Weber Smokey Mountain 22-inch BBQ Smoker Review—The Best Charcoal Smoker?

At A Glance

• • Function: Smoker, Grill, Combination Grill and Smoker
  • Fuel: Charcoal
  • Capacity and Cooking Area: 700 square inches
  • Height: 48 inches
  • Width: 23 inches
  • Weight: 52 pounds
  • Made in the USA: Yes

Weber Smokey Mountains have a bullet-shaped, closed, porcelain-enamelled construction with a multi-level internal smoking chamber comprising a charcoal bowl where the charcoal and wood chips load, a smoking section containing a water pan, two cooking grates, an easy access door, and a classic domed lid. They are of superior quality, efficient and sturdily built. Although mostly used in domestic settings by keen BBQ enthusiasts, we often find them in BBQ cook-offs and competitions, side by side with the larger commercial cookers and smokers that easily cost ten to fifteen times as much – they’re that good!

As with all equipment, however, there are a few flaws here and there. We take a deeper, comprehensive look at the Weber Smokey Mountain 22-inch BBQ Smoker to help you make an informed decision before deciding if it’s the one for you.

Features That Make It Stand Out

• Porcelain enamelled extra-large water pan, lid and body that that keep heat over long smoke periods
• Rust-resistant metal legs allowing you to cook outside in any weather
• 4 adjustable air vents, which give precision over fuel combustion
• 21-inch plated steel cooking grates with an ample cooking area of 700 sq. inches
• Built-in thermometer for easy monitoring of internal cook temperatures
• Glass reinforced and durable nylon handles for the safe opening and closing of the smoker
• Large fuel door for easy refuelling

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Weber designed this larger model of smoker to cook barbecued meats “low and slow” over charcoal and wood chips. You can easily cook up to 70 lbs. of barbecue in one smoke, feeding friends and family in a cinch.

Built to maintain heat required for all-day slow-smoking, these combination grill smokers run easily unattended for over 10 hours, spreading smoke and heat evenly around cooking foods and grills. This valuable feature allows tough meats like brisket, pork ribs or pork shoulder to slow-cook and become super-tender.

Quality smokers also needs to get up to temperature quickly and then steadily maintain this heat level. The Weber Smokey Mountain does this perfectly, easily maintaining a temperature range of between 200F and 275F. This produces flavorful barbecue with a well-developed smoke ring that will impress your guests or judges at your next BBQ competition.

With a wide cooking area of over 700 square inches, we could easily smoke three pork butts, two large turkeys, long racks of pork ribs flat without the need to bend them, and on the last occasion a whole brisket with two whole chickens alongside it.  The results were outstanding.

Its extra-large water pan means you we didn’t have to keep opening this beauty up to refill the water, which could cause unwanted temperature fluctuations. The water pan holds enough water to smoke for about four hours at a time, and refilling, for us, was as easy as pouring water out of a pot into the pan.

The Weber Smokey Mountain’s built-in temperature gauge makes monitoring the progress of smoking easy. Temperature control wasn’t difficult as the large thermometer mounted in the lid of this unit is divided at the 5-degree mark giving it a high level of accuracy. To raise the smoke temperature, we merely had to open the adjustable air vents more, and to lower the temperature, we adjusted them to reduce the airflow.

A large access door allowed for easy access to the charcoal; adding wood chips or additional charcoal didn’t interfere with the food being smoked. On the one downside, however, the front access aluminium door was flimsy; be careful when handling it so it doesn’t bend it out of shape.

 Overall, the classic barbecue results for brisket, pork shoulder, ribs, turkey and chicken were fantastic! We also tried smoking a side of salmon on a cedar plank and this resulted in an excellent-quality product.

Pros

• Well-designed construction with porcelain and chrome coatings to give a solid and beautiful finish
• Large access door allows for easy refuelling
• Plenty of grill space to hold large items of food and in heat extremely well 
• Quickly comes up to temperature within 10 minutes making it super-efficient.
• Air-tight design allows you to maintain the perfect 225F-275F temperature range for 10+ hours or longer with practically no effort from you
• Relatively inexpensive. Weber Smokey Mountain gives excellent value for its quality
• Extra-large water pan maintains heat for all day smoking and long-unassisted smoke times
• Easily assembled in under 15 minutes, the smoker also comes with a detailed owner’s manual that helps you during assembly
• Gives your food that real smoky BBQ flavor that comes from charcoal and wood chips, unlike pellet smokers that can dry out the food.

Cons

• It can have a hard time maintaining low temperatures at 200F and 225F, but cooks fine in the 250F and 275F range
• The door is comprised of thin aluminium that doesn’t fit tight and leaks far too much smoke before the smoke can saturate the food inside.
• This smoker can be heavy to move around; handles on the main body would make it easier to pick up should you need to add more charcoal and wheels would make the smoker easier to move around
• The lid could do with a hinge on it so it can stay attached as you open the smoker.

Of all the charcoal smokers, we rate the Weber Smokey Mountain, as one of the best. The 22-inch model is the larger one, with Weber producing smaller 14-inch and 18-inch models, but it’s probably the best model to use the 22-inch model when cooking for larger families and in BBQ parties. This is a quality piece that won’t let you down and will soon have you trying out those grilling recipes you’ve always wanted to try on it with abandon.  

Not everyone can use a charcoal smoker easily and for those not into charcoal smokers and want to learn more about the easier-to-use electric smokers or just to check and compare other models to the Weber Smokey Mountain, be sure to check out our detailed Electric Smokers Buyer’s Guide.