"FH" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 17:11:39 -0600, Kevin S. Wilson >
> wrote:
>
> >On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 17:31:55 -0500, FH > wrote:
> >
> >>WSM are a great cooker. Lightwieght and they break down enough to put
> >>in the trunk of a car. I easily get unattended overnight cooks with
> >>sand in the waterpan. They also have more meat capacity than the
> >>ceramic cookers at 25 % of the price.
> >
> >Ahem! Are you saying that a WSM is going to hold more meat than my #7
> >K with an upper rack?
>
> Sure am! Stock, twice as much. If you add an upper rack to a WSM on
> the upper and lower grates, the WSM will still hold twice as much at a
> fraction of the price of any ceramic. I would definately sugggest any
> newbie to get the WSM first before spending the Big Bucks on a
> ceramic. Start out slow and work your way up to the more expensive
> model if you choose. That's my advice.
>
> I can make any one of my WSM's perform unattaended cooks for any piece
> of meat you choose to name that will fit into the cooker.
>
> I mean, we are talking $179 including shipping as oppsed to ~ $500 for
> the cheapest *good* ceramic cooker.

You're math is a little off. "Stock" the WSM has ~537 sq. in. of cooking area.
K7 has 398 sq. in. That != twice as much cooking area. More like *1.35

Add lower grate to K7 & cooking area = 652 sq. in. Add upper grate to K7 &
cooking area = 906 sq. in.

When you add those grates to a WSM,,,, oh forgot you can't do that.

Grill on a WSM: Disassmble and reconfigure to get a mediocre grilling unit.

Grill on a K: Add more lump and open vents more. Grill any food product you
want.

Add thermal mass to WSM: Put water or sand in water pan and **** with cleaning
it up.

Add thermal mass to K: Do nothing.

Add a thermometer to a WSM: Hang thru top vent, put inside on grate, drill hole
in smoker & mount, etc.

Add a thermometer to a K: Comes with a 750dF thermometer and replaced free if it
fails.


Temp recovey time: With smoker at 250 remove or open lid for 1 min., replace,
and see what happens.

WSM temp drops to ~200 and recovers in 7 - 10 min.

K temp drops to ~200 and recovers in 1 - 3 min.


Once again, any K owner, myself included, think the WSM is a fine unit and
priced well for what it was designed for.

Also, no argument toward the price delta. K's are expensive.

But the pottery cookers can just do more. If you can do everything you want to
do with a WSM, good for you.

_________
ht_redneck

P.S. - Once again, I own both and can support all of the above through personal
experience.

P.S.S. - If one they will hone their skills and move up then it makes no sense
to
buy a WSM and then move up to a ceramic. Additional cost and relearning curve
makes no sense.