Fire Up Barbecue Season With These Charcoal Smokers

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If you’ve never tried it, the art of smoking may appear intimidating from a distance. Maintaining the fire to hold a consistent temperature, and making sure you've got enough fuel to imbue your food with that incredible smoky flavor for a sustained period of time–there’s more to it than slapping burgers on the grill.

The truth is that it’s easier than ever to become a proficient backyard pitmaster: While the traditional barrel smoker comes with a learning curve, there are also modern models with amenities that make it easier to learn. Take it from us: With a little practice and determination, you can certainly master some of the more popular smokers in an afternoon or two.

With some time and practice, the best charcoal smokers will let you wow your family and friends with a tasty brisket, pork butt, or ribs at your next barbecue. From ceramic kamado grills that can sear and smoke, to entry-level smokers that leave a little more room for error, we can help you expand your barbecue horizons.

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The Best Charcoal Smokers

• Best Overall: Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 Digital Charcoal Smoker and Grill

• Best Value: Weber Original Premium Kettle Charcoal Grill (22-inch)

• Best Vertical: Weber Smokey Mountain Vertical Charcoal Smoker (18-Inch)

• Best for a Big Crowd: Dyna-Glo Wide Body Vertical Offset Charcoal Smoker

• Best Barrel: Pit Barrel Cooker 18.5 Drum Smoker

• Best Offset Smoker For Beginners: Oklahoma Joe's Highland Offset Charcoal Smoker and Grill

• Best Smoker/Grill Combo: Weber Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grill

What to Consider in a Charcoal Smoker

Texas-style offset smokers have been the traditional “go-to” for quite a while, but other designs have been gaining ground. New technology, like digital control systems to manage temperature and airflow, can help shorten the learning curve to produce excellent smoked foods with little experience. Understanding how much effort and knowledge is needed for each type of smoker will help narrow down which is right for you.

Types of Smokers

Offset Smoker

This traditional smoker has two compartments: a large, horizontal, cylindrical main compartment, with a smaller one usually situated to the right or left. Charcoal is burned in the smaller one, with the resultant smoke and heat vented to the larger compartment, where the food is cooked/smoked. Offset smokers typically burn charcoal, but wood can also be used—in either case, dampened wood chips may be added to help produce more smoke.

Offset smokers require regular attention to the fire and airflow, and it may take some experience and experimenting to get everything just right. For barbecue experts, offset units are one of the most popular types of smokers.

Vertical, Bullet, or Barrel Smoker

Sometimes called bullet smokers because of their shape, vertical smokers are tall and narrow—although larger sizes may resemble metal drums. The charcoal fire is stoked in the bottom of the unit and heat and smoke travel up to the top, where the food is smoked on one or more racks. Food is generally loaded from the top of the unit. Wet wood chips can be placed on or directly above the charcoal.

Vertical smokers are occasionally referred to as water smokers because a bowl or pan filled with water separates the heat source and the food. This shields food from direct heat so that it cooks more slowly. Temperature, smoke, and the size of the fire are controlled by managing airflow at the bottom and limiting exhaust at the top. Vertical smokers may also require attention and experience.

Box or Cabinet Smoker

Much like vertical smokers, cabinet smokers have the charcoal at the bottom, a water pan above that, and racks for food in the top. The main difference is that cabinet smokers have front-load doors. They may have a pan to hold wet wood chips right over the charcoal—if not, the wood chips are added right on top of the charcoal. Managing the fire, airflow to it, and exhaust out the top is essential to controlling heat.

Types of Charcoal

Lump Charcoal

Lump charcoal, a favorite among smoking experts, looks just like blackened bits of broken wood. To make it, wood is burned in a very low-oxygen environment where most of the volatile compounds (water, hydrogen, and methane) are released. This leaves behind almost pure carbon.

Lump charcoal will burn nearly smokeless and without flames—and it will burn at higher temperatures than the wood it was made from. Because much of the “wood” has been burned off, charcoal will also produce less ash than raw wood. To get the desired amount of smoke, dampened wood chips are typically added on top of the charcoal.

Briquettes

Charcoal briquettes are made from sawdust, wood byproducts, and binders that have been processed and compressed into the squarish pillow shapes we’re all familiar with. Be sure to read labels, as some briquettes may contain chemicals used to bind them and make them easier to light. Like lump charcoal, it’s common to add wood chips to get the desired amount of smoke.

How We Selected The Best Charcoal Smokers

Most smokers on this list have been thoroughly researched, evaluated, and tested by the Popular Mechanics test team, which has decades of experience with testing grills and smokers. To test the smokers, we prepared the same Texas-style smoked brisket and beef jerky in each one, then, over a two-week period, used all of them to smoke a wide range of food.

