Blog

Nov 13, 2024

The 5 Best Smokers for 2024, Tested and Reviewed

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Find the right smoker for your backyard, and let it take the sweat out of home

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.

Find the right smoker for your backyard, and let it take the sweat out of home barbecue.

In This Article

Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

There are many ways to smoke food, and I’ve witnessed many of them. Some are off-the-shelf solutions. Others are... more esoteric and practical. My father-in-law smoked in an old pink oven in the backyard that he’d torn out of the kitchen. I’ve even watched someone smoke mullet in an old filing cabinet. I’ve had barrels and offsets and electric models for restaurants. But we’re here to guide you through the more conventional consumer options.

Charcoal or pellets will get you the closest to wood-fired smoking. Charcoal smokers, however, require more hands-on time than other models. Gas smokers offer a more reliable means of heat regulation, at the sacrifice of some flavor and texture. Electric smokers involve no flame, so they’re safer and can produce good results, albeit with the same concessions as gas versions.

So, how do you navigate this heavily populated field? We exhaustively tested 55 gas, electric, charcoal, pellet, and kamado smokers, including some smoker-grill combos, to find the best of the best. Read on to learn about the pros and cons of each, plus what to look for in a smoker.

This charcoal smoker is easy to use, highly responsive to heat adjustments, and easy to clean.

Assembly was a stumbling block, and it uses a considerable amount of fuel, which can be challenging to restock when following the manufacturer’s directions.

One look at this sizable charcoal smoker could put off a smoking neophyte. But, after getting through the assembly process (preferably with a second set of hands), this smoker takes only a gentle learning curve. We didn't have to adjust the vents often to regulate the heat, thanks to dampers on the top of the smoker and on the side of the firebox. We did, however, remove some coals about an hour in to cool it down a bit. The heat control was very responsive.

The Dyna-Glo produced tender ribs with just enough pull and a great smoky flavor — not to mention, the thickest smoke ring in our tests. The charcoal gave the wings a clean, light smokiness that turned into a stronger, somewhat bitter aftertaste. The smoke didn't detract from the chicken, and it turned out juicy.

The best type of smoker comes down to preference, but we named a charcoal model as our overall top pick for a few reasons. First, a charcoal grill gives you the smokiness you're likely looking for, and the Dyna-Glo's ventilation helps prevent the acrid flavor that comes with excessive smoke. Second, given its size, it can cook for a crowd, but keep in mind that it will burn a lot of fuel. It also has a grill surface over the firebox so that you can grill and sear, too. Finally, an experienced smoker will be pleased with the results, and a beginner won’t be intimidated from learning.

Dimensions: 46 x 25 x 59 inches | Weight: 124 pounds | Cooking Area: 1,382 square inches

The Smoke Vault is very beginner-friendly and has a large cooking capacity.

We wish the assembly instructions were more precise.

The Camp Chef stood out to us as one of the best smokers we tested across categories, comparable to our Best Overall. Test after test, it impressed us with consistent results (a rarity among smokers) and a solid, stable construction. Its vault-like design sealed smoke in, with dampers at the top and bottom to release it. It produced some nicely smoked chicken wings, salmon, and ribs with no acrid flavor. The skin of the chicken wings and salmon crisped up a bit without the flesh drying out. A bit of bark formed around the ribs, which was a pleasant surprise for a gas smoker, as we'd otherwise expect it from charcoal or wood. The ribs also had a decent smoke ring.

The assembly instructions gave us some challenges, and it sometimes required two people to align some pieces. We also recommend getting to know the baffle system because, at times, we found it almost too responsive to slight adjustments. Otherwise, the cooking ran smoothly. We really liked how long the wood chips and the water in the pan lasted, which meant less hands-on time for us. Between a drip pan that caught essentially all of the drippings and a removable bottom piece, cleaning it was very easy, too. Experienced and inexperienced smokers will both appreciate the Camp Chef for its control and lack of mess.

Dimensions: 24 x 16 x 30 inches | Weight: 75 pounds | Cooking Area: 780 square inches

The Masterbuilt is easy to operate and clean, and its heat was consistent.

It’s bulky, so ensure you have enough space to operate it safely. You’ll also want to enlist an extra person to make setup easier.

For a digital experience and an easy entry into smoking, consider the Masterbuilt. We had no issues setting it up and starting to smoke, thanks to clear instructions, and the control panel was straightforward to learn. Yet, we'd recommend bringing in a second set of hands to assemble the smoker. It has a sound construction, which meant smoke didn't escape from places not intended for that purpose.

