Best Propane Smokers Of 2023

Cheaply priced propane gas smokers provide quick fire setup and simple BBQ smoking. This manual is for you if you want excellent gas efficiency and delicious outcomes. Here are the top 9 propane smokers for low and slow cooking.

For barbeque beginners, propane smokers offer the best of both worlds by providing low and slow cooking with simple operation.

In this guide, I’ll show you everything you need to know to pick the best propane smoker for you.

Masterbuilt MPS 340/G ThermoTemp XL

Masterbuilt has updated and redesigned their well-known smoker ranges, adding a number of new features that set them apart.

The new thermostatic temperature control system from the company is one of the highlights. You can better manage the cooking temperatures you use to smoke meat by having more control over how much gas is used at once as a result.

Huge cooking space

With its four chrome cooking racks, the Masterbuilt ThermoTemp XL provides you with a ton of cooking area.

This propane smoker is one of the largest we’ve tried, with a total cooking area of 792 square inches provided by these cooking racks.

Although Masterbuilt offers a budget model dubbed the 330G, upgrading to the XL is unquestionably the wisest course of action given the additional room.

Temperature range

The 180°F to 350°F (82°C to 176°C) cooking temperature range is provided by Masterbuilt’s XL propane smokers.

This conveniently enables you to achieve the appropriate heat we’d want for superb barbecue smoking, as well as enabling you to raise the temperature to achieve a good crispy finish on your favorite ribs or chicken skin.

The smoker offers helpful features that can help maintain constant temperatures when cooking. One such function is its burner monitoring, which allows it to keep an eye on airflow in order to stop any gas release should weather conditions like wind or rain be messing with your smoker’s heat levels.

The possibility of flare-ups or hot patches with propane smokers or barbecues is a typical issue. With this smoker, Masterbuilt has expertly countered this.

The smoker has heat diffusers above each of its burners to aid in more evenly distributing and retaining heat.

Masterbuilt did a fantastic job at attempting to assist you in simulating traditional BBQ smoking. The wood chip feeder at the smoker’s base is one of the greatest methods they’ve managed to do this.

It’s a nice detail that makes it much simpler for you to add and remove wood chips from the chamber as you smoke without interfering with the airflow.

The built-in thermostatic control is a significant improvement over the thermometers that come with the majority of contemporary BBQ smokers. In addition to reading temperatures, it also responds instantly to changes in heat to maintain the most efficient and constant cooking temperatures.

There is a simple propane connector on the smoker. The tanks for many propane smokers are located right in the middle of the smoker. When it’s time to replace them, getting to them will be challenging. On the other hand, the Masterbuilt XL features simple access, making refilling gasoline a breeze.

You will always be aware when your propane is getting low because of the clear fuel monitoring gauge. No more losing gasoline in the midst of a smoke.

accessible chip plate The chip access door mechanism enables you to easily access your wood chips without having to alter the temperature of your meal or smoker.

Final verdict

The Masterbuilt MPS 340/G features every feature a propane smoker might ever require. ThermoTemp XL is one of the largest smokers available today and has one of the nicest thermostatic controls we’ve ever seen. Its cooking area is 792 square inches.

Dyna-Glo 36″ Vertical LP Gas Smoker

A wonderful alternative that offers many of the same features as the Masterbuilt but at a lower cost is the Dyna-Glo vertical propane smoker.

It’s one of the greatest starter smokers available today since, despite its low cost, you still get a lot in return. The smoker has a total cooking area of 784 square inches spread across its four steel wire cooking racks.

It includes a two-way entry port, just like the Masterbuilt, so you can reload wood chips or a water pan without having to open the main cooking chamber.

When you consider its cost, this is a serious smoker. If you’re preparing food for a large number of people, it can easily manage large chunks of meat or enormous amounts.

Temperature control

A 15,000 BTU burner, which receives power from a control dial at the unit’s base, is managed by the device. This is very simple to light and is lit by an electronic starter.

