The 10 Best Electric Smokers Reviewed

Unique to Masterbuilt smokers, the special side wood chip load system lets you add wood chips without opening the door. This is perfect if you prefer to pre-heat your smoker with the food already inside or you plan to cook for long enough that a single portion of wood chips just won’t do.

Though this is definitely a plus, it’s important to realize that this loading system has a very small tray that actually holds the wood chips. Luckily, that isn’t the actual wood chip box. When you use the tray you put the chips inside, insert it, and flip it over to dump a handful of chips into the box. Even so, the box is a little smaller than those of many of the other models. What does that mean?

The initial load of chips will burn away a little more quickly with this machine than they will in others like the Char-Broil Deluxe, which has a large 4-cup wood chip box. So, while you’ll be able to reload your chips without opening the door, you may need to babysit this smoker a little more than some of the others to ensure that you get the smoky flavor you’re looking for. This is a small price to pay for the convenience of a side loader, though.

Affordable and Impressive

This isn’t the least expensive option on our list (by about $100), but it is in the bottom five in terms of price. None of the cheaper smokers on our list have digital controls, so for such an affordable price, you would expect to use a simple dial to program the temperature, right? Wrong. The built-in digital control panel sits on the top of the machine and allows you to adjust the temperature and cooking time.

The walls and door of this smoker are double-walled to keep heat inside. You can easily use this during the winter months. The door features a seal which further aids heat retention.

Overall, people who have bought this are quite satisfied with it. The most common complaint is that it doesn’t create as much smoke as some folks prefer. As complaints go, this isn’t a huge deal. In fact, it makes this smoker perfect for those who prefer a slightly less smoky flavor.

The most common complaint about this smoker isn’t really much of a complaint at all. Apparently, some people don’t like that this machine doesn’t infuse as much moisture into their food as most of the others. If you’re fond of making your own jerky, though, you will actually welcome the dry smoke.

This is actually the perfect smoker for homemade jerky lovers for another reason, too. It has a very low minimum temperature setting of only 100 degrees Fahrenheit. You can, of course, bump it up to something warmer when you’re smoking a turkey or some other cut of meat, but not all smokers let you get the temperature low enough to properly slow-smoke jerky without cooking it.

Loads of Other Great Qualities

Its three-in-one grease tray, water pan, and smoke box makes cleanup a breeze. Though it isn’t accessible from the outside like the grease pans of some other models, the fact that everything is integrated means that you really only have one thing to clean at the end of the day.

Its adjustable feet also set it apart from many others. If you’ve ever had to employ folded up pieces of cardboard to level out a smoker, you’ll understand. An even cooking surface is important because grease pans and water pans spill easily, creating quite a mess.

Ranking third in terms of price, this is one of the least expensive cookers that’s still of the quality we require for inclusion on this page. We’re happy to report that, despite its low price and basic temperature controls, most buyers seem pretty pleased with how it works.

A quick look at the features for these smokers reveals that this Masterbuilt smoker is a strong contender in almost every respect. In fact, it has the best rankings of all the smokers on this list.

You can use any Bluetooth device as a remote control to alter the temperature and timer on this smoker. In addition, you can monitor the internal temperature of your food from your cellphone or tablet.

How does this work?
The built-in thermometer probe is inserted into your food and relays its temperature in real-time to the control panel, which then sends that information to your device. As long as you are within Bluetooth range, you can keep tabs on your cooking process without having to touch the control panel at all.

Like most Masterbuilt smokers, this one includes a side chip loader which allows you to add more wood chips without having to open the door. The temperature inside your smoker will therefore remain constant even when adding more chips. Still, want to take a peek inside to see how the cooking process is going? You can do that without opening the door too, since the door has a see-through glass panel.

Added to that, this smoker also boasts an internal light for better viewing, a water pan to create juicier cuts of meat, and wheels so that you can move it with ease (a good thing, too, since it’s rather large).

Its four racks provide about 720 square inches of cooking space. While this isn’t the biggest surface area you can find, it’s more than enough room to prepare a feast of burgers and sausages for a largish group of people. Overall, it’s pretty roomy on the inside. You should have no problem smoking a turkey or a couple of chickens simultaneously.

Of all the smokers on our list, only this one, the Masterbuilt 20072115, and the Char-Broil Deluxe allow you to wheel them to different locations.

This one is smaller and lighter than the others, though, making it much easier to transport. Additionally, this smoker’s wheels are of the caster type, making it more convenient to cart around.

You can even wheel it onto the bed of your pick-up truck and transport it to campgrounds, sporting events, and family picnics. Of course, you’ll need to find a power source wherever you plan to use it since it is electric. These days, however, electricity is rarely far away – even campgrounds have sites with electrical stations.

Its lack of a digital control panel is a bit of a downside, but it isn’t as though this smoker is the only one on our list without that feature. Several use a dial to control the internal cooking temperature and have no extra controls like timers.

