amcgeorge, In shoort yes. I do not fave my WSM anymore but yes you could do steaks on it. I presently have 3 BGE's and one other ceramic cooker and you can and I do steaks on them regularly. For planning purposes a Large BGE has the same grate size at a Weber 18.5 inch Kettle and the same size grate as my old WSM. Jeff

I'm in paint (& general sales too) at work.... * We're a BIG Weber dealer, & it's SO fun helping people with stuff for BBQ-ing! * We've also got that Vault, & a couple "Egg"-style smokers. Not nearly as popular vs. a few years ago here tho'. * Just helped a young man with the linked Weber smoker. He bought some Traeger smoking pellets, regular charcoal, & a bag of Cowboy Hickory wood-lump charcoal. * It's a nice, easily portable smoker, and does a good job. * The Traeger smoking-grills are getting increasingly popular here, and we stock most of them. Most have to be plugged-in to run the Thermometer/auto-augering-system for the many flavored pellets available. * The smaller ones are portable tho'! * Near the Traeger area, we've got EIGHT full pallets of their wood-pellets!! * Check out Traegergrills.com * There are some RABID fans of these Traegers 'round here! Faron PS....Someday I'll have to get one of the Weber Summit-series grills! From $1800~$2400....Uffda! We have sold a couple of the "Weber-island" Summit Grill-Center setups this year....$5,000+ for all the S/S side-cabinetry, etc.!! Here is a link that might be useful: Weber smoker...

Sounds like a good deal. I've never used one that has a gas mode, but it's probably more convenient than charcoal. Using charcoal is a little tricky, but the smoke flavor is more intense. I assume that using gas is similar to using an electric smoker; less fuss and more convenient, and it still makes great food. These smokers are great for making huge amounts of food for a big gathering. The advantage is that you don't have to do anything once the smoker is up and running except check the water pan every so often. So you're not messing with a lot of food right at the last minute and you can do other things while the food is cooking. Tips: I often will fire up the smoker and do six chickens at once, three per rack. After they are done, let them cool and put them in plastic ziplock bags, sucking the air out with a straw. Freeze them. When you want a quick supper, take one out of the freezer, open the bag and put a few ounces of liquid (water, wine, beer)in the cavity and microwave until thawed and heated through. Very convenient when you come home from work--tasty smoked chicken in ten minutes or so. I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to making my own chicken stock. Once a year I'll get a huge bag of chicken leg quarters and smoke them, then while they are warm take the meat off the carcass and use it for something like chicken salad, but use the skin and bones for some really rich smoky stock. Pretty intense, and you can use that stock any time you want some robust flavor (chili, beans, whatever). And if you really wanted 'extreme' flavored stock, use the water from the water pan to make the stock with the bones and skin (strain it through a flour sack towel to catch any bits of ash). Be aware that smoke is a flavor, and like any flavoring it can be overdone. I like a pretty intense flavor, but not everyone does. As far as what wood to smoke with, you'll get a divergence of opinion. I don't care for mesquite that much (I find it a bit resiny) and I do most of my smoking with hickory. A Texan friend of mine who is the most avid barbecue chef I know insists that pecan wood is the best wood to use, and his food sure is excellent. (You can also use pecan shells if you have access to a supply of them. They work fine.) I used to live across the road from an apple orchard, and I can attest that apple wood is excellent as well. Other observations: the skin of a chicken has to be dry to absorb smoke flavoring, so if you've got some gloppy marinade on the surface it may not get as smoky as you wanted. Also, brining the chickens for an hour or so before smoking will make the birds juicier. They make racks that allow the bird to stand vertically in the smoker. They're convenient. You can mix foods in the smoker to good effect. My dad would smoke ribs on the top rack and chickens on the lower one; the drippings from the ribs basted the birds.

I agree with Sophie. The unit I was going to recommend would cost around $2k. Multiple units to meet your requirements would cost around the same. Can your space accommodate multiple items to meet your needs? A separate smoker, a separate grill and a separate oven?