Contents
- 1 Top 5 Best Offset Smoker: Comparison Chart
- 1.1 Get That Classic Smokehouse Flavor - Dyna-Glo Signature Series DGSS1382VCS-D Offset Charcoal Smoker Review
- 1.2 Customize Your Cooking - Dyna-Glo Vertical Charcoal Smoker Review
- 1.3 Best Overall: Dyna-Glo DGO1176BDC-D Offset Smoker Review
- 1.4 Heavy-gauge All-steel Construction - Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn Flow Smoker Review
- 1.5 Big Capacity Charcoal Pan - Royal Gourmet CC1830F Offset Smoker & Grill Review
- 2 Buyer’s Guide: All You Need to Know About The Best Offset Smoker
- 3 Best Offset Smoker FAQ
- 4 Verdict and Our Recommendation for 2020
Top 5 Best Offset Smoker: Comparison Chart
Get That Classic Smokehouse Flavor - Dyna-Glo Signature Series DGSS1382VCS-D Offset Charcoal Smoker Review
- Features five chrome-plated cooking grates and a total cooking space of 1382 square inches
- Heavy-Gauge Steel Body Construction. The temperature gauge features a smoke zone which indicates the ideal temperatures for infusing the perfect amount for smoking flavor. Also, the cool to touch handles, allow you to access fuel and food safely.
- Cool-touch spring lid grip provides safer access to food
- Stainless temperature gauge with "Smoke Zone" indicates the ideal temperature for infusing smoke flavor
- Oversized steel wheels for mobility before and after use
Customize Your Cooking - Dyna-Glo Vertical Charcoal Smoker Review
- 4 cooking grates
- 784 square Inch of total cooking area
- Charcoal & ash management system includes charcoal chamber, charcoal grate & removable ash pan
- Protect your smoker with a custom-fit Dyna-Glo premium cover - Model DG784GSC (Sold Separately)
- Stainless temperature gauge with smoke zone indicates the ideal temperature for infusing smoke flavor
Best Overall: Dyna-Glo DGO1176BDC-D Offset Smoker Review
- Heavy gauge porcelain enameled steel wood chip box
- 15,000 BTU Heavy Duty Cast Iron Burner; Electronic pulse ignition system ensures quick and reliable ignition
- 784 square Inch of total smoking area; Smokes up to 100lbs of food at a time. Dimensions : 20.2 × 34.52 × 47.03 in. Weight : 57 lbs
- Dual door design minimizes heat loss while adding wood chips throughout the smoking process
- Heavy duty steel body construction with High Temp powder coat finish for durability and long life
Heavy-gauge All-steel Construction - Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn Flow Smoker Review
- 1,060 total Square inch cooking surface- 751 Square inches in the main chamber, 309 Square inches in the firebox chamber
- Reverse-flow smoker employs a Series of 4 baffles to guide heat and smoke through the main chamber delivering an even and delicious result
- Removable baffles and optional smokestack locations for a customizable setup. Number of Grates: 4
- Firebox chamber features large stainless Steel fuel basket and clean-out door for easy ash removal
- Heavy-gauge all-steel construction, porcelain-coated cooking grates and multiple dampers for easy heat and smoke control
Big Capacity Charcoal Pan - Royal Gourmet CC1830F Offset Smoker & Grill Review
- Assembling easily, adopt new process,the paint on the burn box won't flake.total 800 sq inches cooking surface, 438 sq inches of main chamber, 1/4” diameter porcelain steel cooking grates; 179 sq inches for chrome warming rack; offset smoker provides extra 183 sq inches cooking area with porcelain steel cooking grates.
- Combination offset smoker, good for smoker and heating, side door for easy adding charcoal, air vent grants better air flow.
- Heavy duty lid, with professional thermometer, big stack and cool-touch spring handle. Adjustable damper for better air flowing.
- Big capacity charcoal pan, contains 5 lbs charcoal at once; lifting handles adjust the height of the charcoal for better heating
- Steel mesh front table and bottom shelf, provide plenty of working and storage space, very easy to clean up.
Buyer’s Guide: All You Need to Know About The Best Offset Smoker
What Is An Offset Smoker?
An offset smoker is a popular form of an outdoor grill/smoker bbq that has a large cooking chamber alongside another chamber called the firebox that holds the charcoal and wood for burning. The best backyard offset smoker will have multiple cooking shelves in the chamber for grilling all sorts of meats simultaneously. Imagine being able to grill racks and racks of ribs and pork shoulders and not making your guests patiently wait with empty plates! Even the thought is so satisfying. That is the hallmark of a great host.
