Charcoal smokers are here to make your life easier and full of flavors. There are other kinds of smokers too, like electric and gas smokers, but they cannot beat the juicy and smoky flavor a charcoal smoker can add to your food.
A lot of people prefer charcoal smokers over the other types of smokers because of the perfect combo the charcoal smokers offer. They are less expensive, more portable, and produce amazing flavor.
Along with these benefits, charcoal smokers also have some drawbacks. One of which is that the smoker needs constant attention. It does not have an automatic temperature control system. Also, a charcoal smoker takes more time than other types of smokers. The charcoal needs extra time to reach the right temperature before getting to smoke.
| Product | Capacity | Weight | Our Smoking Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 363 sq in | 37.3 lbs. | 5/5 | |
| 290 sq in | 102.12 lbs. | 4.9/5 | |
| 895 sq in | 101 lbs. | 4.8/5 | |
| 726 sq in | 68 lbs. | 4.7/5 | |
| 240 sq in | 57 lbs. | 4.5/5 | |
| 477 sq in | 90 lbs. | 4.4/5 | |
| 784 sq in | 57 lbs. | 4.4/5 | |
| 147 sq in | 9.8 lbs. | 4.3/5 | |
| 900 sq in | 180 lbs. | 4.2/5 | |
| 521 sq in | N/A | 4.2/5 |
The Best Charcoal Smokers in 2020
Based on high demands and technological advancements, the manufacturers of the equipment have flooded the market with a variety of similar products with some subtle or noticeable differences. To help you find the best one, we have gathered a list of best charcoal smokers. These smokers are easily available and have the best customer reviews.
1. Best Overall: Weber Kettle Premium Charcoal Smoker
Key Specs:
- Smoking space: 363 square inches
- Grate width: 22 inches
- Dimension: 39.5 x 22.5 x 27 inches
- Weight: 37.3 lbs
If you are looking for a simple yet versatile charcoal smoker, Weber Kettle is the perfect solution. Weber Kettle offers the best value for your money. Their premium charcoal grill acts as both a grill as well as a smoker. So, you are free to use it according to your mood and requirement.
It is a 22-inch medium-sized griller that can easily fit thirteen burgers at a time. That’s plenty of space for your small BBQ sessions.
The steel-plated 363 square inches grate provides a good space for large-sized food items like ribs or turkeys to be grilled or smoked properly. The grate can easily stand high temperatures, enabling you to smoke your meat directly or indirectly. The grate is quite convenient to use and maintain. You can easily hold it with the handles on the side. Not only that, but you can also manage to add or remove the charcoals from the smoker during the process by folding the sides of the grate towards the center. So you do not have to lift and move the whole grate for that.
The built-in thermometer helps to monitor the temperature of the system, and the dampers help to control it. All you have to do is close the dampers to cut the oxygen supply of the system. It will extinguish the flaming charcoal without you having to open the lid.
The exterior of the smoker is porcelain enameled steel, which makes it durable and resistant to corrosion. Once you have opened the lid, you can hang it on the hook at the side of the smoker in case you do not want to place it on the ground. The lid handle is structured to stay cool to keep your hands safe from burning.
Many brands do not add wheels to their system, which makes it quite difficult to move them. But Weber has given considerable importance to this feature and has added strong and durable wheels to its premium smoker.
The smoker has an easy-breezy cleaning system. Its One-Touch ash collection feature lets you gather the ash into the ash collection tray and empty it whenever required.
PROS
- Durable and rust-free body
- Portability
- Built-in thermometer
- Large cooking space of up to 363 square inches
- Ease of temperature control
- Lightweight
CONS
- The instructions provided by the manufacturer to assemble the smoker needs to be worked at
- The lid hanging on the hook covers some part of the grate
2. Char-Broil American Gourmet Deluxe Smoker
Key Specs:
- Smoking space: 290 square inches in the main chamber and 140 square inches in the firebox
- Dimension: 28.25 x 60.25 x 51 in
- Weight: 102.12 lbs.
Char-Broil presents to you an amazing three-in-one smoker, which can also be used for barbecue and grills. Its ease of performance makes it quite suitable for beginners.
