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 itFWIW 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 smokerI 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 ForumBy 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 temperatureI'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")

2021 Update:The smoker finally got stuff growing inside after about 5 years, which made me sad. My final thoughts are The 14 was definitely the right choice for me. It gave food lots of smoke flavor we loved. The only drawback for these things is the monitoring of the heat as with very long overnight cooks the wood/charcoal can get critically low impacting the cook. This is also why the 14 was a good choice as was not heavy with food loaded to remove the top pieces from the pit and add more fuel.That’s really the main drawback with these things, the monitoring part. That’s why I didn’t replace the unit when it failed and bought a Traeger instead Ironwood instead. Still happy though with this purchase and it’s 5 year service life. Great intro to smoking foods.End 2021 Update.First off after reading all the reviews I was convinced to go with the 22inch version and call it a day. That would have been a big mistake - that is the problem with buying products online, you don't get a sense of the product. Fortunately I have a bbq shop near my home that stocks the 22 & I can tell you it is huge (like a New York style round trashcan) and heavy (50-60 pounds?) Looks like more for commercial purposes than home cooking.Once I saw that monstrosity, I realized my choice was between the 18&14 inch size. After much research and measuring, I realized the 18 inch version was too big as well (& must be equally heavy) - the 18 inch seems like the right size for someone who entertains for 40+ people regularly - overkill for someone wanting to invite his family over or cook for his own family. To put it in perspective, you can fit two pork butts on the 14 and 4 butts on the 18 - I recently did one butt and had enough pulled pork for 6 adults and 6 kids, and there were left overs that could have fed at least one more family (2 adults and 2 kids) - this means I can feed 12-16 with one butt and 24-32 with 2 on the 14 - more than enough. There is a reason Weber started making the 14" again - it is perfect for a small gathering.Also, the 14 uses less fuel and will cost less per use in the long run (for example if you smoke 2 butts in the 18 (versus its capacity of 4) u need to use more fuel because of the bigger space to heat up. Remember the unit is engineered/designed for use of Both racks (which makes the 18 more efficient for 4 pork butts versus the 22 for example).Another bonus is the 14 kept the temperature very consistent and did not overheat like some have noticed with the bigger models (must be all that charcoal) Finally the 14 is portable (and used around the world by bbq teams that compete) and easier to clean given its smaller footprint.My 14 had enough room for us to cook a slab of 5 pound brisket bought at our local warehouse club and an entire slab of baby back ribs cut up into 3 parts. The ribs were perfect and moist - the brisket was perfectly smoked and tender. I did this for my family and we could have easily fed another 8 people. Using the minion method of heating coal (in middle area) there is was enough fuel for an overnight cook 13+ hours at 200-210. I couldn't be happier with the 14inch size and am convinced it was the right call as it is efficient and portable. As a bonus cleaning it was easy as well. If you are on the fence, go with the 14" and use the 100 bucks saved on accessories and food. You will thank me as the others are overkill unless you have a business or cook regularly for 40 (18") or 70 people (22"). Happy smoking!

Excelente producto, con el respaldo de que es weber, llego antes de lo previsto, facil de ensamblar, una chulada!

I'll preface my five star rating by saying I did about seven upgrades to the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker before using it. It voids the warranty but I did not care about that. Unlike parts in gas BBQs, there really isn't much to go wrong with the WSM. The WSM was delivered promptly, in excellent condition and as advertised. I have only used it once so far but the family vote was unanimous: the WSM flavours the food better than either of my propane BBQs which cost 3-4 times as much. The WSM is fun to use but the trick is patience. You need to get the temp stable before you start cooking. If you want to smoke meat you should be in the 200 to 225F range although the WSM can get much hotter around 350-400 to BBQ. Here are the upgrades I did based on research before I made the purchase:1) Upgraded to 5" River Country (RC-T5) adjustable thermometer (available from Amazon) so I could see the temps from much farther away2) Added a second charcoal grate (available from Amazon) perpendicular to the stock charcoal grate and held in place with wire. This slows down the rate at which coals fall to the bottom3) Upgraded the top grate with flexible hinges for indirect cooking (available from Amazon)4) The stock door is flimsy tin and some people said they have leaks so I upgraded to stainless steel with better handle (cajun bandit)5) I added the stainless steel hinge for the WSM (available from Amazon)6) I added locking caster wheels to the bottom of the aluminum legs so I could wheel it around my deck (available from Amazon or your local hardware)7) I added steel handles to the drum center section so I could pick up the top and middle section together.I will also say that the mods above are not necessary to using the WSM but they certainly make using it much better and easier. Remember, if you do any mods and drill holes into the WSM, use heat rated rust paint for touch ups. There are online videos where you can watch many of these upgrades and decide for yourself.June 28 2024 Update: Am still using the Weber Smokey Mountain and luvin' it! It is covered when not in use and still looks great. For beef jerky I recommend between 160F and 180F for between 5 to 6 hours. For cedar smoked salmon (with Dill, lemon juice, salt & pepper) I recommend about 2 to 2.5 hours at around 225F.

Fue un regalo para mi esposo, estaba buscando algo de buena calidad a un costo accesible y fue una gran decisión. Ha preparado cosas deliciosas, muy recomendable

muy buen asador, weber es garantía!

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+kettleI 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+hickoryThis 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 ribsSame 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!gmEdit: 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+miniThis 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.