The Gas Grill Review and Gas Grill Rating Guide - Helping you choose the Best Gas Grill

The Best Charcoal Smoker and Meat Smoker To Buy

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Now that you've discovered smoked foods, you're looking for the best charcoal smoker out there. It really depends who you ask. Some people are just fine smoking meat on their kettle grill, others have great success with the Texas style offset smokers, others like the bullet shaped vertical water smokers, pellet smokers are fairly popular, and the rest are attracted to the exotic ceramic cookers because of their versatility and efficiency.

Here are a few questions you need to ask yourself before you select the best meat smoker for your needs...

How many people will you be cooking for on a regular basis? Are you competing, throwing huge parties, or simply feeding a modest sized family?
How much time do you want to spend monitoring your cook? Do you like to meddle for 4 -12 hours? Or would you rather be mowing the lawn?
How much space do you have for the best charcoal smoker?
How much do you want to spend on fuel for each smoke?

The first meat smoker I got was a Char-griller Smoke N Pro charcoal smoker. These are Texas style smokers with an offset side firebox. While the main body can be used as a grill and a smoker (without the firebox), it's easier to get indirect heat with the side firebox. Unfortunately, these are leaky and can require a lot of charcoal to get the job done. Well, at least it does for me. I haven't spent much time doing modifications.

Let's see what's popular by what sells the most. Then, we'll take a look at some of the interesting alternatives available, but possibly out of your price range.

Best Charcoal Smoker (Best Selling)

Weber 721001 Smokey Mountain Cooker 18-1/2-Inch Smoker - The WSM is by far one of the most popular and highly acclaimed meats smokers on the market. It's been around for years, although it has recently gone through a major engineering facelift. Weber has listened to their customers request and done a great job with the new and enhanced features. Read the reviews -- Possibly the best charcoal smoker on the market. Why don't you vote?

Charcoal smoker for authentic smokehouse flavor at home
Can accommodate a whole turkey and an entire ham at the same time
Made of porcelain-enameled steel; 2 nickel-plated 18-1/2-inch-wide cooking grates
Water pan; thermometer; individual vents on bowl and lid; heat-resistant nylon handle
Measures approximately 19 by 19 by 41 inches; 10-year limited warranty

Bradley Original Smoker - The Bradley line are very unique pellet based smokers. They are designed with the belief that wood smoke has got to maintained in a consistent fashion to deliver the best taste. The results are good, but you might be paying a little bit more for the fuel than you would with another type of smoker. Read the reviews -- Do you think a pellet smoker is the best charcoal smoker?

Fully automatic smoker
4 Cooking Racks
8 hours of controlled cool smoke
Cooks meat, chicken, pork and fish
9 different flavors of hardwoods

Char-Griller 1515 Patio Pro Model Grill - This is basically the Char-griller side firebox on it's own stand. Very small. While a best seller, it's probably better suited for grilling than smoking meat. Read the reviews

Side Drawer, Cast Iron Cooking Grates, 250 In. Grill Area
Stay Cool Wood Handle, Side Shelf
Double Steel Bottom
Side Air Vent
Wheels for easy mobility

Char-Griller 2137 Outlaw 1038 Square Inch Charcoal Grill / Smoker - What you're looking at here is basically what I own, without the side firebox. There is a lot of cooking area, so they can be excellent grills when you have large gatherings. I also know some folks that swear by them for smoking. Personally, it was too much work for me. Read the reviews

Heavy Gauge Steel Construction and Double Bottom for Years of Use
Airtight Flanged Hood with Heat Gauge
Cast Iron Grates Provide Even Heat and Locks In Flavor
1065 Sq In Total Cooking Area (725" Main Grill + 340" Warming Rack)
Adjustable Fire Grate for Easy Clean Up and Heat Control

The customer ratings align themselves very well to the best sellers so no need to rehash that here. However, I'd like to share a few of the best charcoal smokers that aren't as easy to find online; at least not to purchase. These are awesome grills, convection ovens and meat smokers all rolled into a charcoal smoker, so here we go

The Big Green Egg ceramic grill - The only place I know you can order it online is from Fred's Music and Barbecue. These ceramic cookers are designed to retain heat, so you have low fuel consumption - use lump. They also retain moisture, so your food will not dry out during the meat smoking process. Many happy users of the BGE think this is the best charcoal smoker on the market.

The Large has an 18" cooking grid.
It weighs 140 lbs
It has 255 square inches of cooking area
It can fit a 20 lb turkey, 12 burgers, 6 chickens vertically, 8 steaks or 7 racks of ribs vertically
Picture is the XL version which has a 24 inch diameter and you can just about double the capacity numbers mentioned above.

Primo Oval XL Primo Oval Smoker Ceramic Charcoal Grill - Extra Large - This is direct competition to the BGE XL noted above. With rack extensions you can get up to 680 square inches of cooking surface. As with the BGE, it's an excellent all around cooker and excels at meat smoking. You'll also be forking out some extra $$ for the accessories you'll need for indirect cooking. There's also a vibrant market selling custom tables to mount these unit is.

20-Year Warranty

Premium Grade Ceramic

Black Porcelain-Glaze Finish

Cool-Touch Handle

Stainless-Steel Bottom Ve

The Bubba Keg Convection Grill - I own one of these and have a written a lot about it. While not ceramic, it is based on the ceramic cookers above. It uses double steel walls wrapping oven grade insulation. This charcoal smoker is also a very good grill. I've controlled mine from 200° F to 700° F with no problem. That's versatility. The others are versatile too, except when it comes to price. The Bubba Keg Grill is nearly half the cost of the ceramic cookers, and is probably more efficient. I've been using the same bag of lump for almost a month and I cook on it nearly every day.

Easy to use
Efficient use of fuel
Easy to clean
Transports on a trailer hitch!

Well, that's a quick run down of the best charcoal smoker. But now comes the important part. We need you to vote for your favorite charcoal smoker. Which do you think is the best?

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