It is obvious that we all have different tastes, but when you really want a mouth-watering piece of meat, you’re going to opt for one cooked in a smoker. Even if it may take more time than cooking in a pan, you deserve to treat yourself with a proper meal on weekends after a week of hard work. Also, you can easily become the family’s favourite cook. However, owning a smoker can take some space and it is more suitable for someone that owns a garden as it is impossible to use indoors. Thus, for the ones with fine tastes, I prepared a top of best reverse flow smokers.
See also:
Our top reverse flow smokers’ recommendations
Contents
Oklahoma Joe’s Longhorn Reverse Flow Smoker
Oklahoma Joe’s Longhorn is a big reverse flow smoker that offers you 751 square inches in the main chamber (cooking chamber) and 309 square inches in the firebox chamber. With its size, you can easily prepare enough dishes for a whole family or even a small party (depending on what are you going to prepare), and due to its firebox chamber size, you can easily control the temperature. The smoker has a sturdy construction as it is made of heavy-gauge all-steel materials. Its cooking grates are porcelain-coated therefore you don’t have to worry about anything sticking on the grates.
Moreover, as the smoker has multiple dampers the heat and smoke can be controlled even easier. The baffles which control the smoke within the main chamber are removable, and you can customize the smoker even further as it presents smokestack locations. The ashes from the firebox chamber can be easily removed as the smoker presents a clean-out door. Also, the firebox is big enough to allow you cooking with wood only, therefore, if you don’t want to use charcoal you can use just wood.
Pros:
Customizable main chamber.
Smoke and fire easy to control.
Sturdy construction.
Non-stick grates.
Cool-touch handles.
Cons:
Its size may be troublesome if you are lacking space.
Really heavy and hard to move around.
Titan Great Outdoors Reverse Flow Vertical Smoker
If you are looking for a sturdy smoker which is less space-consuming, then Titan Great Outdoors Reverse Flow Vertical Smoker may be the perfect choice for you. The upper chamber contains 4 removable grilling racks which grant you a quite big cooking surface, also it contains a removable water pan, a heat deflector, a raised fire grate in the lower chamber. As mentioned before, the smoker has a sturdy build as it is made of heavy-duty steel. Due to its built and lock system, the chambers are fully insulated and allow proper heating without any heat losses. The smoker can be easily transported as it is equipped with four wheels which can also be locked. The cooking area measures 4665 cubic inches and it contains the racks which measure 15 ½ inches x 17 ½ inches each.
Pros:
Sturdy built.
Good sized cooking chamber.
Compact design due to its vertical built.
Easy to move around.
Can be operated with wood only.
Cons:
Cannot be customised.
May cause inconveniences due to its height.
Camp Chef 24in
Camp Chef 24in is a smoker equipped with everything you need for a perfect cooking session. Either if you a slow cooking experience or a fast grilling, you will be able to as the smoker can easily maintain temperatures from 160F to 500F, or if you want to directly flame the food, you can do so. Camp Chef 24in is able to reach temperatures as high as 650F using the Slide and Grill technology and even more, it can reach up to 900F using the Sear box.
The smoker benefits of a smoking control system that allows you to adjust the smoke level (1 to 10 levels of smoke). The smoker is easy to maintain as it has incorporated an Ash Kickin’ Cleanout system. Moreover, it has a sturdy built, mainly made from cast iron that can easily withstand thousands of cooking sessions without any difficulties. Regarding the design, it is quite compact measuring 30 x 43 x 49 inches and the wheels attached to it makes it even less troublesome when it needs to be moved. The smoker uses wooden pallets as fuel which guarantee a genuine flavour for your foods.
Pro:
Sturdy built with a nice and compact design.
Easy to control the temperature.
Able to control the smoke flow.
Can be used as a grill as well.
Easy to clean.
Cons:
Quite expensive.
Requires electricity.
Buying guide
Sometimes, buying a smoker may prove quite a difficult task, and when done unproperly you may end up just complaining about the smoker you got, and the time lost using it. However, while not all of us want the same thing is possible for the worst smoker for you to be the best smoker for someone else. But, in order to have a good experience, smokers need to have some certain features. So, I prepared a list that is worth checking before proceeding further and buying a smoker.
Fuel type
Depending on the situation, fuel type may be more important than you think. The ones really picky about their foods may prefer smokers that run on wood or charcoal as the flavour may slightly differ (however, it is really hard to notice the difference). But sometimes the fuel type may be the reason why the smoker is or is not usable. For example, it would be quite difficult (if not impossible without proper equipment) to use an electrical smoker when you are camping or when you are on a nature trip, therefore in situations like this, smokers that runs on wood or charcoal are way more convenient.
Size
If you rarely move the smoker after you set it, this may not bother you too much but if you are the type of person who goes camping really often and you like to bring the smoker with you it may prove difficult to own a big smoker. Sometimes a big smoker can prove quite a headache when it comes to transport it, not only due to its size but due to its weight as well. However, even if you rarely move the smoker after you set it, you still have to consider its size as big smokers require a lot of space and it may prove difficult to find a spot for the smoker.
Cooking chamber capacity
If you want to impress your friends and family with some quality food, it may be better to opt for a smoker with a larger cooking chamber capacity especially if you are going to cook for a large group of persons. As the cooking process using a smoker can take some time and you want to impress them and not make them starve, a smoker that can fit big sized foods or multiple pieces at once is the best option. On the other side, if you are only going to use the smoker for fewer persons (1 – 6) it may be wiser to opt for a smaller smoker as the cleaning process won’t take that long as well.
Small features
While at first, this may not be so obvious, a small feature can have a certain impact on your experience using the smoker. For example, the smokers’ wheels may prove quite helpful when you will have to move the smoker, even for a couple of fts. Heat resistant handles can also have a certain impact on your experience as you will be able to safely check your food. Also, stick-free porcelain-coated grates can spare you the time lost trying to unstick the food from the grates and clean them.
Are offset smokers better than reverse flow?
Not really, there is no big difference between them instead of the way the smoke flow inside of the cooking chamber. A reverse flow smoker has a more even temperature within the chamber as the vent is on the same side as the firebox and the smoke will flow back and forth. The normal smoker has a diagonally smoke flow which means that the side near the firebox will have a temperature higher than the side near the vent. However, it is really hard to notice the difference and it won’t have a noticeable impact on the food.
Are reverse flow smokers easy to maintain?
The built is similar to the classic smokers, as the main difference is the side with the vent. Therefore, the maintenance and the cleaning of the smoker is exactly the same as it would be for a classic offset smoker. As there is no big difference between them, sometimes it may even be hard to notice if a smoker is a reverse flow smoker. Moreover, the maintenance differs based on the smoker structure and brand. You can easily find a certain reverse flow smoker that is easier to maintain than a certain smoker but in the same time, you can find another classic offset smoker that is easier to maintain than the alleged reverse flow smoker. So the maintenance and cleaning time is highly dependant on the way the smoker is built and structured.
