vents. Following on from that last sentence, I will tie back into the wood quantity. You do not want too much wood and you don't want the top vent closed for one main reason. If smoke cannot escape, it will go through a chemical reaction creating creosote, which will make your meat taste metallic and make your tongue and mouth go numb. If you have ever experienced this, then you have eaten creosote. Creosote will not only ruin your meat, but it will form deposits on the inside of your grill and drop onto your meat in the future. So the key here, is maintain optimal smoke flow, and ensure that the smoke is a thin blue color. You do NOT want thick white smoke, that is how you ruin your meat and your grill. Use a little bit of wood, leave the lid on, and check the temperature as little as possible. If you follow all of these pointers, you will surely fall in love with this smoker as I have. It is very easy to clean and maintain, and can smoke some really great food. This smoker is 5 stars all the way.

For 6000 ft., I needed more airflow to get my temps up. At first, I was only able to get to 200 degrees with plenty of charcoal and cooking the chicken over 2 hours. All my vents are open. The next time I took the handle assembly off the door (not the lid) to the smoker, leaving just the hole in the smoker door. This will allow the door to lay tight against the smoker. Then I bought (for $1) a keyhole fastener at lowes. The package has 2 in it. I checked a weber screw at lowes (temporarily removing one) to make sure it would fit through the keyhole fastener middle hole. I also purchased (for $5) a 10.25 inch metal spring. I took off the lower screws on the left and right of the smoker door, and then put the screws back through the large middle hole of the keyhole fastener. Before putting the fastener on the smoker, I bent the end of the fastener out slightly so it would be easier to attach the spring. The fastener has 2 small holes for screws, with a larger hole in the middle. After that, it was simple to attach the spring so it was across the smoker door. I put a piece of wood at the bottom of the smoker door to hold the door up and let air in. Works great, and only takes a few minutes. No big deal of drilling new holes. You can slide the door up or down to let in different amounts of air just by changing the size of the wood. Now I am easily at 250 degrees. I also use 2 charcoal electric starters to really get the charcoal going. I like not having to mess with matches and newspaper. I have a chimney, but I won't be using it anymore. I don't like dumping hot coals into the smoker. It's kind of awkward. With the electric starters, I can easily place them with some charcoal underneath, and some on the top. After about 10 minutes, I just pull them out of the smoker door. My water bowl and grates are already in place before my coals are hot. Sounds a little safer to me. Great smoker. I am very happy with it. My applewood and apple juice/7 up soda can chicken was awesome. One bit of advise: After you bring your food in, dump a pile of cold water into the water pan with a good splat of dish soap. Don't get soap on the grates. Or you can put the cold water and soap in a watering can and pour it into the pan through the smoker door. The cold water should help to bring the temp down, and save some of the coals for next time. You don't want to discover that you have a dried, stuck-on mess in the pan the next day without any water. The soap will of course make the grease clean-up easier. Also my thermometer was perfect with a reading of 201 degrees for boiling water. Exactly right for 6000 ft altitude. We also made a place to put the lid when it is removed. Two metal brackets hang off my deck next to the smoker, with a 22" grate atttached on top. Now I have a convenient spot to put the lid when I remove it.