Build quality

The quality of construction is where the low price point starts to tell.

It is not at all a poorly built device, but when we tried it in colder and windier conditions, we saw a significant change in the chamber temperature.

This can make it difficult to maintain ideal cooking temperatures for low and slow smoking. It shouldn’t be a problem as long as you can protect the smoker from the elements, but for many people, it might be difficult.

Final verdict

This propane smoker is ideal for beginners to learn on before moving up to something more durable or charcoal-fueled. Although it starts up very quickly and is quite simple to operate, don’t expect its temperature stability to be as good as that of its competitors.

Cuisinart COS-244 Vertical 36″

Although the Cuisinart company is arguably best recognized for its kitchen appliances, their forays into the barbeque industry are noteworthy.

Their propane smoker range is one of their best efforts to date.

The COS-244 Vertical offers 784 square inches of cooking surface over four steel racks, just like many other smokers do.

Additionally, it provides two entrances to the smoker, making it simple to replenish your supply of wood chips or refill your water pan.

Quality construction

Cuisinart did an excellent job of designing a reliable smoker while keeping the pricing point in mind. We didn’t experience any extreme hot spots or temperature swings when using it because the materials used to make it feel sturdy and long-lasting.

However, the smoker’s construction includes more than just strong materials. The construction is nearly airtight, as seen by the excellent work Cuisinart did on the smoker’s door. Although temperature loss around the hinges of any smoker is common, they did a fantastic job in this case of keeping it to a minimal.

Water pan and wood chip box

The design of the water pan and wood chip box on the Cuisinart is one of our few minor complaints. Since they are both very little, you will need to replace them more frequently than you would with other models. Although it might just seem like a little annoyance, it can quickly become grating.

Additionally, the water pan is placed beneath the wood chip box. This is a perplexing design since it implies that the wood chips will become dampened by the water vapor that is produced as you smoke. They are therefore challenging to start and maintain a flame.

Final verdict

The Cuisinart COS-244 is a fantastic budget smoker with top-notch build and craftsmanship. Even though it has several baffling design issues, it is still more than capable of keeping smoking temperatures steady for hours on end.

Masterbuilt MPS 20B Patio-2-Portable

Another Masterbuilt should not be a surprise to find on this list, but this tiny smoker offers far more than its diminutive dimensions might suggest.

There aren’t many portable smokers out there today, especially considering that portable charcoal grills are everywhere.

It’s good to see Masterbuilt come up to the plate as propane smoking is ideal for traveling. Do they deliver, though?

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Patio-2-Portable is cramped for room. Although Masterbuilt claims that two racks of ribs may fit in the chamber, we had to chop the ribs to fit.

However, at just 22 pounds and 16 inches wide, it is the ideal size to bring along when traveling.

Heat retention

The Patio-2-Portable distributes and maintains cooking temperatures impressively effectively considering its size.

It boasts strong airflow that prevents excessive heat buildup, and we found no significant heat loss issues near the door hinges.

Water pan and wood chip plate

The smoker comes with a small water pan and chip plate. They are so little, in my opinion, that they are practically useless.

Although you can get around this by purchasing your own disposable metal plate and pellet tube, Masterbuilt should have given this issue a little bit more thought.

Final verdict

By offering incredibly excellent performance and heat retention, the Masterbuilt Patio-2-Portable successfully overcomes its tiny size. The absolute greatest portable smoker available right now.

Smoke Hollow 44-Inch Vertical

Straight out the box, the Smoke Hollow is impressive. This thing is huge.

How do we even start? Five cooking racks are crammed into this vertical propane smoker, giving you a total of seven cubic feet of area to work with.

In real terms, this is over 800 square inches of cooking space.

Yeah, this thing is big.

The racks are arranged to serve multiple functions. There are two regular racks, one lattice rack ideal for ribs, and two mixed-style grids among them.

Dual burners

I truly appreciate this smoker’s versatility. The two burners that are located at the bottom of the appliance mostly supply this.

