Smokers

Smokers add a delicious, smoky flavor to foods by treating them with smoke. Smoking can be done at both cool and hot temperatures, and most smokers have racks or hooks so that the food is treated evenly.

Commercial smokers come in a range depending on the space available, budget, and needs of the kitchen.

Offset

Offset smokers are a popular smoker model, and what most people picture when they think of a barbecue smoker. They can often be found in high-capacity commercial environments.

This type of smoker has a cylindrical cooking chamber with a smaller, cylindrical firebox attached to the bottom of one end. A small fire is lit in the firebox, and the heat and smoke come through a connecting pipe or opening into the cooking chamber, which has a grill inside. This cooks and flavors the food before the smoke escapes through a vent at the other end of the cooking chamber.

The firebox is offset from the grill so that you can control the smoke flavor and the cooking temperature separately. This is done by adjusting the flow of air between the two chambers.

Cabinet

These are also known as box smokers or vault smokers. They have a very simple design that is essentially a tall box with a door that opens in the front. Unlike offset smokers, the source of heat and smoke is in the same chamber as the food. Above the burner is a shelf for a pan of wood, and the next level is a shelf for a water pan. Then come four or more racks for food, and at the very top, a chimney or vent for the smoke.

The water pan is there to help to maintain optimal smoking temperatures and evaporate slowly to add humidity to the smoke chamber. The water vapor and smoke combine to penetrate deeper into the food, which enhances the flavor as well.

Cabinet smokers are often found in high-capacity kitchens using propane as the fuel source. High-end cabinet smokers will have excellent insulation, as well as digital temperature controls.

Smoker Oven

This type of smoker can also be referred to as an electric smoker. They have a similar overall design to cabinet smokers but instead have an electric burner that heats the wood, and a metal funnel that the smoke passes through to prevent direct heat application.

Smoker ovens have a very stable temperature and precise controls, and thus require little-to-no intervention from the user.

The primary differences between propane and electric smokers are that while electric smokers are more convenient, they do not produce the same quality of flavor as propane smokers.

Upright Drum

Also known as ugly drum smokers, this kind of smoker is shaped like a vertical barrel with racks or hooks inside. It is the simplest smoker model commonly available, with the heat directly applied to the food. The source of heat and smoke is at the bottom of the barrel, so it rises to flavor and cooks the food.

A downside to this type of smoker is that it can be difficult to control the temperature.

Vertical Water

Vertical water smokers (or bullet smokers) are a variation on the upright drum smoker. They are one of the less expensive, smaller models of smokers.

While they can use electricity, gas, or charcoal, all vertical water smokers work by having a pan of liquid between the food and the heat source. Vertical water smokers have a very stable temperature, so they require very little adjustment.

Pellet

Pellet smokers can be pricey due to their technology but are gaining popularity. They burn sawdust pellets that are fed automatically from a hopper into the fire, which is underneath the smoking racks. The smoker digitally monitors the temperature and adjusts the number of pellets it feeds based on the settings that you choose.