Best BBQ Smokers: Which One is Best for You?

Looking for the best BBQ smokers can be a challenging task. There are many styles, makes, and models – with some being old and trusted and others new and innovative takes on older styles.

This post highlights a few of the smoker styles out there t choose from – some you may have seen or used, while others may be new to you.

The Standard Charcoal Smoker

This Char-Griller 1224 Smokin Pro 830 with Side Fire Box represents the standard mid-level model smoker. It’s the best choice for folks who are really interested in getting hands on with smoking meat.

I like this grill because you get twice the options you pay for. It has a very large grilling area (830 square inches) and a side fire box (250 square inches) for true BBQ smoker flavor.

Temperature management is also made easy via a built in heat gauge and an airtight flanged hood.

Bullet-Style Water Smoker

One of the best stand alone, charcoal smokers for entry level BBQ enthusiasts is the Bullet Style Water Smoker. When you’re just starting out learning how to master smoking meat with a charcoal smoker, it’s wise not to go to pricey. For this reason, I do like the Meco 5031 Charcoal Combo Water Smoker.

One of the cool things about this Meco model is that it converts to a charcoal lock and go portable grill, which makes it perfect for tailgating!

Sliding access doors make it easy to check water and charcoal levels, and the built-in temperature gauge helps you maintain the right smoker temperature level.

Kamado-Style Smokers

I love Kamado smokers. Mainly because they do an awesome job of both grilling and smoking meats. I also love them because – well… they’re just freakin’ cool!

For those of you not familiar with this type of smoker and how it’s different from standard BBQ smokers, here’s the lowdown.

The Kamado style smoker is of Japanese origin – where a clay cooker called a “kamado” – a traditional charcoal or woo- fired earthen vessel is used as an oven.

Used as either a grill or a smoker – they even have a grate that works as a stove top for outdoor cast-iron skillet cooking.

The model shown here is the Dragon Fire Kamado grill. This unit produces a controlled chimney effect that gets you up to cooking temperature within 15-20 minutes -something traditional charcoal grills just can’t do.

Versatility is the name of the game here – as the kamado design allows you to grill, smoke, bake, roast and barbecue all kinds of food. Temperature control is a snap with this unit, as you can easily shift from low temperatures needed for smoking to high searing temperatures the perfect Filet Mignon or porterhouse steak. A temperature gauge is included and reads up to 900 degrees.