Each burner has an output of 11,000 BTUs, for a total of 22,000 BTUs. This gives you a broad range of potential cooking temperatures when combined.

Similar to propane gas grills, more burners usually equate to greater cooking control.

With two burners, you may cook the bigger cooking area at greater temperatures if necessary, or you can cook at a lower temperature and use just one burner to save fuel.

Build quality

This smoker is a tough one. This is made of welded steel and chrome mesh and is intended to effectively retain heat.

The hinges are especially prone to heat loss due to their vertical construction. However, the construction components are otherwise capable of doing a flawless job of preserving heat.

In order to minimize the impact of any necessary reloading on smoking temperatures, the foot of the chamber provides separate access to the water pan and wood chip storage areas.

Final verdict

The largest propane smoker we’ve ever used is this one. Its 44-inch frame houses a lot, including dual burners and five enormous cooking racks. This propane smoker is probably the finest value available right now for anyone wishing to upgrade to a larger frame.

Camp Chef 24″ Smoke Vault

OK, let’s address the elephant in the room here.

Yes, this does look just like a bank safe.

However, the Smoke Vault makes no attempt to conceal it, and with its branding and dial design, there is a lot of amusement to be obtained here.

Camp Chef is no stranger to the barbecue scene, having amassed a vast fleet of grills and smokers. How does this entry compare, then?

Build size and quality

Although the price difference between the 24-inch and 18-inch versions of Camp Chef’s unique smoker is not great, we always advise choosing the larger model.

The Camp Chef stands out from the pack in a world full of flimsy-feeling gas grills and smokers. In spite of its small size, this 22-inch smoker seems quite durable.

Fuel-efficient

Many people make the error of assuming that little smokers are inherently poorly manufactured, but the Camp Chef isn’t one of them.

The smoker can accomplish a lot with the fuel provided by its small size. When compared to other models, it can smoke at 225°F for hours while using far less propane.

Final verdict

A compact, inexpensive smoker that delivers what you want while cutting out extraneous details: a durable meat smoker that is simple to use. Perfect for backyard barbecue enthusiasts who only require a simple, energy-efficient solution.

Char Broil Vertical

With grills and smokers, Char-Broil has frequently been a reliable choice, but with this vertical smoker, the company has demonstrated that it is ready to compete with the big dogs.

This vertical smoker makes a major effort and strives to deliver exceptional performance, even if doing so increases the cost slightly.

But is it worth it?

Small cooking space

Despite its outstanding vertical construction, the entire cooking space doesn’t amount to much when expressed in real terms.

This gas smoker’s chamber is smaller than most of the others we’ve tried, measuring 595 square inches.

This is more than enough to handle all single cuts of beef and is by no means a small amount. Additionally, it will enable batch cooking, however you may need to be astute in how you arrange your meat.

However, it’s difficult to shake the impression that Char-Broil blew this chance.

Solid vertical design

Despite any issues with the smoker’s slender shape, this design has benefits.

Any additional expenses for the smoker will undoubtedly be offset over time by fuel cost savings because it enables the smoker to utilise fuel incredibly efficiently.

Additionally, the vertical design maximizes airflow across the smoker chamber. This simply means speedy cooking and simple beginning.

Final verdict

Due to the high fuel and heat efficiency of our Char-Broil smoker, you can cook food rapidly while reducing long-term expenses. It has a sturdy construction and is attractive, but if having a large cooking area is important to you, you might want to seek elsewhere.

Masterbuilt 44-Inch

Get ready for this monster.

2,000 – yes, two thousand – square inches of cooking space are available with the Masterbuilt 44-Inch.

But bigger does not always mean better, even with barbecue smokers, so is this added space worth the investment?

This smoker can hold big chunks of meat in batches, as its size would imply. Therefore, if large batch smoking for BBQ gatherings is important to you, this smoker may be the right choice.

Considering its small, it uses gasoline incredibly effectively. Given that this is not typically the case for large barbecues or smokers, this is really outstanding.