Despite heavy competition from other cooking ware, an offset smoker is one of those traditional types of smokers that have consistently been a favorite of people who love high-quality juicy meat done right outside in their backyard.
An offset smoker is often called the following other names
- Barrel cooker
- Side firebox cooker
- Horizontal cooker and
- Pipe smokers
Do all the offset smokers look the same? Well, yes and no. While most of the models have a horizontal cooking chamber, they also come in different configurations like the vertical offset smoker and the reverse flow smoker.
Benefits Of Using Offset Smoker
An offset smoker grill is an excellent addition to your backyard and is a handsome machine to boost your culinary skills. Apart from the killer looks, the best offset smoker 2020 has the following benefits:
- It is capable of not just producing a wide variety of meat across genres but is also capable of making them right smoky and juicy till the center.
- The large cooking shelves in the horizontal cooking chamber means that you can cook a lot of food all at the same time, allowing you time to socialize with your guests.
- It is easy to add more fuel or wood chips for burning without even touching the cooking chamber. This means that the temperature and smoke level in the chamber does not dissipate and cooks evenly.
- Almost all offset barrel smoker are relatively inexpensive
- They allow you to grill the meats also
- They are durable and can last a lifetime if they are looked after well.
- The food is simmered in it, thereby protecting all the nutrition in it.
- It is ideal for large chunks of meat
- It is energy conserving as it can run only on firewood
- It requires no electricity, and so you can set it up anywhere that you like.
Now calling friends over for a tete-a-tete is no more a scary proposition. Simply invest in the best offset smoker under 500 and be ready to accept all the compliments coming your way gracefully!
How Does A Smoker Work?
The working of the offset smoke grill is effortless. Most of the commonly found models have two horizontal cylinders or boxes that are both sealed and placed adjacent to each other. Both cylinders are of different sizes.
The smaller of the two cylinders is called the firebox. This is where the charcoal and/or the wood fire. This box is placed a little lower in position than the larger one. This position is important because the fuel burns and forces the smoke to enter into the other box. The other box is referred to as the oven or the cooking chamber. The smoke aids the cooking of the meat inside the larger containers, and the rest of it escapes through the chimney in the bigger cylinder.
A couple of the bestselling models of offset barrel smoker may also have a third cooking chamber where the smoke passes before finally escaping through the chimney. Smokers with three chambers exponentially decrease the time of cooking, making the meat richer and smokier.
The controls are in the form of exhaust vents. You have to simply adjust the intake of air and open or close the exhaust vents to increase or decrease the temperature inside the chamber and the amount of smoke. The more the oxygen, the hotter and faster the fire will burn.
What Can You Cook In An Offset Smoker?
If you bring home the best offset smoker, be assured that you are going to never run out of ideas to make your meals creative and fun. Most of the meats that need to be traditionally cooked on slow heat are the ideal candidate for offset smokers. A few of the examples that we can think of are:
- Pork ribs
- Pork butt
- Large chunks of meat
- Beef and pork fillets
- Briskets
- Chicken wings
- Chicken thighs and
- Sausages
Please note that this is by no means an exhaustive list. You can be as creative as you’d like and cook, smoke and grill just about any type of meat you and your family and friends love.
Offset Smoker Vs. Vertical Smoker
- Offset charcoal smoker has a small firebox to help filter out heat and smoke through an interconnected cylinder that is placed adjacent to it. Еhe smoke and the heat that is built exits through the chimney vent that is strategically placed at one end of the firebox.
- Reverse flow smoker has a steel baffle plate with holes in it that are placed below the cooking racks in the bigger rectangular box. Its main purpose is to distribute heat evenly in the cooking chamber and to filter out all the smoke built so that meat gets exposed and cooked evenly and so that you need to rotate the pieces.
- Offset smokers can run on pure wood. You can even combine charcoal and wood for smokier richness.
A vertical smoker, on the contrary, is vertically positioned. They come in a lot of different configurations, and you may have to study the market before you zero in on the one that may be right for you.
The different fuel types are
- Charcoal smokers
- Water smokers,
- Ugly Drum Smokers (UDS)
- Box smokers,
- Electric smokers and
- Propane smokers.
Vertical smokers using charcoal are essentially vertical cylinder, and you place to fire at the bottom of the cooking chamber or in a firebox that’s joined to the cooking chamber by an internal damper
These work by drawing all the smoke upwards through the cooking racks and exit smoker at the top of the drum. They may also have a pan that sits above the fire that improves heating.
Vertical smokers can be powered by wood fire alone but if you are someone that loves their meats smokier than always, simply add a dash of charcoal fire and look how many faces are going to light up at the dinner table!