The smoker has a sturdy steel body. Two of its legs are equipped with wheels for locomotion, and the other two have square bottoms to keep the system stable.
The smoker is an average-sized range with 290 square inches of indirect cooking space. It also has a warming rack of 140 square inches, which serves as a direct cooking source. The main chamber is wide enough to smoke 18 burgers at once. This makes the range suitable for a large gathering.
The porcelain-coated grates can be adjusted at different heights. The system has extra trays for holding water and wood pieces, which might be added for extra flavor. It also has a shelf on one of its sides for holding food or cooking utensils. The chrome-plated handles are made to keep your hands safe from the hot lid.
The chimney vent at the top helps to control the temperature inside the closed chambers. The lid of the smoker has a temperature gauge and a damper to control it.
PROS
- Good smoking capacity
- Height-adjustable grates
- Chrome-plated handles
- Holding shelve
- Portable
CONS
- Quite heavy
3. Char-Broil Offset Smoker
Key Specs:
- Smoking space: Primary cooking area is 895 square inches
- Grate width: 40 inches
- Dimension: 61.7 x 46.2 x 22.9 inches
- Weight: 101 lbs.
The offset smoker has a massive cooking capacity ranging up to 895 square inches, which has a width of 40 inches depth of 22 inches. It provides enough area for 36 burgers to be grilled at a time. Along with that, the smoker also has a firebox that can be used as a smoking or grilling chamber. It is 26-inch wide and 22-inch deep, with three charcoal grates. These extra grates increase the smoking capacity of the system.
The grates used in the smoker are coated with porcelain to make them rust-proof and long-lasting. They are easy to clean and maintain. The side door of the firebox offers easy access to the ash collection chamber, which makes the cleaning process even easier.
With this offset smoker, you can be super relieved about monitoring and controlling its internal temperature. The lid-mounted temperature gauge continuously displays the smoker’s internal temperature for relaxed and easy smoking. You do not have to constantly check the temperature during the process and can give more time to your friends and family. The smoke chamber and the adjustable dampers help in controlling the temperature of the system.
This Char-Broil smoker can be transported to any place in or out of the house with its 8-inch large wheels. The wheels are attached to two of the legs while the other two are wheel-free. They provide stability to the smoker and keep it from moving during smoking.
The unit offers a large storage capacity through its side and bottom shelves, making it even more desirable. The smoker has a warranty for one whole year, so your investment on it will be safe for at least a year.
PROS
- Thermometer gauge
- Temperature damper
- Adjustable height of the grate
- Easy cleaning
- Portability
- Large storage capacity
- Large smoking area
CONS
- Difficult instructions
- The brand needs to improve customer service
- The handle can come off easily in some cases
4. Weber Smokey Mountain
Key Specs:
- Smoking space: 726 square inches
- Grate width: 22 inches
- Dimension: 24 x 23 x 48.5 inches
- Weight: 68 lbs
Weber’s Smokey Mountain is one of the highest-rated charcoal smokers. It is simple, easy, and spacious.
The smoker has a steel body covered with porcelain, which prevents it from rusting and extends its lifespan. This saves you a big chunk of your money by not having to invest in a smoker every year. The product dimensions are 24 x 23 x 48.5 inches, and it weighs around 68 lbs., making it a little heavier for its shape, though still lighter than many others. This also makes it difficult to move, and the absence of wheels add to the drawback.
The range has three sections:
- The lower part where the charcoal goes
- The middle one with cooking grates
- The top part is the dome-shaped lid
The range also has two nickel-plated cooking grates, which constitutes a large cooking area ranging up to 726 square inches. It is huge enough to smoke two large food items at a time, making it a suitable smoker for a large group.
The smoker has a built-in thermometer, displayed on its lid. It also has a silicone grommet to monitor the system’s internal temperature, relieving you from having to check the temperature now and then.
You can easily regulate the temperature through the dampers, which can cut off the oxygen supply to the fuel to put it out.
The fuel door on the side of the smoker enables the user to securely add charcoal or wood into the system during the process. So, you do not have to lift the grate out of its place or pause the process for any such reason.
