British BBQ Society Forums

A Weber Premium 57cm would set you back around £170 & a WSM 57cm would be around £380 - so £550 plus a few mods / toys to go with it. That compares to, say, a KJ at £650 (cheapest I've seen) plus toys. So you're talking £150-200 difference I guess.

To be honest I didn't even consider a 'traditional' Weber style kettle or know about WSMs - but had I known then what I know now, thanks mostly to this forum, I would have given the Weber option much stronger thought. I think my view of kettle BBQs has been tainted by the really rubbish imitations we have (probably) all owned at one point or another.

Saying that, I am a very happy ceramic owner & do think that they are more robust - however, I tend to look after my kit & I know there are lots of happy Weber owners who have had them a long long time so not sure that makes much difference. But I do like the substantial (i.e. damn heavy!) feeling of them.

Out of interest, can you get the kind of really high temperatures (700-900F) out of a kettle? That was one of the main reasons I went for a ceramic - to do really good steaks. But have also found that homemade pizzas at that temperature are great too. That was before I fell in love with low and slow....

Like I said the KJ is fairly good value but with the combination of a kettle and WSM you'd have more flexibility and capacity. When you get to Egg prices then it's getting silly for what you get IMHO.

I can sear a steak on a kettle no problem, if you add cast iron grates then they are superb for searing.

I don't buy the robustness argument, sorry. Especially if you lug your kit around for comps like me. I know several people who've suffered breakages with ceramics when transporting to comps in the US. Obviously you've got potential rust on steel bbq's but I have a ten year old kettle that lives uncovered outside, it doesn't look pretty but it's structurely sound and works well. I also have a Traeger of similar age and it is also sound.

I don't dislike ceramics, the opposite in fact. Just wouldn't be top of my list, different strokes and all that though. I'm sure most ceramic owners are happy with theirs, just as most Weber, Pro Q, SS, BWS and (insert quality BBQ brand here) owners are

Men of our calibre require one of each, anyway.

BTW I feel I must point out that the Weber kettle is far from ideal for low and slow smoking. It is certainly possible, but it is a pain (I was doing it for 5 years before I got a smoker). The most cost effective way (with the least heartache) to great BBQ is a bullet smoker. 300 quid for a WSM might sound a lot (it did to me at first, and it was less when I bought it) but it'll last a decade and Harry Soo wins GC on them.