How To Use An Offset Smoker
At the outset, it may look damn intimidating to use, but once you realize how easy it is to regulate the heat in them, place the food in the chamber and cook it till it is smoky good, you are going to love it and look forward to cooking in them more often.
Here is a step by step tutorial on how to use an offset bbq smoker
Step 1
Season, the smoker. If it’s a new smoker, use warm soapy water and wipe it. You can rinse it to clear away the dust, grease, and shavings and let it dry before applying a thick layer of cooking oil on the inside of the cooking chamber.
Step 2
Open the vents and light fire in the firebox. Let the fire burn for a minimum of 30 minutes with all the vents open and let it die down.
Step 3
Now set two probes for checking the temperature in the smoker- one at each end of the cooking chamber. The built-in thermometer on the lid only measures the temperature at the top of the grill, and it is not the most accurate temperature that you want to read.
Step 4
Open-air intake vent and the chimney vent. This will supply the needed oxygen. The smoke so generated will escape through the chimney vent. You may adjust the vents during the cooking so that you are effectively able to cool with the heat and smoke so generated. Light the fire and spread coals in the firebox. Close the lid. Once the fire is hot, add flavor, hardwood and close the lid on both the firebox and the cooking chambers.
Step 5
Monitor the temperature inside the cooking box.
Step 6
Arrange meats on the grates. You can even place refrigerated meat in the cooking chamber without getting it back to the room temperature. Close the lid and sit back!
- Check the temperature of the firebox every half hour to make sure the fire is still going.
- Rotate food once an hour. Use food tongs to move and turn the meats so that all the sides of it are evenly cooked.
- Placing a pan full of water in the firebox will ensure that the meats do not dry out over a very long smoking time. The smoke becomes moist while going into the cooking chamber.
- The addition of moisture can be done with spraying cider, beer, or more water using a clean spray bottle.
How to Choose the Best Offset Smoker
Dimensions
This depends on whether you are going to be smoking and grilling for your family or a large group of friends. If you love entertaining family and friends in your backyard, then you may want to go for a larger cooking chamber vis a vis what you’d pick up only for your personal use.
Cooking Surface
Consider smokers that are made with heavier gauge materials like stainless steel. That will help to retain the heat for a longer time and at an even heating temperature. Stainless steel is the choice of material for most insulated offset smokers because it is much more durable and lasts almost a lifetime.
Fuel Type
Charcoal
- These can be given five stars when we are talking about rich smoked flavored meats.
- They also come in a range of sizes, and there is one for everyone.
- It actively adds to the flavor
- The nitrogen oxide gives the meat an authentic smoke ring.
Propane
- Simpler to use
- They are hassle less as propane is easily available.
- You may have a direct hook up to your homes, or you could purchase a refill tank that is easy to procure
- Temperature is easier to control
- It is easy to make changes to the amount of heat product unlike when using charcoal or pellets burner
- It is easier to start the propane grill, and it is much faster when compared to the charcoal one. It would take you only a quarter of an hour to get the adequate smoke to let you begin cooking.
Wood
- Gives a truly smoked flavor
- Is cheap
- Can be procured for free
- Allows a lot of versatility as the type of wood can give a unique taste to the meats
- It is a natural fuel, and you can be sure that there are no side effects in the long run
The best propane smoker on the market today; you won’t believe what is on number 1!
Materials
It is essential that once you are looking for a reverse flow offset smoker, you must watch out for one that is made with heavy gauge metal. This will ensure that there is a good smoking environment. The lid of the cooking chamber and the firebox must be made in stainless steel so that it is rust-proof. The dampers, as well as the seals, must also be made from high-quality materials. This will ensure
- Efficient smoking environment
- Retention of more smoke
- More control on temperature
- Better fuel efficiency in terms of money and usage.
Sturdiness
You want to be able to buy a small offset smoker, but you must look for models that come with strong legs and stronger underneath wheels. The latches, the hinges, the lids, and the other accessories all have to be A1 in class and quality to be able to withstand regular use and not give away.
Portability
Look for smokers that have good under- the-leg wheels that will allow you to take them from one place to another. A rather heavy offset propane smoker that you cannot move from one place to another may not deliver enough value for all the money that you invested in it.
We bring you the best and the most researched guide on the best pellet smoker. Have you ever used them?
Built-in Thermometer
A built-in thermometer is an asset in the insulated offset smoker, especially because when you smoke meats, there is a need to maintain the temperature within a steady range. The thermometer will help you to monitor the temperatures when you are working with an offset smoker. It is usually placed on the lid for the convenience of reading.
Looking for the best smoker thermometer? Here is our helpful guide.