PROS
- Two cooking grates provide an increased cooking area of up to 726 square inches
- Built-in thermometer for easy temperature monitoring
- Dampers to control the temperature
- Removable side door for fuel control
CONS
- Quite expensive than other smokers
- Does not have wheels to be moved around
5. The Classic Pit Barrel Smoker
Key Specs:
- Smoking space: 240 square inches
- Grate width: 18.5 inches
- Dimension: 21 x 21 x 31.1 inches
- Weight: 57 lbs
PBC’s Classic smoker is one of the best-selling products of the brand. It is of the shape of a drum giving you the perfect idea for a DIY drum smoker. It is a thirty-gallon steel drum with a lid and a small hole at the bottom that do great wonders in flavoring your food.
The drum offers a unique way of smoking your meat by hanging it on the hook inside the drum. The two holes near the lid of the drum are for adjusting the hangers to hang the hooks on.
The brand offers eight stainless steel hooks for a lot of cooking at once. The hooks keep the meat in the center of the drum for maximum coverage on all sides. Plus, the cylindrical build of the smoker spreads the heat evenly. So you do not have to worry about rotating it or turning it for full coverage.
Along with the hook, the drum also has an 18-inch chrome-plated cooking grate for small food items. People usually use this to smoke the meat on the hooks as when the juice of the meat drips over the charcoal; it adds a juicy and aroma-filled flavor to your food. However, you can use both the grate and the hooks at the same time if you want. You can hang the meat on one side and keep the grate item on the other. Altogether, the classic smoker has a 240-inch smoking capacity.
A charcoal basket is placed at the bottom of the barrel with a damper on its side of the drum to provide quick and easy control over the amount of heat and smoke in the system. The damper is 3-inches large and is necessary to be set according to your elevation from the sea-level.
The ash collector below the charcoal basket makes the cleaning process easier than ever. The ash falls directly on the collection tray, which can be easily removed and cleaned. However, you cannot carry this helpful product around as it lacks wheels.
PROS
- Unique meat hanging smoker
- Great performance
- Lightweight
- Easy to clean
CONS
- Expensive
- Not portable
- Can turn very hot
6. Akorn Kamado Charcoal Smoker
Key Specs:
- Smoking space: total 477 inches
- Grate width: N/A
- Dimension: 26.6 x 24.8 x 21.6 inches
- Weight: 90 lbs
Char-Griller’s Kamado smoker can flavor your food like a clay oven. The smoker is amazingly versatile and can exactly act as you want it to.
The smoker has a durable structure with powder-coated exterior and porcelain-coated interior steel. The system has 314 square inches of the iron-plated grate with 133 square inches of warming rack. Together they form a spacious smoking area. You can remove the warming rack when not in use.
This Kamado smoker has three 22 gauge steel walls, which makes the smoker a good heat insulator. This enables the body of the smoker to retain heat and maintain the desired temperature for as long as you want. It can easily maintain temperatures between 200⁰ and 700⁰ Fahrenheit. The smoker is perfect in all its functions, be it high-heat smoking or slow roasting. The design of the smoker makes it quite efficient, and you can get good results with less fuel. So you do not need a lot of charcoal to get a high temperature. This can also help you save some money.
The maintaining of temperature is quite easy with the two dampers, one at the top and another at the bottom. The top dampers are adjustable, enabling you to control heat and the airflow to achieve the perfect balance for a juicy and properly smoked meat. It also has a temperature gauge for a continuous temperature display. The bottom damper is mainly to control the flow of air through the system to control the temperature. The two dampers help to achieve the optimum point of smoke and heat inside the system.
The lid’s locking feature also ensures that no heat escapes during the process.
The ash pan is to make your smoking a lot easier by enabling you to clean up easily. The ash pan collects the ash to keep it in one place, so to save you from all the mess it can create.
The two side shelves are very useful for keeping food items or cooking utensils. It helps to make the whole process a lot manageable. You can fold them away when not in use.
It has two 8-inch large rubber wheels at the front and a rear locking caster to make the smoker portable and secure. The brand provides you with a complete guide to easily assemble and use the range. It specifically focuses on the adjustment of the damper by providing specific guidelines on how to adjust them for different types of food at different temperatures.
