Top 5 Smokers for Summer Outdoor Cooking and Grilling

If you are interested in learning how to smoke meat on an outdoor smoker and you like cooking or grilling outdoors, then this is the right article for you. Some outdoor smokers will enable you to "set it and forget it", while others are much more labor intensive.

If the "set it and forget it" type smoker is what you are looking for, I would recommend the Bradley Original Smoker, (Suggested Retail is $400.00). It uses flavor briquettes and you can smoke your meat for up to 8 hours without checking on it. Listen, it all goes back to what you are used to. If you are trying smoked meat for the first time (straight from the Bradley smoker), you will love the flavor of the meat that comes from this smoker. However, I have attended several National BBQ Cook-off's, and I have never seen any of the top contenders compete using that type of grill. Real smokers use real smoking grills. No offense to Bradley, but in this old smoker's opinion, you just cannot beat the old-fashioned way of smoking meat.

What is the old-fashioned way you ask? First, prepare the meat before placing it on the smoker (make sure the meat is room temperature). Use your favorite dry rub. Check Associated Content's recipes for dry rubs, or create your own blend of your favorite herbs and spices. Your dry rub will vary with your meat selection. Second, prepare your smoker. Make sure you have an adequate supply of charcoal and woods. If you have a water smoker, fill the pan with a half and half mixture of half water and half anything carbonated. Getting the flavor of the smoked meat that you like will require a lot of trial and error. The first time you smoke, you may just have oak charcoal, and no additional wood, so the flavor will be an oak flavored smoke. Some people think it is the best ever, others want the hickory charcoal. Also try using a combination of woods and charcoal. Personally, I prefer oak charcoal with mesquite added and at least three other hard wood flavors, (always soak wood chips for 30 minutes before adding to the charcoal). You can find various woods in bags at most large box stores, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. I use a combination of apple, hickory and cherry wood chips, and combined with the oak and mesquite in the charcoal, is just the taste I am looking for. Mesquite is better , in my opinion, when mixed into the charcoal because it has such a strong overbearing flavor and you can use too much. Again, experiment until you find the flavor that is right for you. Third, and perhaps the most important, tend to the meat when you tend to the charcoal. A normal 8 pound pan of charcoal will last approximately an hour before needing to be stoked or more briquettes for adequate heat production. When you tend to the charcoal, turn the meat if your smoker is not convectional. Ask your smoker salesperson about what your smoker is capable of. None of my smokers is convectional so I turn the meat every 45 minutes to an hour. Also, baste or spray your meat at that time depending on what you are smoking. I use apple juice in a spray bottle to baste almost every meat I cook. Again, find what works for you. Lastly, check your meat with a meat thermometer to make sure it has reached the appropriate degree for the desired outcome. In addition, it will let you know that your poultry or pork is cooked all the way to the bone, (very important).

Here is a list of smokers I would recommend. Keep in mind that you may want to start with a simple, less expensive smoker until you see if you really like it as much as you thought you would. I have achieved excellent smoking results with each of these smokers.

$64.99 Char-Broil Charcoal Water Smoker. This is a great smoker to begin with. It has a water pan that fits between the charcoal/wood and the meat. This is for tenderizing and even light flavoring. It has two racks for cooking on two separate levels. Always cook more than just one meal at a time if possible. Since it is quite an involved process, you can smoke and refrigerate for another meal, or freeze for a another meal.

$108.94 Great Outdoors Charcoal Smoker. This is another great smoker for beginners. It has two adjustable grills and has an easily accessible charcoal pan and wood chip tray. Some of the best-smoked meat I have ever had came from this smoker. It is used by even the most advanced smokers.

$1949.99 The Hasty Bake Legacy 132. This would be the "Mack Daddy" of the outdoor grills. While it has a hefty price tag, it is one of the more moderately priced of the upscale smokers. Plus, it does an amazing job. It has an adjustable firebox so your racks stay the same level. This is important because the area around the meat does not vary, which keeps the temperature on the meat more constant. It is also very accommodating for grilling, searing or baking.

$2,959.00 The Viking 30" Free Standing Gravity Feed Charcoal Smoker. The KING of the Mack Daddy's. I have included this smoker for two reasons. One, it is a Viking. Need I say more? They know the art of grilling, both indoors and outdoors. They have really made the ideal smoker with this one. Two, I have smoked on this smoker and it is easy to produce the desired taste. Viking does make it easy, but you pay for that ease.