We evaluated the models based on ease of use, how well they allowed us to control heat and smoke, ease of clean up, and how reliably we could produce a delicious result. But perhaps the best test of all: We ate what we smoked.

To update and maintain the guide, we spoke with product managers and designers to ensure our new picks reflected the priorities set by the test team. We also surveyed user reviews to make sure our picks came with wholehearted endorsements from barbecue fans.

Gravity Series 800 Digital Charcoal Smoker and Grill

Masterbuilt's Gravity Series combination smoker-grills are really popular among experienced grillmasters and neophytes alike, and it's not hard to see why. Our pick, the Gravity Series 800 Digital, excels at long smokes, holding low temperatures for a long time. It also features some very useful digital bells and whistles for busy chefs. For example, you can watch and adjust the heat inside the smoker remotely using a dedicated smartphone app, allowing you to walk away and deal with minor distractions without worrying about losing your fire. Those precision controls make it accessible for beginners and convenient for experienced smokers.

In addition to smoking, it’s very serviceable grill, giving it a versatility that you won’t get from a classic barrel smoker. Masterbuilt even one-ups other hybrid grill-smokers by throwing in a heavy-duty flat-top griddle, which is great for cooking diner-style breakfast foods, like bacon, eggs, and pancakes. (Plus, it’s a lot easier to clean than traditional grill grates.)

The only knock on this smoker is that it's not as durable and long-lasting as an old-school barrel smoker or top-of-the-line pellet grill. That goes double if you frequently cook at very high temperatures like 700°F. Obviously that won’t be a problem if you primarily use it to cook low and slow. Even with that caveat, it's a well-made, dynamic smoker that can accommodate all skill-levels, and that's why we recommend it.

Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill (22-inch)

The classic Weber Kettle is technically a charcoal grill–you might call it the charcoal grill, in fact–but it can do double-duty as a smoker as well, and costs far less than most of our other picks. Punching well above its weight, the classic Weber can maintain a consistent temperature with the best of them if you cook with the top on and air vents closed.

Smoking with a Weber kettle is arguably harder than our other picks, though. You need to avoid opening it as much as possible, and space comes at a premium. That said, there are a ton of online resources that can teach you the nuances of using it, including special techniques like the "snake method"of arranging charcoal.

There are also some really useful accessories like the Slow 'N Sear, a half-circle sized charcoal hopper that adds an indirect heat source to your Kettle, which would be very helpful while smoking. Weber itself makes a Smart Grilling Hub smart thermometer that you can set up to ping your smartphone when your meat is perfectly tender.

While it might take some time for you to learn how to use the Kettle for smoking, it's ultimately a fantastic smoker for the price. If you just want to try smoking, but aren’t necessarily ready to invest in it as a hobby, we strongly recommend it as a bang-for-your-buck option.

Smokey Mountain 18 In.

The Weber Smokey Mountain is a durable vertical smoker that should last for many years with a little care. Made from heavy, porcelain-enameled steel, it has a heat shield on the bottom to protect your deck or lawn, and comes with a fitted cover.

In classic form, the Smokey Mountain has a bottom rack and retaining ring for the charcoal, a large bowl for water above that, and two racks in the top for smoking food. It also has a large side door, which comes in handy if you need to add charcoal mid-way through a longer smoking session.

Smoking without precise digital controls requires some practice. You need to learn how to effectively manage the heat using the upper and lower vents. It’s ultimately worth the time, though, and the Smokey Mountain produces great results.

Weber makes the Smokey Mountain in three sizes–14.5 inches, 18 inches, and 22 inches. We recommend the middle option, which gives you a great balance between a cooking space and compact footprint. That said, all three sizes work equally well.

Wide Body Vertical Offset Charcoal Smoker

If you're looking for a classic charcoal smoker large enough to prepare enough barbecue for a party, the Dyna-Glo Wide Body has a massive cooking area– 1,890 square inches across six height-adjustable grates. That’s enough room to smoke many of the larger barbecue staples, like briskets and whole racks of ribs, in bulk. And with so many shelves, you can cook many different meats and fine-tune how much heat and smoke they each receive. We appreciated that it features an onboard thermometer, though we recommend that you get a traditional or infrared meat thermometer for precise cooking.

The Dyna-Glo is a very affordable option, especially given its size, and it accordingly lacks some of the premium materials and features you’ll find elsewhere in this guide. It doesn’t have stainless steel sides, nor does it have digital controls. We noticed that reviewers online called out that the firebox is a tad small and can feel finicky at times. These are issues that tend to come with a lower price point, though. This is a dependable smoker that can produce some really good food with relatively little effort, which you can pick up at a wallet-friendly price.