PROS
- Durable steel structure
- Portability
- Fuel efficiency
- Locking wheels
- Good smoking capacity
- Ease of temperature control
CONS
- Very expensive
- Difficult to get used to the dampers’ positioning for various food items
7. Dyna-Glo Offset Charcoal Smoker
Key Specs:
- Smoking space: 784 inches
- Grate width: N/A
- Dimension: 20.2 × 34.52 × 47.03 in.
- Weight: 57 lbs
This Dyna-Glo charcoal smoker has a unique cabinet style. A glance at its exterior can get you wondering what you might get from the inside.
The smoker is an excellent solution for all your outdoor cooking and smoking activities at a very affordable price. The smoker is perfect to use the whole year.
This offset smoker has a huge smoking capacity ranging up to 784 square inches, which lets you smoke around 150 lbs. of food at once. You can distribute the total weight over six grates instead of just one, unlike many others. This lets you smoke a variety of dishes together. It saves a lot of your time and enables you to serve a large gathering in one go. An amazing thing about the smoker is that it hardly weighs about 57 lbs.
This Dyna-Glo smoker has a durable body due to the heavy-duty steel used in its construction. It has been coated with High Temp powder to give it some extra life. You can protect this wonderful smoker with a Dyna-Glo cover, but you’ll have to buy that separately.
The smoker’s dual door enables you to easily regulate the volume of charcoal and flavor by the small door opening to the fuel chamber. This lets you control the fuel without disturbing the smoking process, which is accessed by the other door. It saves your smoker from heat loss, which can lead to inefficiency.
The fuel chamber contains a heavy gauge steel basket, covered by porcelain. The system also has an electrical ignition system to quickly ignite the fuel, saving you from the trouble of achieving the required ignition stage of the charcoal. This gives you extra time to spend with your friends and family
The offset structure of the smoker makes it suitable for slow-smoking or infusing flavor. You can easily control the temperature of the system by adjusting the stacks’ flue, which acts as dampers. The smoker also has a temperature gauge to help you monitor the temperature.
PROS
- Dual-door
- Affordable
- Large smoking space
- Easy to clean
- Electrical ignition system
- Durable construction
- Lightweight
CONS
- Lacks portability
- Does not include a user manual
8. Weber Smokey Joe Premium
Key Specs:
- Smoking space: 147 square inches
- Grate size: 14.5 inches
- Dimension: 15.4 x 15.6 x 9.2 inches
- Weight: 9.8 lbs
The Weber Smokey Premium is the best portable charcoal smoker. The smoker is quite compact and lightweight, weighing only 9.8 lbs. It has a 14.5-inch wide smoking grate, which can fit up to five burgers at a time. It offers a total cooking space of 147 square inches.
The exterior of the smoker is porcelain-enameled, which makes it rust-proof and durable. It also enables the smoker to retain heat and maintain the temperature for a longer time.
You can secure the interior of the smoker with the lid’s lock, which can also act as a lid holder. Its dampers help to control the internal temperature.
PROS
- Easy to transport
- Lid locking system
- Lightweight
- Easy to clean
- Secure handle
CONS
- Small smoking space
- Grates can rust
9. Oklahoma Joe Reverse Flow Smoker
Key Specs:
- Smoking space: 900 square inches
- Grate width: N/A
- Dimension: 33.5 x 57 x 53 inches
- Weight: 180 lbs
Oklahoma offset smoker is one of the highest-rated charcoal smokers. It has a massive smoking capacity ranging up to nine hundred square inches in total. The main chamber has a smoking area of 619 square inches while the firebox chamber, which can also be used to smoke, is 281 square inches.
The reverse-flow system works to add amazing flavor to your food by guiding the smoke throughout both the chambers and evenly distributing it. This lets the smoker make sure that not a single inch of your food remains unflavored.
You can completely customize the smoker according to your wish with the removable baffles and smokestack.
The firebox has a fuel basket made up of stainless steel for long-lasting performance. It helps in cleaning, too, by collecting the ash and not messing the whole smoker. The body of the smoker is steel-based. The grates are coated with porcelain for a rust-proof and durable performance.
