Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Charcoal Smoker - Alternative to Grilling or Frying
Weber is well known for making good barbecue appliances, so when they turn their hand to a smoker, as they did with the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Charcoal Smoker, it has to be worth looking at to find out whether this is as good a product as the well known Weber Kettle. Certainly, according to Amazon customers this is the number one bestselling smoker, but obviously there are buyers out there who do not use Amazon!
Having never used a smoker myself, I was interested to learn how easy or hard it is for a newbie to get to grips with the whole smoking technique. I know, for example, that there are competitions all over the USA for the best smoking, so it seemed to me a pretty serious piece of outdoor cooking equipment. Being a fan of cooking made easy, but also preferring my barbecue food to have a good flavor, I was intrigued to see whether this Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Charcoal Smoker would be an appliance that I could use and would want to buy.
Style File
Cooking with Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Charcoal Smoker
First off, this has to earn some serious style points for the name; Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Charcoal Smoker is truly evocative of outdoors and Wild West cooking! The Weber smoker looks a bit like a space capsule in appearance, and stands 41 inches high, 19 by 19 inches in width and depth, and weighs 52 pounds. It is taller than most smokers, and inside, each level holds a component of what is needed for efficient smoking.
It is a very well made beast of a smoker; this Weber Smokey Mountain cooker charcoal smoker is a durable piece of equipment constructed of porcelain-enameled steel, with 2 nickel-plated 18-1/2-inch-wide cooking grates, a no-rust aluminum vent, no-rust aluminum fuel door and a glass-reinforced nylon handle. The whole effect is of a sleek, stylish, serious piece of outdoor cooking equipment, so top marks for style!
Functionality and Product details of Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Charcoal Smoker
How does a smoker work? I am going to assume you know little about using a smoker, and this review will take you through what a smoker is supposed to do! Basically, going back to olden times when charcoal was the cooking fuel of choice, many natives would cook their food in an enclosed kettle like contraption, with the heat and smoke from the burning charcoal cooking and flavoring the meat. Fast forward to the 21st century where people cook with gas, oil and electricity, or on an open grill with charcoal burning underneath.
A Weber smokey mountain cooker charcoal smoker encloses the meat with the charcoal still burning underneath, but the smoke and heat caught within the steel enclosed shell, adding flavor to the meat as it slow cooks. At the top is a built in thermometer in the porcelain enameled lid, together with an air vent, next level down are two 18 and a half inch cooking grates made of plated steel and large enough to take a large turkey and a large ham, perfect for Thanksgiving day.
If you want a larger grate, Weber makes a 22 and a half inch version of the Weber Smokey Mountain cooker charcoal smoker. Underneath the grate is where you add the charcoal, through a front door which Weber has made some adaptations to since the previous model. Having listened to customer requests, Weber has made the fuel door wider, so it is easier to add fuel than before, and the door latch is now spring loaded and features a lever type handle, making it more obvious whether the door is open or closed. At the bottom of the cooker is where the water tray fits, this helps to maintain moistness in the meat as it cooks, and there is an additional, aluminum air vent at the bottom for optimal control of the air flow. They have also added a bottom ash catch pan since the previous model, making clearing up more efficient than before.
Customer Reviews and suggestions
The main challenge with any smoker or barbecue is maintaining the temperature, and it is no different with the weber smoker. The temperature dial at the top helps with this, but you need to top up the charcoal occasionally to maintain a high heat, and customers suggest that newcomers to smoking start with charcoal briquettes as they are slow burning. A smoker takes time and patience to get going, you will need to plan ahead when you want to cook with it, and start it up well in advance. Do not put the food in until both the charcoal is burning well and water in the pan is hot.
This is not fast cooking; your turkey and ham will take a good eight to ten hours to cook depending on their size. Once you have gotten the temperature correct by opening and closing the air vents a little at a time, you can leave the smoker to get on with it, as long as it is well filled with charcoal. Customers of the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Charcoal Smoker have scored this at 4.8 out of 5 because of its ease of use, its steady temperature, once reached, its capacity, and its effectiveness in producing flavorsome juicy smoked meats.
There are cheaper units out there but Weber uses high-grade steel and the thickness makes a significant difference to the quality of smoking and maintenance of temperature. One criticism is the flimsiness of the fuel door, but apparently there is a replacement door costing about $20 which will sort that. The only other negative was from a customer who had a bad experience with Weber customer service, but that was one customer!
Availability, price and extras
Weber will supply replacement parts but advise buying their products from registered dealers. The list price of this product is $349, but it retails at between $250 and $295. It is available from Amazon at a price of $269.68 with free shipping or next day for an additional $15.99, and comes with a 10 year guarantee. Definitely the Weber Smokey Mountain cooker charcoal smoker is the best smoker you can have at a very reasonable price.