Buying my first smoker. Which one proq frontier or Excel 20

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Mullsey
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:05 am

Buying my first smoker. Which one proq frontier or Excel 20

Post by Mullsey »

Hi Everyone

I am just about to buy my first smoker. I will not be cooking for an army 10-12 at most.

Will i be ok to go with a frontier or should i go with the large excel 20? I have read lits of comments about the Excels and they seem great but not so many comments on the Frontiers. Any insights would be much appreciated
Bronson
Posts: 71
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 11:17 am

Re: Buying my first smoker. Which one proq frontier or Excel 20

Post by Bronson »

If you are cooking for 10-12 persons, you will have to use the Excel 20, the Frontier would be fine for maybe 6 - 8 imo.
Davo
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Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:44 am
Location: Albury NSW on the mighty Murray River

Re: Buying my first smoker. Which one proq frontier or Excel 20

Post by Davo »

I seen both together at a BBQs Galore shop when i used to live in Newcastle and because I owned a Weber WSM, I had something to compare with...so this is my opinion only.
The fronteir...the smaller ProQ is and feels so tinny...I would not even consider it...it just feels so weak.

The Excel ...what a difference...so much more solid, the metal feels almost but not quite as solid as the WSM but pretty close. The 20 inch Excel is 1.5 inches larger in diameter than the 18.5 WSM and that doesn't sound much but you can notice a big difference in size of the grate overall...it could mean the difference of placing a few more chicken wings on.

The ProQ's are pretty much a cpy of the well known Weber Smokey Mountain but they've added their own signiture improvements like hanging rod and hooks inside the lid for hanging meats for smoking, they have 2 doors for adding charcoal and water, you can buy extra stacks for more cooking space, you can take the middle out and use it as a portable grill, the lid sits directly ontop of the base, something that the WSM can't really do as the lid won't fit in the grooves of the base and nor does the top food grate.
The Excel is about half the price of the WSM 22 inch but the 22 inch is a mighty cooker and will fit most of the accesories that were made for the kettle and they are as solid as they come.
I would buy a 22 inch WSM before i buy a Komado as they are more spacious and usually much cheaper and a hell of a lot lighter.

Many BBQ teams use the Pro-Q as well as the WSM, and do really well in BBQ comps with them so I reckon you should go with the 20 inch ProQ....don't go with the tinny 18 inch.

Cheers

Davo
Moderator/ Admin

Weber Q320
Weber Performer Kettle
Weber WSM 18.5
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