The dampers are really efficient in maintaining the smoker’s temperature. They help to maintain the required temperature.
The heat-resistant lid handle makes it safe and easy to hold the lid even during the process.
PROS
- Reverse-flow of heat and smoke
- Heave-duty construction
- Portability
- Customizable
- Large smoking area
CONS
- Quite heavy
- Expensive
10. Cuisinart Charcoal Smoker
The Cuisinart charcoal smoker is a durable smoker with a heavy-duty steel body, covered with porcelain for a rust-proof and shiny look.
It is a medium-sized smoker with two eighteen inches wide stainless steel grates. They provide a total smoking capacity of 521 square inches.
The smoker has three parts. The upper part of the smoker is mainly the lid with its heat-proof handle. The lid also has a built-in thermometer to help you monitor the temperature constantly without having to open the lid. Moreover, it has a damper for heat control. This part of the smoker also involves the upper smoking grate.
The middle part of the smoker has the other smoking grate. On the outside, this part also has two handles on the sides to carry or move the smoker. It also features the side door, which lets you add or remove the charcoal from the system anytime you want. The door is long enough to let you access the grate too.
The last part of the smoker is the fuel chamber, where the fuel burns to smoke the food. It also features the dampers to control the internal temperature of the system.
The smoker is very easy to assemble and use. The ash pan relieves you from the trouble of cleaning the large unit. Over the charcoal grate is a wood chip holder that enables you to add different flavors to your food.
PROS
- Easy to assemble
- Side door
- Large smoking area
- Durable construction
- Easy to clean
CONS
- Dampers can turn too hot
- Heat can escape during the process
Things to Consider Before Buying a Charcoal Smoker
These were some of the best charcoal smokers that you will easily find in the market or online. If you want to try something other than these, then you must know the key features to look for in a charcoal smoker. They include:
Smoking Capacity
You must know the number of people you’ll usually be serving with the smoker. If you have a large friends’ group or big family gathering, then you must go for the one with a large smoking capacity.
Your Budget
The amount of money you can spend on a smoker is completely up to you. You can go for a small smoker if you can’t afford a big one.
Portability
If you are a person who loves changes, then the portability feature is important for you. The smokers with durable wheels travel with you to any place you want to take them to.
Build Quality
The build quality shows the durability of the smoker. A heavy-duty steel body tends to last longer than light-duty steel. The outer coating is also important to check because you’d not want to keep a rustic smoker.
Warranty
Many manufacturers provide a warranty with their products. They can be long-term or short-term. Sometimes a warranty only covers limited parts or features of a product. In the case of charcoal smokers, Weber offers the longest warranty of ten years.
User Manual
A user manual is of great help throughout the life of the smoker. It shows you how to set it up and use it properly. It also provides you with warnings and safety precautions.
Temperature Management
Temperature management is a crucial feature of smokers. It is usually difficult with charcoal smokers because they do not have an automatic system for that. So you must get the one with the best temperature management controls.
Care and Maintenance
Cleaning and maintaining the smoker in the right way requires proper attention. Be sure to check the cleaning feature of a smoker because you do not want to end up with a messy charcoal smoker to make smoking your nightmare.
Conclusion
Although our lifestyles have advanced with the scientific advancements and availability of electrical appliances like electric smokers, they cannot provide the traditional and mouthwatering flavors that charcoal smoker can. So, if you too want to enjoy restaurant-like smoked meat, then you must lay your hands on a suitable charcoal smoker. You can also carry your portable charcoal smoker to outside gatherings for a smoked meal together in the open air.
The different styles and sizes can provide you with a wide variety of charcoal smokers to add to your barbecue collection. The pros and cons all being mentioned must help you decide the best smoker for you.
If you are looking for something small and more portable, then Weber’s Joe smoker is the perfect solution. Weber’s Premium smoker is the perfect medium-sized, portable, and highly affordable smoker to have for middle-ranged gatherings. However, if you often serve large gatherings, then the Dyna-Glo cabinet style smoker is a good choice. Be sure to check out our reviews of the best pellet smokers.