It’s perplexing that Masterbuilt forgot to include a wood chip plate because the one they offer almost reaches the necessary width to support a device of this size.

I advise buying a sizable one, though you could perhaps temporarily get by with a cast-iron pan.

In a similar vein, the water pan is smaller than you might anticipate for a smoker of this size. You can upgrade or get past this, just like with the wood chip pan, but given Masterbuilt’s prominence in the BBQ world, this is irritating.

Final verdict

The smoker that Masterbuilt has created is quite stunning and will be ideal for those who enjoy cooking in huge quantities. Considering its size, it has exceptional heat retention and dispersion, which ought to attract a large number of new enthusiasts.

Landmann Smoky Mountain Vertical Smoker

This industrial looking smoker from Landmann has a build and cooking size that matches its aesthetic.

You have ultimate control through its easy dials and airflow dampers.

This might be a propane smoker, but its range of adjustable inputs make it as close to the real thing as possible.

With a total cooking area of 1576 square inches, Landmann has created a smoker that is incredibly durable and seriously stunning.

With its side dampers and top-facing chimney, together with its adjustable temperature settings on the control panel, this smoker’s many more features allow you complete control over the heat.

Final verdict

This smoker is of the highest caliber and offers superb cooking control and area. Although it is an industrial unit that is beyond the means of the majority of individuals, if you want to engage in batch smoking, this may be the smoker for you.

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Propane vs. electric smokers: What’s the difference?

Despite the fact that both propane and electric smokers are simple to operate and quick, there are some significant distinctions between them. What you should know is as follows.

Unlike electric smokers, which use simple electricity from a socket, propane gas smokers are fueled by liquefied petroleum gas from a propane tank. Every few weeks, propane tanks need to be replaced, raising the cost of gas as a result of ongoing expenses.

However, compared to anything you could cook on an electric cooker, the meat you prepare will have a better barbeque flavor because to the adaptability and quality of smoke given by propane gas smokers.

How to use a propane smoker

The allure of using a propane smoker is similar to that of using a gas grill in that they are quick to light and have simple temperature controls. To make the most of your BBQ cooker in the backyard, use these suggestions.

When cooking, keep the temperature stable by using a water pan. Some smokers can use the provided water pan, although they are inexpensive to purchase. When cooking, the water in the pan may evaporate, so if you plan to smoke for an extended period of time, you will need to refill it frequently.

The flavors and smells of your cuisine can be improved with the use of wood chips. Apple, oak, and hickory are common smoking woods. Fill the smoker box or tray that came with your cookers before using them.

Keep your wood dry. Some recipes instruct you to soak your chips before smoking them, but I advise against it. Cooking temperatures will be affected, and the smoke quality will be ruined.

How do propane smokers work?

People who want the least amount of smoke frequently opt for propane smokers. This is a wise choice if you plan to cook in a tiny, enclosed area. Smokers who use propane are also preferred for the set-and-forget operation. Propane smokers aren’t all that different from wood and charcoal smokers, despite the differences.

An upright propane smoker is constructed similarly to a vertical locker at school or a closet with shelves. The interior would feature shelves and metal walls, which is the sole distinction. Given its location at the bottom, the burner will have more than enough space to heat the entire chamber. A hose links this burner to the propane tank a short distance away.

You will locate a wood pan above the stove where you will put wood chips. These will be heated by the burner and their taste infused into the meat. To control the temperature and add moisture to the operation, a water pan is placed above this one. A cooling rack is the following level. The smoker’s largest component is this.

Smokers come in a variety of sizes, and the larger ones typically include hooks at the top from which you may tong food. The quantity of grates varies as well. You can smoke more food the more there are. The computerized controls make it simple to turn the smoker and assist regulate temperature, which is another factor in their popularity.

Features to look out for

Size & total cooking area

A key factor to consider is the smoker’s size and overall cooking space. You can use this to determine how much meals you can prepare at once. This is also determined by the chamber’s overall size. The total amount of cooking space is also increased by the smoker’s number of grates.

