Help choosing first bullet smoker - Pro Q or WSM?

[stevenscustomguitars]

Hello,

I fancy adding a dedicated smoker to complement my Weber kettle. My options are the Weber WSM 47cm or either the Pro Q frontier or excel. I've read most of the posts about them on here but am still undecided. Annoyingly the search box discounts 'proq' and 'excel'.

There are things I like about each but have never used any of them. I also have some concerns or doubts caused by reading forum posts. I'm mostly cooking for 2-4 people but want to be able to do the odd bigger gathering.

PRO Q

I like the idea of the stackers, the probe eyelets, the fish hanger, the price!

But i worry about temp stability, fuel consumption and if they need more attention. I worry about the build quality of the frontier, not so much the excel. All based on forum feedback. Is the excel too big for normal use? Frontier is £190, excel is £280.

WSM

It's a Weber, so I assume the build quality is as good as my Kettle. It's consistently praised and has a lot of users. Sounds like temp stability is good.

The main negative with the WSM is the price, cheapest I've seen is £299. I'd also like to know if it's possible to hang a whole salmon for cold smoking in the WSM.

If I could be confident that the Excel performed as well as the WSM the I'd probably go Pro Q. But if the frontier was as well built as the WSM or Excel then that would probably be perfect for my needs.

Any advice?

Cheers

Dave

[Tiny]

Dave,
An eternal question like should I marry a blond or a brunette, there is no right or wrong answer. Your maleness leads you towards stackers and being able to cook 100lbs of meat in a oner, but we all know this is never going to happen.

I have neither which either makes me ill positioned to comment, or perhaps perfectly neutral. I can say I have read every post on here for about the last 18 months and I can guarantee no-one has ever posted "bought the WSM and am a bit disappointed."

Thus if it were my spondoolicks I would be deploying them on an 47cm Weber....

Cheers
Tiny

[Artust]

Hello,

If I'd have had the money I would have probably gone down the WSM route as they do seem to get the best reviews and feedback. However saying that, I didn't have the money and so went for a ProQ Frontier and I love it.

I have done overnight cooks now in all sorts of weather and can happily say that it sits between 225-250 with no problem at all. And I am still learning so using heat beads as fuel and on my first pork shoulder it easily help temp on a full basket using the minion method for 17hrs! I was extremely impressed with this. And you really will get 1st class customer service from Mac's (the UK supplier) if you need any help or advice.

So again, it all comes down to money. ProQ will give you extra money for some other toys you may want.

Good luck with the decision and let us know how you get on.

[stevenscustomguitars]

My first inclination is towards the pro q excel, as it seems more flexible and user friendly. I'm just put off by posts from people saying that they struggle to get it to temp and to hold it there and that it needs refilling. That kind of defeats the point of the cooker if it's true.

Does that mean that there is a specific design flaw? Or is it user failure?

The WSM 47cm and the excel are similar money and similar build quality so it's not particularly about the money and it's certainly not about any manhood thing (?). It's simply a case of whether the pro q works as a low and slow cooker as well or close to as the WSM.

[YetiDave]

I have an Excel and it is a fuel hungry beast. It's put out some great Q but since I finished my UDS... Well, it won't be getting used much any more. For fuel economy and real set and forget temps then I don't think you'll find much better than a UDS, particularly when you can knock one together for about £100

[stevenscustomguitars]

I have an Excel and it is a fuel hungry beast. It's put out some great Q but since I finished my UDS... Well, it won't be getting used much any more. For fuel economy and real set and forget temps then I don't think you'll find much better than a UDS, particularly when you can knock one together for about £100

Apart from the fuel economy how did you get on with the Excel in terms of hitting and maintaining temps and for how long before refuelling?

Cheers
Dave

[YetiDave]

Hitting and maintaining temps is made easier if you seal around the doors with heat resistant silicone, I found that I was having to top up after 7 hours or so though after starting with 4kg of coal. It's just due to the modular nature of it - a lot of heat escapes and wind can be an issue. That's not to say that it's not a good unit, I mean it is extremely versatile and portable because it can be broken down into sections. But really if you just want a dedicated smoker then I think you can do better by building one (UDS fuel-wise has given me 28+ hours of cooking time on 12kg of coal so far, and I still have some left in the basket, probably enough for another 6 hours at least. Not to mention that my fuel basket can hold a ton more fuel than the Excel)

If the weather was better over here, then the Excel would perform better. I think if I was going back to square one and had the choice between a WSM and an Excel, I'd go WSM for the fuel economy and temp stability

[stevenscustomguitars]

I forgot to post which way I went - neither!

As I type I have an ever growing pile of weber grills and plumbing bits that will hopefully soon become a UDS! Can't wait to get started after reading the mammoth thread on the BBQBrethren forum. I'll post some pics when I'm done. It's been a bit of a mission finding some of the bits but if anyone is interested I'll post info on suppliers/parts number for some of the trickier items.

[JEC]

I forgot to post which way I went - neither!

As I type I have an ever growing pile of weber grills and plumbing bits that will hopefully soon become a UDS! Can't wait to get started after reading the mammoth thread on the BBQBrethren forum. I'll post some pics when I'm done. It's been a bit of a mission finding some of the bits but if anyone is interested I'll post info on suppliers/parts number for some of the trickier items.

Maybe the best choice as you can't compare it to the other one and it should be a good piece of kit when finished. Look forward to seeing the finished article in here some day! I had the WSM by the way along with a kettle and ended up selling them as I got an egg instead, just in case you wanted another option

[Scantily]

I have the wsm, it is more expensive, but the build quality is great and you have the backing of a 10 year warranty against rust on the main parts. My lid started to rust, all it took was a single email with a couple of pictures attached and a new one was couriered to me within days. Temps are stable and easily controllable, weber aren't considered one of the best brands of home bbq for nothing.