I've used it four times and it works well. DO NOT, pat attention to the times listed in their manual. Our first smoke was ribs and they were dry. There are a couple of sites to check that have much more info. Try this (...) and (...) and (...) . Yes, I was researching tenderloin but you can navigate to what you need. While Weber doesn't recommend that you cover the water bowl, you might find it best to get some heavy duty Reynolds and wrap it twice. All the drippings make a mess and then with the heat it cakes. Thin wrap may be burned through. If you don't have a wide roll, make a seem or the drippings will leak between the sheets. I also put a sheet beneath the legs because drippings came out the lower vents and onto the surface where it sat the first time, but I did not see that the other three times. The rims of each section become very greasy and I ruined a good shirt by holding the top too close. I bought the smallest one because there are only two of us. If more people come, there is the second rack, so it can act like a larger unit. I didn't see a reason to use more briquettes and wood all the time. As far as taste goes, we have booth really surprised at just how good everything was. The Texas rib joints we used to frequent won't be receiving our business any more. The ribs came out dry, with the exception of two, which were very good. The whole 3-4 lb chicken was absolutely the best tasting and moistest chicken I have EVER had! The salmon was also very, very good, as was the pork tenderloin. The first 3 smokes it seemed like a lot of trouble having to get all these things ready. I'd been spoiled by a gas grill, turn it on, wait 10 minutes, cook, eat. With this you have to have the lower, briquette grill in place, then the ring around it; place the coals so there is a circle in the center of them (check on YouTube for the Minion Method this will save you coals as it burns at a more consistent temp and more light as time goes on), then you have to light the coals in the chimney, pour that in the center; place the bowl, fill with water; cover, wait; put on meat; watch and adjust the vents (which may only need little tweaking). Yes, it all sounds pretty humbug and at first it it. Now I've got it down. It's just part of the process and it is worth it. Not everything takes 5-6 hours. The 1.25 lb. tenderloin took only 2.5 hrs and could have been shorter. If I remember, the chicken was 3 hrs. The other thing that would have made me give 5 stars is if they would have made grilling easier. While I haven't yet, I can see that if you remove the center section you can lay the grill above the coals as it is close enough. However, Weber doesn't recommend this probably because the cover has nothing to lock into. It just sits on top. Not the best, but ok if only adults are around and there are no earthquakes. They are also in the business of selling us stuff, so they want us to buy a grill. Weber makes good products and it is more expensive than foreign units, but then I fully expect it will last much, much longer without rusting everywhere. If you are buying a larger one, this probably won't apply, but I move this from where I keep it to where I use it. I really wish it had clasps to keep the 3 sections together. That way I could just lift using the handle and more it with one hand. It was recommended to me, by someone who has been smoking for years, that some woods like hickory are too smokey for fish. He uses cherry, which I couldn't find here at the time. I used oak, which is also sweet and worked well. Because this is a low heat technique, it seems more of an art in terms of timing because you keep the top on. Each time you remove it, it will take about 20 minutes to get back up to temp. I've ordered a thermometer and will try sticking that through the vent opening when it's time to test. Your rub will be important and may take time to tweak till you get it to your liking, unless you buy. The smoked food looks all charred and like hell when you take it out, but boy, oh boy, is it ever tasty. I'm not sure why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5. It's because it doesn't have the clasps. If it did I'd have given 5. It's really a 4.5. The cover is heavy duty with elastic to hold it on. The temp gauge works well. The Weber chimney is really big for this sized unit, but it works and gets it going quickly. You only need to get them a good start, then you can pour them into the middle, cover and wait till it hits temp. I wish they made a table stand for it for a couple of reasons - The top is hot and you need something to lay it on when you take it off. You can't just lift the lid like a grill or put the top on a handle like a grill so it sits. If you put it on your deck, you could mark it up with the heat. Even if it was just a stand so it is up higher and you could hang the cover - then I'd have given 5 stars. If you lay the cover flat you'll get a big old grease ring wherever you lay it. It is short and I am tall. I have to put it on a rock wall to lift it, though since you don't open and close it like a grill, it shouldn't matter, but it does. I just hate getting on my knees or bending over so much. If you will keep it on the deck to cook, you'll need something beneath the feet so your deck doesn't scorch. Some honeycombed silicone pot holders worked well. All in all, grilling is faster and far easier, but this is a fun experiment and I like it! I didn't think I'd like it as much as I do. If this review was helpful, please click so. Thanks.

This is the one to get. I am very glad I got the 22.5 instead of the 18.5 because it is so nice to be able to lay racks of ribs flat on the top grill instead of having to stand them up and bend them in a special device. If you are a beginner like me you have enough to think about besides how to fit the damn food on the grill surface. Also, it is nice to work on the top grill only and not have to use the bottom grill due to lack of space on the top. Also, I plan on smoking my Thanksgiving turnkey on this thing so the 22.5 is much more appropriate than the 18.5 WSM. With that being said, I just got my unit about a week ago and already have smoked 2 whole chickens (from Costco) and 3 racks of back loin ribs (Costco as well). Both were great. The chicken was my first use of the WSM cooker and I used no water in the pan and used chunks of Apple wood, which provided hours of smoke. Without water, the temp quickly went to well over 300 but then settled down after I partially closed the bottom vents. The ribs were cooked at about 250 the whole time by filling the water pan with water and keeping the bottom vents about 75% closed. It held 250 with just a few minor adjustments here and there. The fit and finish of this smoker is great and it was easy to assemble. Basically, you attach the legs to the charcoal chamber, install the hooks for the grill grates and the water pan, and attach a few handles to the dome-lid and that's about it. All-in-all, this unit is a good solution for those who want something better than the piece-of-crap hundred dollar units you get from Home Depot but don't want to spend a grand on a ceramic kamado smoker or similarly priced offset barrel unit. The fact that lots of competition bar-b-cue teams use this product is fine testament to its ability to crank out good food. It is the real deal. Built to last, reasonably priced, easy to use and assemble, and performs great. Highly recommended. Oh, and if in doubt, get the 22.5.

