best backyard smoker

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Best Smokers To Shop, According To Experts And Chefs - Best Backyard Smoker

Not only is smoking food a great way to impart flavor, but it also preserves food for longer. By smoking meat and seafood, you can extend its refrigerator life anywhere from a few days to a few weeks (and months in the freezer).

Charcoal Grills That Will Make You Feel Like A Bbq Pitmaster

Best Outdoor Smokers Blog

The best BBQ smoker for you depends on the convenience you seek. You can get a barrel smoker, which will require hands-on tending of firewood, or you can buy a pellet grill which you can monitor and tend from your smartphone.

In between, there are charcoal, electric (sans pellets), and propane smokers. The thing to keep in mind when purchasing one is how much time you want to spend hunched over or standing beside it and how smokey you really want your food. "They're all great options, " said Steven Raichlen, creator of Barbecue University, Project Smoke, and countless grilling cookbooks. Read about how we tested the best BBQ smokers here.

If you're going to buy just one grill for barbecuing, Traeger's Pro 575 is a tank built to maintain perfect temperature and last well over a decade.

Finally Add A Pellet Grill/smoker To Your Backyard Bbq Setup For $349 (reg. $525)

Whether you're just getting into barbecuing or you've spent more days than you can count hunched over a stick burner, a pellet grill like Traeger's Pro 575 is hassle-free and offers steady temperature and smoke. It's also the heaviest-duty grill we've found for less than a thousand dollars.

One of the most important things about a smoker, or any barbecue grill that you're going to operate for hours at a time, is heat retention. If you can't keep steady heat, you're going to struggle to perfectly time and cook your food. We've tried multiple pellet grills (see more below), and while they've all done their job swimmingly, the Traeger is built with the thickest steel and maintains a temperature within about five degrees of your target. Try and do that with manual charcoal or wood-burning grills and you'll have your work cut out for you (you'll also learn quickly why Pitmasters earn their distinction).

Apart from the quality of the steel, all pellet grills follow the same design, more or less. Traeger might be the original, but there are plenty of other brands that come close, and if you want to save some money, Raichlen suggests looking to Green Mountain Grills' models.

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When our router was on the other side of two brick walls, we had some trouble connecting to WiFi using this grill. Though since relocating it, a lone wall hasn't been a problem.

Traeger, like many other brands, falls short in the way of accessories. Camp Chef's Woodwind WiFi series, which we also recommend, is modular; you can add on grill boxes, a 28, 000 BTU side-burner (great for searing, boiling, and clam bakes), a pizza oven, and much more.

If all you want your pellet grill to do is smoke and grill (they all max out at around 500 degrees Fahrenheit, so you won't necessarily pull off any high-heat searing), Traeger's is the one that's built the best and made to last the longest, which is why we think it's worth spending a little extra.

Best Smokers To Shop, According To Experts And Chefs

While we like the Traeger Pro series for people specifically looking to smoke and grill (with smoke), we haven't found any pellet grills as versatile as those in the Camp Chef Woodwind series, which we've been testing for over two years.

Apart from offering remarkably user-friendly interfaces, the smokers in the Camp Chef Woodwind series (we think the 24-inch model with 800 square inches of cooking surface area is best for most people) are compatible with multiple accessories, and it's hard to imagine something you couldn't cook.

The 10 Best Barbecue Smokers In 2021, According To Customer Reviews - Best Backyard Smoker

As far as attachments, we recommend Camp Chef's 28, 000-BTU Sidekick, an extremely powerful propane burner capable of searing anything and boiling massive stock pots of seafood (we put the latter to the test twice). The Sidekick also comes with a flat-top griddle and a grease catchment system, and you can add on the "Outdoor Oven" which is really a stainless steel pizza oven.

Best Outdoor Smokers — Blog

While this grill isn't made of the same hefty steel used in Traeger's Pro series, we haven't encountered any issues with it, and it's already been through two winters, accidentally left uncovered through snow, rain, and even hail, and is no worse for wear. We also really love the casters, which seem to be the same kind you'd find on industrial stainless steel carts.

If you want a do-it-all outdoor smoker (or grill for that matter) that lets you smoke, grill, braise, bake, boil, and more, this is our favorite modular option.

Author's note: Traeger's newly overhauled Timberline series is now available. It's a new design for Traeger, and we haven't tried it yet, but if you're looking for a more serious investment, it is worth a look.

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Traeger originated the pellet grill, and the brand makes the hardiest smokers we've tested thanks to the 13-gauge stainless steel exterior, cold-rolled stainless steel interior parts, and double side wall interior. This construction, along with the 36, 000-BTU burner, allows for better and higher heat retention (500 degrees Fahrenheit to the Pro model's 450).

The Ironwood series also comes with Traeger's Downdraft exhaust, a convection feature that helps circulate smoke rather than channel it upward and out a chimney. While Traeger only offers basic "smoke" and "super smoke" (the latter is only available when cooking at temps lower than 225), the fan helps up the smoke level at higher temperatures far more than we've seen in any other smoker.

The 7 Best Offset Smokers [2022] - Best Backyard Smoker

Between the double-walled stainless steel sides and the downdraft fan, you're going to get the most precise heat and smoke retention possible, which will also translate to better fuel efficiency. Where we saw upwards of 15-degree-Fahrenheit temperature fluctuations with other grills (Traeger's Pro model included) this one barely veered 5 degrees in either direction, and it stayed burning the longest without running out of pellets or reading an error message.

The 10 Best Barbecue Smokers In 2021, According To Customer Reviews

One minor downside is that there's no under-grill storage, which is really handy for those who like to keep a stock of pellets but don't have anywhere dry to keep them.

Overall, if you want something comparable to the ability of a Kamado Joe or Big Green Egg but doesn't require the fuss or extra investment (depending on what package you choose), the Traeger Ironwood series is your best bet for both function and longevity in the pellet grill department.

When it comes to charcoal smokers, there are almost too many designs to consider. That said, unless you're throwing massive backyard barbecues, smoking multiple briskets, or dealing with entire hogs, you probably don't need a ginormous offset barrel smoker (however alluring it may look).

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We find that Weber's Smokey Mountain series' 18-inch smoker offers the most for the casual at-home smoker. It has a relatively small footprint of about 20 inches, is made with the same solid steel and porcelain enamel as the brand's Original Kettle grills, and it will outlast most charcoal smokers on the market for the same price.

If you do want a large offset smoker, Raichlen says look to Horizon, Yoder, or Lang — I'd also add Texas Originals to the list — but know that they'll all weigh hundreds of pounds, and cost you four figures. We plan on testing these larger grills soon.

- Best Backyard Smoker

Depending on the amount of cooking surface area you require, you can size up to 22 inches (726 square inches) or down to 14 inches (286 square inches), but we think the 481 square inches offered by the 18-inch model (between two vertically integrated grates) is plenty for most.

How To Find The Best Barbeque Smokers

Setting this grill up is easy and straightforward, and once assembled, a pile of charcoal (we recommend hardwood charcoal), some wood-smoking chips (or split wood), and a basin (included) filled with water are all you need. You'll have to keep on top of the fire and airflow throughout to find the perfect balance — and make no mistake, that is an art unto itself, but also part of the fun.

I've spent the better part of a decade tinkering with and smoking all sorts of things with this very grill, and looking back on that experience I can say this: my most monumental successes in smoking have occurred on this very smoker, but so too have my greatest failures. If these prospects don't appeal to you, save yourself the anguish and consider a pellet, propane, or electric smoker instead.

Approach this grill for what it is knowing that while it's in some ways a starter smoker, and one that you can easily store away or station in tighter

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