The racks were sturdy and had stops to prevent them from sliding all the way out when loading food. The chip tube was easy to access and fill, which was good because it required two refills over the course of the cooking tests. The digital controls allowed us to maintain a consistent heat, and this produced good results in our tests. The ribs and chicken came out equally moist, with a good smoke flavor. We would have liked to see more bark development on the foods we smoked, but that's the nature of an electric smoker.

Dimensions: 26 x 41 x 20 inches | Weight: 73 pounds | Cooking Area: 970 square inches

It has multiple connectivity and app options and a high-capacity hopper, which means less refilling.

It’s heavy, and despite its wheels and casters, it can feel cumbersome. Also, some may find the smoke flavor it produces too subtle.

Traeger made its first wood pellet smoker/grill in 1988 and has led the field since then. The Pro 780 holds its own, with a fair price for its features and performance. On top of the auger-driven pellet hopper, which regulates fuel and temperature, the Pro 780 offers multiple connectivity options, including Bluetooth, WiFi, and Alexa integration, on top of its proprietary app.

It produced a slightly more muted smoke flavor than Traeger’s more expensive models, and it consistently ran about 10 to 15 degrees hot during our long smoke test. Those points aside, the pork butt developed a nice bark and a noticeable smoke ring. The Traeger also grills and bakes, so there’s some nice multifunctionality for those who don’t want a single-purpose appliance.

Dimensions: 55 x 27 x 49 inches | Weight: 150 pounds | Cooking Area: 780 square inches

The Konnected Joe has excellent heat control and retention with a strong seal to retain heat and moisture.

It’s heavy, and adding charcoal is difficult.

The Konnected Joe is your typical Kamado grill, turned up to 11. It has a thick, ceramic construction that heats quickly and retains that heat, but it also has a digital control panel (and Bluetooth and wireless app connectivity) to regulate the temperature via a fan while providing instructions on manipulating the damper system. Because of that, the Konnected Joe was fantastic at maintaining a steady temperature throughout a long smoke, using surprisingly little fuel. The fuel consumption part is good because adding more charcoal involved removing grates and diffusers, and it wasn’t a pleasant operation. But, I ran pork butts for 10 hours on the Joe without the need to restock the charcoal, so that minimized that issue.

Like the Traeger 780, you can also do high-heat grilling and baking on the Joe, but our focus was on smoking. One of the key pieces of that was the seal around the lid, which closed in heat and moisture, keeping the ambient humidity up and minimizing the dreaded “stall” when smoking. It’s a great set-it-and-forget-it smoker, but you can always go analog with it and get highly involved in the cooking process if you’d prefer.

Dimensions: 47 x 48 inches | Weight: 216 pounds | Cooking Area: 255 square inches

We really like the Dyna-Glo Signature Series Vertical Offset Charcoal Smoker for its ease of use, quality of results, and value for the money. It stood out in all areas of our testing, and while assembly would be easier with a second person, that does nothing to negate the results it produced in a model that’s great for beginners and experienced smokers.

Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

Are you an electric, gas, or charcoal fan? Do you have limitations on what fuel you can burn where you live? While the best grilling cookbooks take into account a variety of heat sources, your personal preference plays a significant role in your choice of a smoker. Electric is a good, consistent choice for even temperatures. Gas provides an equivalent amount of heat and control without the need to be near an electric outlet, but a gas line or propane tank has its restrictions as far as ventilation and space go. Charcoal requires a learning curve to find the "sweet spot" for temperatures, but you get the advantage of flavor; this also goes for cooking with wood.

Chips are easily obtainable but require soaking and frequent refilling of the chip box during smoking. Pellets are versatile across the spectrum of heat sources but may require special ordering from the manufacturer, decreasing the likelihood of spontaneous barbecues. Charcoal generates considerable ash, but can last through a long cook and keep steady heat. Wood generates an equal amount of ash and requires more storage space and occasional log splitting, though many prefer the flavor and aroma that wood brings to a cook.

Construction materials can vary, but the most critical thing to look for in a smoker is its ability to retain heat. Thin construction radiates the heat out of the smoker, which means that it is not cooking the food inside. Temperature fluctuations from the heat escaping can result in dry, tough smoked foods, or worse, the food is still half-cooked, tough, dry, and you're out of fuel.

How much room are you willing to give to your smoker? Don't forget that you might also need to store wood, pellets, or charcoal. Ideally, one wants a covered space away from the elements to aid the longevity of their equipment. If you're dealing with limited space, are you willing to trade the room for a table or chair for your smoker?