WOW! Used mine for the very first time today. After years of use with cheap smokers and combo units, I decided not to replace my prior smoker with another cheapo unit. The price was right, pulled the trigger and choked up the $$$. I'm very glad I did. I'm not going to go into all the technical aspects of this smoker, but I will say this -- set up (excluding the silicone temp probe grommet) took me about 30 minutes. The silicone grommet took far longer. The trick -- use some silicone spray around the opening. Fold the one edge over the through the hole, starting the lip on both sides. While holding the grommet, work your way around from one side, while holding the grommet steady on the back side. A tricky maneuver, but that is the only way to get it in. Don't worry, you will not tear it! Started today with Mesquite Lump Coal (El Diablo brand). After picking through the logs, I had enough to fill the ring and chimney starter. Poured the burning coals on the bottom pot and I was off and running. Setting temp is super easy. Other smokers require constant watching, not this one. Load it up, set the dampers and watch the temp fro afar. In the past 1.5 hours, my temp varied only 4 degrees and that was due to the wind changing direction. The water bowl is a problem. It sticks down way too far into the bottom of the fire pit. Like others, I will get a 14½" pizza pan and stick it in as a heat deflector. Then I will have better access to my fire box to place more charcoal in, when needed. In 2 hours of use, the coals look like they barely burned down. Overall, I have never used a smoker that has been so easy to operate and maintain. I should have purchased this one years ago and foregone the frustration and pain of less expensive smokers. It has brought the joy's of BBQing back to me once again. Looking forward to having Beef Ribs in a few hours. ******* 06/21/2016 - Update Two more months have gone by. More cooks with lump and briquette charcoal. Each cook makes me appreciate the easy of BBQing with this smoker. The joy has definitely returned! I'm happier with my purchase today than I was two months ago. If you are on the fence, jump over and buy this smoker -- you will not be sorry! ******* 01/14/2017 - Update The cooks continue. I'm blessed living in Las Vegas, NV since I can cook BBQ year round, not having the extremes in wind and cold unlike Michigan. I continue to do just that. Brisket, Tri-Tip (a favorite here in the west), Ribs and cured Pork Loins have all been done since I bought this smoker. All turned out great and with far less effort on my part than with cheapo smokers or combo units. One cook was with my son who flew into town for a long weekend. I gave him basic operating instructions and turned him lose to BBQ a 12 lb packer brisket. A second load of charcoal was needed, but in the end, we had excellent results. He is now sold on purchasing this model smoker. Paint still looks great. I have to clean the smoke off the dome this spring when it warms back up. Other than that, not much else has been done. My recommendation still stands. You will not have buyers remorse with this smoker!

Trabaja muy bien, el pavo quedó excelente-

I went for the smaller of the Smokey mountain, I had a big get together and smoked a brisket for over 5 hours along with doing BBQ usuals, the Weber done me proud, didn’t have to faff about with it too much, set it up as per instructions and you can’t go wrong 👍