Ease Of Clean
Removable cooking racks, grates, grills, and heat dispensing plates, along with a smooth proactive coating on the cooking surface, will mean that you can thoroughly clean the smoker after every use. Built-in food debris in hard to reach places can not only emit foul smell but also considerably reduce the life of the smoker.
Price
There are many best offset smokers under 1000 on the market today. While the price is an important parameter, we have always advised our patrons not to fall into the trap and pick up a cheap offset smoker. You could use discount coupons or shop during the sale to buy high end offset smokers instead.
Best Offset Smoker Types
Offset Reverse Flow Smoker
With a reverse flow offset bbq smoker, you do not have to rotate the meats while they are cooking. Surprised? Yes, you can place the meats in the cooking chamber and rest at your dining table. A steel baffle plate is placed inside the cooking chamber, which works as a heat sink and protects the meats from the direct heat and allows the smoke to move around the smoke bbq slowly but slathering them with great flavor and taste. The chimney is closer to the firebox.
Everything that you wanted to know about vertical smokers but didn’t know whom to ask: click here to ask us!
Traditional Offset Smoker
A traditional offset smoker has the cooking chamber placed very close to the firebox, and that is the reason that the meat placed on the part very close to the firebox becomes heated very swiftly. This also means that there is uneven cooking, and therefore you will need to be around the offset wood smoker to upturn and rotate the meats or to make sure that some meats do not remain undercooked by virtue of bad placement. The bigger the cooking chamber is, the more the disparity in the heat and smoke is. The chimney is placed furthest away from the firebox.
Best Offset Smoker FAQ
How To Clean Offset Smoker
- Empty the firebox of the ashes. Remove the grates and use a small brush to sweep off all the ash. If you find large pieces of wood and charcoal, remove them with your hand, so they don’t get stuck into the ashtray.
- Once you have cleaned the firebox, clean the cooking chamber by removing the steel grates and the heat deflection sheets. Clean the fats that have dripped with a paper towel and make sure not to use an abrasive cleaner or a rough surface otherwise; you will scratch the proactive coating inside the chamber. Clear the leftovers food and ash after each use to avoid build-up and foul smell.
- Use an effective barbecue degreaser to do an efficient job. Apply it and let sit for 5 minutes. Use hot water and a wire brush to scrape all the food debris and gunk.
- Once everything is spic and span, set up the offset firebox smoker precisely the way it was before.
How To Season An Offset Smoker
The reason why we need to season a horizontal offset smoker is that it creates a thin protective and a proactive layer of oil that gets polymerized to the surface after it is baked on.
Things needed:
- Cooking spray or an oil can
- A few milliliters of cooking oil
- A piece of rag
You will realize with time and practice that a cooking spray is more convenient than the other. Nevertheless, both work fine. Use the oil to coat all the internal parts of the heavy-duty offset smoker. You may avoid the SS cooking grills as they do not require seasoning. Take care to apply the oil on the baffle plates and the charcoal grates on both sides. Once you have aced the cooking chamber, repeat the same for the firebox.
You have to season only the insides of the cooking chamber and the firebox and not on the outside.
Can You Grill On A Smoker
Of course, you can grill on an offset smoker. Here are three cool ways to use your large offset smoker for grilling your meats.
- Directly
Build a fire under the cooking grates and grill directly over the coals. You may want to add an extra charcoal gate to be able to do this. - Indirectly
Build a fire in the firebox and keep the dampers in an open position. Doing so will ensure great grilling of your meat on the firebox. - Smoking
Maintain temperature at or below 275 degrees and follow the steps mentioned under indirect grilling.
Should I Leave The Vent Open On My Smoker
If there is wood that is smoking in the smoker, it is strongly advised that you keep the exhaust vents 100% open. The problem with keeping them closed, albeit even absentmindedly, is that you risk having creosote on meats that can turn your meat tasteless and carcinogenic.
The only time you must close vents on the good offset smoker is when you are heating in the end just before you will pick it up from the smoker.
Verdict and Our Recommendation for 2020
Our top pick is Dyna-Glo Signature Series Offset Charcoal Smoker of offset smoker for its exceptional ease of use and cleaning. Maintaining it is a breeze. You don’t need to regulate temperature or smoke once you load the cooking chamber and set the desired temperature. Relax and enjoy with your friends – your smoker will take care of the rest.
This stainless steel smoker has great features and accessories and is going to be your best friend.
Did you find our best offset smoker 2020 useful and shareworthy? We want to thank you for your readership and hope you do find the best offset smoker that you are looking for. Is there a question that you have on your mind? Write to us at mykitchenadvisor, and we will take it upon ourselves to clear it to you. Till then, ciao, keep the faith!
