ProQ vs Webber vs Other

[Stav_98]

Hi All,

I've been contemplating a smoking BBQ for a good few years now but have never taken the plung. However, I've been saving for a new patio and been working in the US a lot....and I've been making the most of what their BBQ establishments have to offer. I'm hooked (and full of meat!)

I've been hunting around to attempt to decide what way to go, offset of the 'stack' (bullet?) style of smoker. The offset whatsits seem to be of poor quality from many of the reviews I've thumbed through, the stack jobbies seem to be better recieved; mostly because they're easy to control.

I'm after something for family use (4 of us, 2 of which are fussy!), and for a gathering of friends. If feels that the middle of the road 45/47cm jobbies are the way to go.

However, (if my thoughts are valid), which is the make to go form. I'm aware of Weber, they seem to have a great reputation; ProQ has popped up also - I'm unsure if there's a lot between them.

I'd very much appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

Cheers,
S.

[JEC]

A bullet smoker is the better way to go when compared to similar priced offset smokers. 47cm is. It's than enough for any normal sized gatherings, unless you are feeding more than 15 on a regular occasion you should be fine, to be honest even if you do feed more for a British bbq I'd still say 47cm and spend the extra money on a Weber Kettle for sausages and burgers.

Now for the brand its a tricky one. Both will do the job well, weber wins on quality and probably fuel consumption, ProQ wl have a few extra features. For me I'd go with the Weber, that's said sure the next person will say get the ProQ.

[YetiDave]

UDS...

[Tiny]

Stav old chum,
welcome, you ask one of the eternal questions, it is like asking which is the better beverage Tea or Coffee?

I come from a position of neutrality as I have neither type, if I were to buy one it would be the weber......

Yeti Dave makes an excellent point in that if you are looking for something that shape the Ugly drum smoker is much much cheaper and in most cases has the thicker steel that makes temp control easier. The only drawback is the word ugly that makes it rather a tricky sell to our significant others.

Whichever way you go there will be lots of meat so it is a no lose!

Cheers
Tiny

[YetiDave]

If I could go back and start again, I would've just built a UDS rather than get a Pro Q. It's not as versatile, but the cost and fuel economy makes it a no brainer imho. Temp stability is much more consistent too.

[essexsmoker]

I have a drum smoker and I wouldn't say it was ugly. You can paint them up ok. I have even added a stoker to mine and it held 115 for over 10 hours with very little drift. Its 57cm and cost about 150 quid including the stoker.
I could easily put a second maybe even 3rd shelf in if I wanted to.

[YetiDave]

You can make them look awesome. The cost of building one vs buying would give you a bit of extra cash for toys and you can complete a build in a weekend. Yeah, I'm a UDS fan

[Scantily]

I'll support the WSM, it is more expensive, but the quality and customer service is second to none, as well as peace of mind from a 10 year warranty against rust. Any issues I've contacted them about they have replied quickly and sent out new parts with no need for return of the old ones.

I have the 47cm WSM and it's been brilliant. The only downside I could think of is the gigantic water bowl, great for filling up for long cooks, but also leaves very little clearance space between the top of a filled charcoal basket and the bottom of the lid. So no piling charcoal or wood chunks on top of a filled ring.

If I were to make the decision again, then I would have gone for the 57cm version, 90% of the time mine is perfectly adequate. But when I have a few people over then I really wish I had the extra capacity, and it also doesn't have a huge water bowl. Then again, when I bought mine the 57cm was only £50 more, now it's more like £80. But I still think i would buy the bigger one.

[slatts]

Hi

I started out with the Pro Q Frontier and learnt on it, It was just under £200 and nearly 2 years later its still in great working order.
I then picked up a 57cm weber smokey mountain which is big, really big lol, I do cook for a few people and always have enough room on wsm but the frontier I always had to make room for the ribs if there was a pork shoulder on the bottom shelf. Although if you plan it out you can finish the shoulder and keep it in a cool box for a few hours to free up space in the frontier.

I'm not sure how much space is available in the 47cm wsm as I haven't had one but im sure somebody will let you know if you can get a shoulder on there and say 6 racks of ribs.

Whatever you buy the pro Q and wsm have served me very well, budget is always the main reason for most buys so judge what is best for you, the uds route is something I wish i'd done after the Pro Q but the wsm came up to cheap to resist, got it off ebay from somebody moving with a tiny garden and didn't want it anymore, 3 months old used twice and looked brand new.

Good luck with whatever you do, just remember its the food that its all about not how good the cooker looks

Slatts

[Scantily]

I'm not sure how much space is available in the 47cm wsm as I haven't had one but im sure somebody will let you know if you can get a shoulder on there and say 6 racks of ribs.

Slatts

If you use a rib rack you'll have no problems fitting 6 racks of ribs on the top and a pork shoulder on the bottom rack on a 47cm, obviously you just have a bit less room to work with.