Edit: June 26th 2015 - I see this smoker is no longer available via amazon.ca (amazon prime) and that the other two stores who sell it have it priced over $500.00. I paid 360.00 for this early January with amazon.ca. Local bbq stores / home depot also sell it for $360.00 still. Do not pay much more than that for it, or at least shop around! What an absolute joy this smoker is. Purchased it off the positive reviews from amazon.ca and the 600+ 5 star reviews from amazon.com. I ordered this from amazon.ca and paid the extra 2 or 3 bucks for next day shipping - hoping to have it arrive before the weekend as a chinook was to be passing through and temps were around 15C. The smoker arrived in time, however, it didn't ship with the 3 grills needed to cook (boo!). Yes I was bummed but I have to say the Weber customer support was *awesome*. Phone support from 7am - 9pm Central time was a nice surprise as I called after work and assumed to get an automated message saying to call back between 9-5 or something. The lady on the phone took my serial number down (on the top lid vent) and said she would expedite the grills to me right away - no questions asked. These arrived 2 business days later via FedEx. Mishaps do happen from time to time at assembly but support was great to get me back in grilling action. Now for the smoking: I read a few tips on the weber and there was a great write up for this unit on amazon.com (it's the top rated review - can't miss it) where the guy is basically a competitor and runs a school on smoking. Follow his tips and you'll be pleased. I did my first smoke with beef ribs. Temp was about 2C and pour cold coals in the smoker. Then you light the coals in your chimney starter: http://www.amazon.ca/Weber-7416-Rapidfire-Chimney-Starter/dp/B000WEOQV8/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1422715633&sr=8-10&keywords=weber+kettle I was new to smoking and didn't quite get you had to prelight coals and use those to get your smoker going. At least that seems to be the most common method. I let that chimney starter sit on my gas BBQ and stuff paper under it (or light it on the coals on bottom rack of smoker). It doesn't take long for the briquettes to start up and go on their own after. Once those are glowing hot you pour them over top the unlit coals in your smoker. Open up all the vents (top and bottom) and let it get to around 200F. Ribs go on and temp was around 225-250. I closed the 3 bottom vents 1/2 way to keep it around that temp. The top vent ALWAYS leave fully open. I was able to manage the temperature quite well by bottom vents. These beef ribs cooked for about 3.5 hrs at 225 and were awesome. Basic seasoning with salt, pepper and some garlic powder. I also used 3 chunks of weber hickory wood. http://www.amazon.ca/Webber-17056-Hickory-Chunks-5-Pound/dp/B000LNY4C6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422715927&sr=8-1&keywords=weber+hickory This really gave the ribs an amazing taste but some find it pretty strong. Over all, I was really pleased with the ribs. Smoke 2 - Pork ribs Same steps above but this time 2 hours into the smoke I took them off and put some sauce on all sides. Wrapped them in foil and put them back on for another hour. Wow - just amazing. Wife and I loved them and had friends over to enjoy too (after initial trial run I felt confident to serve guests :) ) Turned out perfect. I also put on some potatoes, dill, butter and onions in a foil wrap and let them stay on for 3 hours too. Veggies turned out great. (poked a few little holes in foil to let smoke in). On this run I used the weber Applewood chunks. It doesn't take like apple but the smoke taste was a little weaker than hickory. Rib update: For absolute fall off the bone ribs, I have found the key is to cook around 200 - 225 for 3 hours. Then take them off, sauce them up with bbq sauce or even salsa and wrap in foil. Put back on the smoker for another 2-3 hours. Insanely good. Yes you are looking at a 5-6 hour cook but you have *got* to try it. I also would put on a wood chunk every hour for the first 3 hours. Once wrapped in foil I did not bother. I find the smoker easy to use and more importantly - fun!. It's now Feb and I suspect I will do a few more winter smokes but really looking forward to summer and trying a 12 hour smoke on some larger types of meat. Having this simmer all day long giving off smokey goodness ... For the price of this thing, it can't beat. Add to cart and move along! gm Edit: The smokers after 2009 I believe (as shown in the picture) do have a built in thermometer. I bought a second one and inserted in the side cut out for a probe (also built in by design now from weber) to see if the one from weber was accurate. Both read exactly the same so if you buy this newer model, you should be fine with the default weber gauge. Edit 2: I recently did a roast and purchased the igrill mini to monitor inside temps: http://www.amazon.ca/iDevices-IGR0001-iGrill-Mini-Thermometer/dp/B00I25PGZO/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423847806&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=igril+mini This thing is really awesome and for long cooks or meat that you need to monitor temp, it's a breeze and could watch the temp of the meat while inside on my ipad or iphone (also works with android) Edit 3 (Oct 8th): Have used this all summer almost every weekend. Briquette prices seemed best from Walmart or the odd Super store special. Walmart also surprised me with their selection of wood chunks in the bbq section. Very large chunks, inexpensive and wide range of wood.

Split it trying to fit it

As advertised. One excellent smoker. I followed one of the posts in the reviews about seasoning the BBQ before using. Worked very well. It does tend to leak from the door but I did follow the advice about bending it carefully into place. I didn't use the gasket kit but have been smoking ribs, pork butt, etc. & the leaks are becoming less every time I use it. I figure by the end of the BBQ season it should be fairly well sealed up. Even with the leaks I am able to maintain proper temperature for hours by manipulating only the bottom vents & keeping the top vent wide open. Came within a couple of days well ahead of the promised delivery date. Very easy to put together & the size is perfect for simple home cooking. We usually don't entertain for a large crowd so this is the perfect sized grill for us. I also own a Weber Genesis (gas) for every day use & it is as good as the day I bought it 4 years ago. I figure with this Weber smoker will last easily as long. Excellent quality for the price. I would highly recommend this smoker for anyone considering it.