All You Need To Know About Charcoal Smokers!

Thanks for visiting Charcoal-Smokers.com!  This website is intended to provide you with all you need to know about BBQ charcoal smokers.  If you love to BBQ, then there's a good chance you either own a charcoal smoker and are looking for new ideas, or you just do a lot of grilling on charcoal and/or gas grills and are interested in expanding your BBQ equipment inventory to include a charcoal smoker for "low and slow" cooking.  If you fit either one of those categories then you've come to the right place!

Why Should You BBQ On Charcoal Smokers?

Barbecuing on charcoal smokers are preferred by both amateur "back porch" BBQ fanatics as well as those on the competition circuit.  The reason is that cooking with charcoal provides a nice smoky flavor in the food, especially when you add a few chunks of smokewood or wood chips to the charcoal bed during the cook.   

What Types Of Charcoal Smokers Are Available To Purchase?

There are vertical charcoal smokers such as Weber Smokey Mountain charcoal smokers (also referred to as "bullets") that consist of a charcoal grate in the bottom section, a water pan above that for indirect cooking and then the grill grates about that.  The air vents are typically located on the bottom and top sections allowing for an upward air draft that slow cooks the food with the slow burning charcoal and as well as the steam from the water pan.

Some companies manufacture "cabinet" style charcoal smokers that consist of a fabricated steel cabinets, insulated walls and a charcoal grate or tray at the bottom (they kind of look like commercial refrigerators or warmers).  Backwoods Charcoal Smokers are one such company that I highly recommend you check out.  Another popular company are Stumps Charcoal Smokers.  

Both the Backwoods and Stumps cookers are completely sealed and well insulated so they run very efficiently and use less charcoal than a lot of other models on the market.  They aren't cheap though and start around between $800-$1,000 for the smallest models and then quickly increase from there with their largest models.  Generally speaking, most guys that invest in a smoker like a Backwoods or Stumps are either involved on the competitive BBQ circuit or VERY serious BBQ fanatics.

There are also horizontal "offset" style charcoal smokers that generally consist of two barrel-shaped chambers.  There is a large one that is the main cooking chamber and then smaller "offset" chamber that is the fire box.  When considering offset BBQ smokers, it's very important to note here that there are two main categories of offset charcoal smokers: cheap offset smokers and expensive offset smokers. 

The cheap offset smokers (or sometimes referred to as "COS's") usually have the two separate barrels, made of cheap materials and don't maintain heat well.  A couple examples of these are Brinkmann charcoal smokers and Char-Griller charcoal smokers.  The biggest issue with these lower quality BBQ smokers is that it's common knowledge that heat and smoke want to go up, not to horizontally.  These lower end cookers simply discharge the heat and smoke straight out of the firebox chamber (instead of channeling it like more expensive models) into the larger cooking chamber and therefore the temperature is very hot on the side closest to the firebox and the meat will quickly dry out.  It also causes all kinds of air control issues.  We highly recommend to stay away from these low end BBQ smokers if you are even slightly serious about BBQing.

Expensive offset smokers (or "EOS's") are typically the ones you see at competitions or rigs that professional caterers are using.  These horizontal smokers are much different in that they are made of very thick steel and retain and distribute heat well. Some of the most expensive models have a reverse flow system that travels the heat and smoke across the bottom of the smoker below the food so it enters the cooking chamber on the opposite side of the firebox and then slowly drifts back across the food to the firebox side where the chimney is mounted and exits the smoker.  Most charcoal smokers like these are purchased by manufacturers that solely specialize in large, professional BBQ smokers that are meant to be used in a commercial environment (such as BBQ restaurants or professional catering) or by competitive BBQ teams.

In additional to traditional vertical and horizontal charcoal smokers, you may also be intersted in kamado charcoal smokers.  Kamados are generally made of thick ceramic walls are incredibly versatile in that they can cook at extremely high heats (good for searing steaks) or very low heats (good for "low and slow").  Kamado BBQ smokers, also commonly referred to as ceramic grills, have been around for centuries (starting out as clay pots) and control heat better than any charcoal smokers on the market because of their 1" - 2" thick ceramic walls.