While you may have a permanent space in mind for your smoker, portability is worth considering should you need to move it. Unlike the average portable grill, smokers tend to be large and heavy, so if you plan to keep yours in storage, factor in its size and weight as well as any features, such as wheels or handles, that would help make moving it back and forth easier. Finally, if you ever want to transport your smoker to the beach, a campsite, or a friend's backyard, a lighter and more compact model may help you get more mileage out of your purchase.

We put all the smokers and grills we tested through the same tasks that you, as a consumer, would face after purchasing them. First, we rated them on the ease or difficulty of assembling them. Then we took general impressions of their construction, including whether they seemed flimsy and sealed tightly. We noted how easy or difficult it was to access vital components (water pans, chip trays, or refilling charcoal or pellets) and how easy they were to move.

Then, we tested how well the smokers did their job with food, using a short smoke and a long smoke test. The short smoke test was chicken wings, and the long smoke test was either ribs or pork butts, both taking considerably longer than chicken wings. For our pellet grill/smoker tests, we loaded each with chicken wings and covered them for smoking, noting the amount of smoke the grills produced. The grills that did the best moved on to a long smoke test with pork shoulder. After each test, we rated the meat for taste, texture, appearance, smoke level, and any acrid aftertaste. For the long smoke tests, we also took bark development and smoke penetration into account.

Food & Wine/Russell Kilgore

Finally, as all projects ended, we cleaned the smokers, rating them on how easy or difficult they were to clean and if there were any particularly stubborn pieces to clean. We rated each category on a scale of one to five and then averaged the category totals to arrive at our final score for each smoker or grill.

The one exception to these tests was the Konnected Joe, which I tested at home. Although I used similar procedures and considered the same factors, this kamado grill was not pitted against others. Instead, we felt that it deserved a spot on this list and the title of Best Smart Smoker based on home testing.

Pit Barrel Cooker Classic Package 18.5-Inch Drum Smoker ($400 at Amazon)The Pit Barrel was our runner-up in the charcoal smoker testing. It produced excellent results in our smoking tests, but it is not something we’d recommend for beginners. The Pit Barrel has a steep learning curve for temperature control because of its single damper and charcoal capacity. It took us a few attempts to find the proper airflow and fuel load balance to achieve and maintain the desired temperature. But, again, it produced very good ribs and chicken wings once we mastered those issues.

Char-Broil Analog Electric Smoker ($200 at Amazon)The Char-Broil Analog is a good entry point for electric smokers. Once you understand the heat controls, it provides reasonably steady smoke and fairly moist, lightly smoked meats.

Dyna-Glo 30-Inch Digital Bluetooth Electric Smoker ($253 at Amazon)The Dyna-Glo is a good entry into app-connected electric smokers, and it produced some of the best food in our electric smoker testing. Our concerns were about safety; the cord is very short, making it difficult to place at a distance from a building for fire prevention, and the chip pan got very hot to handle when it needed refilling.

Pit Boss 3-Series Gas Vertical Smoker ($330 at Amazon)The Pit Boss is a good gas smoker for someone who likes to take an active role in smoking food. You’ll be monitoring the temperature, chip consumption, and water usage throughout, but in the end, it produced well-cooked food, even if we’d prefer a bit smokier flavor.

The process is fairly straightforward. Smoking is an extension of slow-roasting, exposing food to low heat over a long period of time to tenderize it, break down tough connective tissues, and render excess fat. After seasoning food to your liking, via a brine, rub, or just dusting with salt and spices, the food is placed on racks that allow the heat and smoke to circulate around it. From there, heat source, fuel, and design dictate how the actual smoking occurs. In short, the heat source ignites the fuel, and the smoke and heat get to work on flavoring and slow-cooking the food.

Yes. The preferred method is to use wood chips because of their lower ignition temperature. There are many choices available for boxes and pans suited for use inside a gas grill to fill with the wood chips of your liking. Some folks like to up the game a little by soaking their chips in rum or bourbon instead of water to add an extra element of flavor.

Yes. Many chefs and pitmasters use charcoal as the heat source for both cooking and igniting the wood used for smoking, which gives barbecue of all types its distinctive flavor. Bahr likes to start his smoker with charcoal lit in a chimney starter, then alternate layers of wood and charcoal in the firebox to build a bed of coals.

Greg Baker is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and food writer with four decades of experience in the food industry. His written work appears in Food & Wine, Food Republic, Serious Eats, Tasting Table, and other publications. He has written extensively about grills for Food & Wine, including the Best Grill Brushes, Infrared Thermometers, Best Pitmaster Tools, Best Flat Top Grills, and more.