Well, mother of all bbq smokers may be a bit of an exaggeration. However, the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker comes very close. The WSM is a very functional, affordable, and efficient grill. You can pickup one for just a little bit more than $200 on the web. Its small enough, when disassembled it can fit into the back seat car. The construction is top notch. Rust proof and heavy duty. It keeps a nice even heat during use.
The WSM has all of the functionality of the larger horizontal grills including a water pan for indirect cooking, a smoking rack, 3 configurable air vents (1 top, two bottom), and a fair amount of cooking surface.
With practice you could feed an army with your smoker. I recommend using a vertical rib rack to increase your usable space. Easily you could smoke 5-7 racks of ribs on the top rack and at least 1 medium-large chicken in the bottom area.
Recently, I participated in a grilling competition in Seattle with the pnwba. I noted that at least 50% of the participants used a Weber Bullet. If your just getting started in bbqing or a seasoned veteran, I highly recommend buying a weber smokey mountain cooker.
