Grill Reviews

Smokers: offset, vertical, electric and drum, and what holds low heat

A smoker cooks at 225 to 275 °F for hours with wood smoke passing over the food. Four designs do that in four different ways, and the specification sheet tells you which one you are looking at before it tells you anything else.

What the category is

Offset smokers burn wood or charcoal in a firebox beside a horizontal barrel; smoke drifts across the meat and out a stack. They are the traditional pit and need tending. Vertical smokers — bullet or cabinet — stack racks above a fire and a water pan, hold temperature well and take little space. Electric smokers heat wood chips on an element with a thermostat and need no fuel management at all. Drum smokers hang meat over a charcoal basket in a steel barrel and run hotter and faster. Pellet grills also smoke, and have their own hub.

How to read the spec sheet

Type comes first, because it decides how much work the cook does: an offset needs a fire fed every hour, an electric needs a socket and a chip tray refilled.

Cooking area in square inches, and on a vertical smoker the number of racks and the space between them — a rack too close to the next will not take a whole brisket.

Steel thickness, where the manufacturer states it in gauge or millimetres, is the specification that separates a smoker that holds 225 °F on a cool evening from one that swings with every gust. Offsets in thin steel are the classic disappointment, and a review should say when the sheet does not give the figure.

Temperature range and control: an electric or a pellet smoker names its range and its controller; a charcoal smoker names its vents. A built-in thermometer in the lid reads the lid, not the grate, and a review should say so.

Water pan, firebox and dampers: the water pan on a vertical smoker is what steadies its temperature; the firebox size on an offset decides how long a fire lasts; the number and position of dampers decide how finely either can be tuned.

Fuel and capacity: chip tray capacity on an electric, charcoal basket volume on a drum, and the run time the manufacturer claims from a full load, which is the figure an overnight cook depends on.

Weight and footprint: offsets are heavy and long; verticals are tall and narrow. Both are on the sheet.

Who it suits

An offset for someone who wants to tend a fire and has the space; a vertical for a patio and a first smoker; an electric for a balcony, a beginner, or anyone who wants to set 225 and go to bed; a drum for someone who cooks hot and fast and likes the simplicity.

Who should skip it

Anyone who mostly grills. A smoker sears badly or not at all, and a pellet grill or a kamado does both jobs. Anyone without a few hours to give a cook should look at electric before anything else.

Where to start

Six of the 22 smokers grills reviewed on this site, one per model, across manufacturers. Every review is written from the manufacturer’s published specifications — how, and what that leaves out.

All 22 smokers grill reviews

Newest first. Consumables, accessories and parts that were once filed here are excluded.