18.5-Inch Classic Drum Smoker

Digital controls and built in meat probes are nice flourishes, but you don’t need a complicated smoker to cook great barbecue. In fact, a traditional smoker can be downright simple. Case in point, the Pit Barrel Cooker takes you back to the basics. The 30-gallon porcelain-coated steel drum is as straightforward as they come: Light your charcoal in the bottom, then put small cuts on the 260 square-inch grill grate or, better yet, hang meat on hooks inside. Either way, smoking and grilling enthusiasts praised this drum smoker because it’s so easy to use.

Though you can grill steaks, veggies and fish, the real appeal here is hanging larger cuts. The barrel comes with eight stainless steel hooks and two hanging rods. According to the brand, the barrel is large enough to hold up to eight racks of ribs, 2-3 briskets, or even a couple of 15-pound turkeys.

Like all conventional smokers, you should expect that it will take to learn how to maintain a consistent temperature inside the drum, but that’s why barbecue is an art. That said, there are quite a few guides online on how to cook with it effectively, so you won’t have to figure it out alone.

Highland Offset Charcoal Smoker and Grill

When you think of a pitmaster, you probably imagine a traditional offset smoker/grill that looks a lot like Oklahoma Joe's Highland Smoker. This entry-level smoker is ideal for aspiring BBQ addicts who want the authentic experience of stoking a firebox to smoke the perfect brisket without breaking the bank.

The Highland's 879 square-inch cooking surface is considerable, especially at its price point. Its sturdy rear wheels make it movable, if not portable, which makes it easier to store between smokes. It’s got a very large firebox so you have plenty of room to add and adjust your fuel, and it's also fairly easy to clean. Also, like many of the smokers on our list, it also has significant grilling capabilities, so you’ll only need one cooker for all your backyard barbecue needs.

As we’ve said, learning to use a traditional smoker isn’t doesn’t come as easily as working a grill. Given that, it will take some time for you to learn how to achieve and maintain the right temperature for each type of food you put in it. Additionally, reviewers report that it has difficulty maintaining a steady flame in windy conditions, and you might need to check some of its seals after heavy use. With time and dedication, though, this iconic smoker gives you all the tools you need to cook amazing, authentic barbecue.

Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grill

Kamado grills are incredibly popular with charcoal fans and have become a gateway to smoking for the past few years thanks to their amazing control at both low and high heat. Their ceramic bodies disperse heat and smoke more evenly than other styles of grill, making them ideal for both low-heat smoking and red-hot searing. They’re also expensive, and come with a bit of a learning curve: Like an offset smoker, adjusting their temperature takes longer than it would with a standard charcoal grill. All told, though, they are generally the best combination grill-smokers on the market.

Weber’s take on a Kamado, the Summit, isn’t exactly traditional. It features double-walled steel instead of ceramic, which allows you to adjust the internal temperature more quickly. That makes it more forgiving than traditional Kamado grills like the Big Green Egg. It also makes the summit cheaper than most Kamados, which doesn’t hurt, either.

The Summit’s 452-square-inch cooking area is quite large for a kamado grill, making it comparatively well-suited for smoking since you have plenty of room for cooking larger cuts of meat, like a rack of ribs or a pork shoulder. The double-walled steel also offers superior heat management and temperature control, which has earned it high marks from reviewers at enthusiast sites like AmazingRibs. Bigger and easier to learn, the Weber Summit is non-traditional in ways that optimize it for the Kamado’s grill’s biggest fan–the aspiring pitmaster.

Q+A From Our Experts

What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of a charcoal smoker compared to smokers that use other fuel types?

Charcoal smokers are usually considered a halfway point between wood and gas smokers. Wood smoke imbues your food with an intense and distinct flavor, but it's messy and requires more expertise to keep a consistent temperature for many hours.

Propane smokers are easy to use and clean up, but require heavy fuel cans, and gas doesn’t impart a smokey flavor like charcoal and wood. Charcoal creates a hotter fire than propane and produces a smokier flavor, but it's more difficult to clean up.

How do I clean my charcoal smoker?

After the smoker has cooled, scrape the grates with a nylon or horsehair brush. You can buff out stains on the grilling surface with warm water–avoid harsh chemicals like bleach. If the surface is starting to show rust in spots, you should re-season it with beef tallow or another cooking oil of your choice.

For more information on cleaning grills and smokers, check out our guide to cleaning BBQ grills.

What's the best kind of charcoal for smoking?

If you're a beginner switching from grilling to smoking, you should probably stick to charcoal briquettes, just like you’d use for a charcoal grill. Briquettes are pressed sawdust that have been molded into a small square shape. Briquettes tend to burn longer and with a more steady temperature than lump charcoal, which means it's easier to use overall for most people.

Once you get your barbecuing leg, you should try switching to lump charcoal, which enthusiasts tend to prefer. It costs more and it's harder to regulate its temperature, but it definitely makes a difference in the quality of the smoke. That said, you can always cut down the cost by making your own.

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