The size is important because it affects how much cooking you can do and how much meat you can put whole into the smoker without trimming. To prepare a wide range of foods, you need shelves with depth. The amount of food you can prepare for people also depends on size. Food prepared on a large smoker will serve 20–30 people. Small smokers can have inside spaces of up to 40 inches square.

Temperature range

How adaptable you are will depend on the temperature range. To smoke a variety of foods, look for a smoker with the widest range.

Cooking racks

Find out the smoker’s capacity in terms of cooking racks. This can help you determine how much meals you can prepare at once. Check if they can be modified, as well as how they sit in the cooking chamber. You will have flexibility as a result. The majority of racks will have 3 or 4 racks.

Two-door access

Two is preferable to one. You have more room to fit the meat in a smoker with two doors. The size of food you can fit in depends on the breadth of the cooking chamber.

Construction quality

It’s always ideal to use a smoker that is constructed of a material that is very heat resistant. It must be sturdy enough to withstand the heat without degrading as a result.

Advantages of propane smokers

1. There are a couple of advantages of using propane smokers.
2. Cost. Propane smokers are generally less expensive to buy than other smokers. This is especially true when compared to electric smokers.
3. Portability. These smokers are connected to a tank, where the gas is stored, and easy to move around. This means that you can take your smoker virtually anywhere and not need to connect it to a power line. They are not as bulky as other smokers.
4. Clean. Smokers that are run on propane are generally cleaner. You will spend less time wiping down surfaces, unlike what happens with charcoal grills. Propane has a lower smoke emission. Also, there is no ash or residue to clean up after cooking.
5. Easy ignition. Digitalization has made it easier to start up and switch off smokers. Turning the ignition on will switch on the burner, thereby producing heat instantly.
6. Temperature control. Propane smokers come with a thermostat that helps to regulate the heat. Also, they are built with vents that you can open and close for this purpose.
7. Flavor. They give off a smokey flavor, better than what you would get with an electric smoker.

Disadvantages of propane smokers

1. Construction. In most cases, propane smokers are made of thinner steel and can cause durability issues.
2. Heat retention. This is a significant feature to look for, and propane tanks do not usually light the heat retention on wood and charcoal grills.
3. Tank replacement. Propane tanks may need to be replaced after long hours of smoking. In most cases, smoking takes a long time, and during this time, the gas may run out. You may find it easier to replace pellets or charcoal than to replace a tank.

Should you add wood chips? How often?

You should, indeed. To give the meat a smokey flavor, wood chips are placed to the wood pan. When adding more wood chips to a smoker, there is no rule that must be followed. However, you can add them every five to six hours. The type of smoke will serve as your guide. With practice, you’ll get better at this.

How long will a propane tank last on a smoker?

There are various sizes for propane tanks. The most typical tank size is 20 pounds. Between 18 and 20 hours will probably pass throughout this. Depending on the pricing in your area, knowing how much you will need every hour will help you determine the general cost of filling the tanks.

A tank’s cost will vary depending on its size. However, a 20-pound tank should cost between $20 and $30, and a 100-pound tank may cost up to $100. Additionally, the price will be determined by the manufacturer. Additionally, you can check the gauge to determine the propane level in the tank.

Alternatively, you can pour warm water over the tank and run your hand down if you don’t have a working gauge or are working in poor light and can’t see it. The tank will be warm when it is empty and cool off when the propane level is reached.

Propane smoker vs. pellet smoker: What’s the difference?

1. A propane smoker uses propane gas, while a pellet smoker uses pellets for fuel.
2. Pellet smokers have a smokier flavor thanks to the pellets.
3. Pellet smokers are more costly than propane smokers.
4. If you run out of gas, you need to replace it with another tank, which can be inconvenient. Still, you will need to replenish the pellets with a pellet smoker, which won’t stop the smoking process.

Last update on 2023-03-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API