Photo: Weber
What We Like
- Durable steel grates build
- Rust-resistant components
- Easy temperature monitoring
- Adjustable dampers
- A storage cover is included
- Long 10-year warranty
What We Don’t Like
- Assembly instructions can be intimidating
- The maximum temperature could be higher
Bottom Line
For those classic barbecues where tender meat falls off the bone while maintaining its rich savory flavors, get a Weber 721001 smoker.
Introduction
When it comes to barbeque smokers, Weber is a household name, and the 721001 is one of the best this brand had to offer, to those who desire a premium classic charcoal smoker.
All the core components of the smoker are made of durable metals. Including steel and rust-resistant aluminum. It offers a decent 481-square-inch cooking area for family barbecues.
Weber 721001 Review
Photo: Weber
Performance: Reliable for All-Round Food Smoking
Expect your 721001 to deliver reliable when it comes to smoking family-sized meals from its impressive cooking surface of 481 square inches. Even when you have many guests, this smoker will not let you down.
The steel-plated cooking grates have demonstrated superior cooking performance from their ability to transmit heat evenly across the entire cooking apparatus, and moreso on the food being cooked. Also, their stacking offers a large grilling capacity.
Superior grilling is supported by the porcelain-enamel lid, bowl, center section, and water pan, all of which are reliable at heat retention. The water pan will keep your food constantly moisturized and flavorful while preventing it from burning or being dried out by the heat.
Design & Construction: Solid Durable Build
When you first set your sights on the 721001, its outstanding build will definitely stand out because not only does it use premium materials, but it also projects an image of durability.
Take the smoker’s cooking grates for instance. They do most of the cooking and will be subjected to considerable amounts of heat over their lifetime. That’s why the ones on this smoker are made of steel, which is loved for its strength, resistance to warping, and abrasions, thus guaranteeing your smoker’s durability even if the cooking and grilling will be intensive.
Switching to the charcoal grate, it is made using heavy-gauge steel and that’s because this is the component that is in direct contact with hot charcoal. And considering your smoker is capable of hitting internal temperature highs of 190℉, this material ensures superior heat resistance from this component.
Then there are the heat dampers that are made using rust-resistant aluminum to ensure that they remain reliably sturdy and contamination-free. Because of the components’ rust-resistance properties, you can be confident in using this smoker outdoors for an enhanced barbecue experience.
Finally, the smoker has one high-quality glass-reinforced nylon handle, which not only improved the unit’s handling experience but also has a great heat-resistant capacity to protect your hands from extreme temperatures.
Installation & Assembly
This smoker is designed for all-round use, especially in outdoor setups where you can barbecue and grill with family and friends. And to help with this, the smoker makes a decent attempt at supporting portability with its compact bullet build.
So, when you want to set up the unit, it’s not going to present many challenges. A permanent installation is not necessary. Its design is such that you can move the smoker around as much as you like, and at your convenience. Also, at 39.1 pounds in weight, it’s possible to shift the smoker across small distances, even when alone.
If you’re a beginner when it comes to smokers, you may find the setup instruction of the 721001 slightly intimidating, but just follow them keenly, and you should be all set up in no time.
Smoking Setup
In the smoking department, the smoker offers you 2 heavy-duty cooking/smoking grates, which combine to provide an 18-inch cooking diameter. When you combine this surface with the smoker’s decent total food capacity, expect it to prepare small-to-medium family meals.
Because the smoker has 2 racks, it offers double grilling capacity. This model accepts charcoal as the main fuel source. Charcoal is not only great at bringing out the rich meat flavors, but also ensure the smoking process is low and slow, for tender meat.
The smoking setup on this model is pretty straightforward. You simply need to fill up the charcoal chamber (at the smoker’s bottom) with charcoal to about 1/2-capacity. Then proceed to pour the lit charcoal of the unlit one. You can then place the middle section that contains the cooking grills and water pan, on top of the lit charcoal.
It’s important that you fill the pan adequately with water, and the level typically depends on cook time, and meat quantity. Also, this step ensures the smoker functions as it’s designed to. Then, you can place the lid onto the cooking contents, and control the cooking temperature using the 4 dampeners on the smoker.
Now, the aluminum access door on the smoker’s side is meant to provide access to many internal sections including the lower grill, the water pan, and the charcoal while also allowing you to add wood. However, it may prove problematic to operate especially when adding water, but you get used to it with time.
Heating: Supports Low-and-Slow Cooking
The 721001 is capable of reaching an internal temperature of approximately 190℉. This heat output is optimized for the smoker’s cooking capacity so that all the foods you place on the grates is heated and cooked evenly.
While the total heat output may be notably low for a smoker of this class, remember that this class grill is designed to produce very tender meat that essentially falls of the bone effortless. For the smoker to produce such results, it cooks low and slow, hence the choice of heating capacity.
This smoker will cook at an impressively stable temperature for hours. When you need to raise or lower temperature, the process is made incredibly easy by the dampener system. There are 4 durable aluminum dampeners on this smoker.
You can control the heat inside the setup by adjusting these dampeners and vents. When you close the dampeners, they effectively cut off the oxygen flow and extinguishes the coals. As you open the dampeners even wider, the heat inside the smoker increases as the oxygen intake intensifies.
The smokers offer you a reliable and effective temperature monitoring mechanism with its adoption of a built-in thermometer on the lid. This thermometer helps you to monitor the smoker’s internal cooking temperature easily, and effortlessly too, in your natural standing position.
Cleaning: Easy and Straightforward
Because this smoker is admittedly compact, you can expect a simplified cleaning experience compared to other larger and sophisticated models. A small surface area means fewer sections to clean.
When it comes to cleaning the grill, ensure you don’t use abrasive scrubbers, which can scrub the upper coating or dislodge small metal components that are not safe when they come into contact with food.
For the cooking areas, a grill spray and a gentle grill brush are enough to get rid of any residual oils and grease from the meats and other foods you smoke
And if you make it a point of cleaning your smoker and its grates as soon as the cooking is done, then you are likely to achieve better cleaning outcomes because the oils are easier to remove at that time, as opposed to when they are dry or accumulated.
Price: Competitive in the Premium Class
Because this model comes in 14-inch, 18-inch, and 22-inch versions, its pricing differs across these 3 options. But for this 18-inch option, which goes for slightly less than $350, you are paying for premium quality bundled with a classic experience.
What makes the 721001’s pricing great is that the smoker offers the value of more premium and expensive models for a significantly lower price.
Furthermore, you do get a 10-year warranty on the smoker’s bowl, lid, and center ring, which are already very durable, meaning this is, essentially, a near risk-free purchase.
Verdict
A high-quality and durable smoker that easy to use and offers decent cooking capacity for family-size meals.
Weber embraces the spirit of classic barbecue by offering packing premium features in the 721001 to make it durable and reliable while producing tender flavorful meat that falls off the bone.
Specs
- Product Name: Weber 721001
- Product Brand: Weber
- Product Dimensions (Lid Closed): 41 x 19 x 21 inches
- Diameter: 18 inches
- Total Cooking Area: 481 square inches
- Fuel Type: Charcoal
- Dampers: 4 (Aluminum)
- Warranty: 10 years (Bowl, Lid, & Center Ring)
- Product Weight: 39.1 pounds
Key Features
- Durable and heavy-duty steel cooking grates
- Superior-gauge steel charcoal grate
- Decent 481 square inches of cooking capacity
- A built-in lid thermometer for easy temperature monitoring
- Strong enamel-based bowl, lid, water pan, and center section
- Rust-resistant and durable aluminum fuel door
- A generous 10-year limited warranty