It can be argued that, as long as you know what you’re doing, you don’t really need any of those automated functions anyway. Simply turn the knob to the proper cooking temperature for your food, then set an alarm on your phone or check on your food every now and then.

This is a relatively small smoker compared to many others. Although it has ample interior space for cooking a turkey or a couple of chickens, it’s far from the largest in terms of square inches of cooking area.

The small size of this smoker won’t be a bad thing for many people, though. A lot of the time, people don’t want to cook an entire feast for a big get-together, they just want to make decent-sized meals for themselves or a small family.

For those who do want to cook more, though, they’ve recently added a third rack so that you can prepare more burgers, sausages, and the like. This way you don’t lose much space compared to the bigger smokers.

Most people smoke at low temperatures, but those with special requirements will be happy to see that this one can reach up to 325 degrees Fahrenheit – a useful consequence of its compact size.

Want to break into the world of smoking without busting your wallet? Smart enough not to waste your time on low-quality smokers that might break down in a few months? If you answered yes to those questions, this Masterbuilt may be the smoker for you.

Sure, it doesn’t have certain appealing features like digital readouts, remote control, or wheels. It is, however, made exceptionally well. Masterbuilt is known for the quality with which they build their smokers.

In offering a low-cost option, they decided to remove some of the special features you see on their more popular models. What’s left, however, is a basic smoker that still allows you to cook up delicious burgers, sausages, and ribs.

Prefer smoking turkeys, chickens, and chunky cuts of pork and beef? Not a problem. Just pop out the top rack and make the best use of the relatively small internal space.

That’s right, the space inside this smoker isn’t huge. In fact, it’s the smallest smoker that we’ve decided to review. This means that it’s fairly easy to handle and transport, but, to be honest, the wheeled smokers are better for this purpose.

While this clearly isn’t a smoker for large parties, it is perfect for smaller families who don’t need to smoke large quantities of food. It’s quick, easy to use, and it only needs a refill of wood chips every 30 minutes or so, depending on how smoky you’d like your meat to taste.

Are you the type of person who loves to host outdoor get-togethers? Are you the barbecue king or queen of your neighborhood and family? Do you love to serve up burgers and sausages and racks of ribs with your own special sauces and seasonings to dozens of people at a time? This Bradley Smoker has the largest cooking area of all the smokers on this list.

It takes only a glance to realize that there is something very different about this smoker. Its external system makes it physically wider and shows off its most interesting quality: it can load itself with wood biscuits. Yes, you read that right. This large, 6-rack smoker will load in one biscuit every 20 minutes so that you don’t have to do this manually or allow the heat to escape by opening the door.

That strange-looking box on the outside of this smoker contains the mechanical elements necessary to get the biscuits to where they need to go. It doubles as the control panel, keeping all of the electrical components in one area.

Biscuits are compressed wood shavings which take a little longer to burn than traditional, loose wood chips. They are especially nice to use in a system like this one which does the work for you – it’s much easier for a machine to move a compressed, puck-shaped biscuit than a pile of irregular-shaped wood chips.

The control panel, like those of other technologically-advanced smokers, allows you to adjust the internal cooking temperature and set a cook time. You can also regulate the smoke generator, pushing the appropriate amount of heat toward the biscuit to create more or less smoke. This control over the amount of smoke generated is unique among the smokers on this page.

Do you prefer something a little more manageable than this oversized 6-rack smoker? There is also a 4-rack version which, at 31 inches high and 14 inches wide and deep, is slightly smaller than this one.

Some people worry about the external parts of this smoker. Of all the options on our list, it’s the only one that has working elements on the outside. Weather, animals, and other environmental concerns make some people unsure about whether purchasing this smoker is a good idea. Luckily, Bradley sells a special cover designed to fit over this uniquely-shaped smoker to protect it.

It’s difficult to compare this smoker to the others on this list because it seems to deserve its own special place. For one thing, it’s more solid and simple than most other options.

Its sturdy build is evident in its extra-thick insulated walls and expertly-welded exterior. Its simplicity shines through in the way you load the wood chips – you have to open the door to access the tray. It does have a control panel, but only for temperature and cook time, not for fine-tuning the smoke level or other features.

Thanks to the air damper, though, you can still control the smoke. That’s part of why it’s best for those serious meat smokers who know what they’re doing.

One thing that’s neat about it is that it stands taller than many other 30-inch smokers. This may make it seem a little larger than the rest, though it really isn’t. The advantage to its height is that you won’t need to bend as far down to reach the food or clean its trays. Be aware, though, that it doesn’t have an internal viewing light like more expensive models.

You have, no doubt, heard the phrase “set it and forget it” applied to smokers, rice cookers, and electric pressure cookers. It has never been truer for a smoker than it is for the Char-Broil Deluxe.

Thanks to its keep warm function, this appliance will prepare your food and maintain it at the perfect serving temperature even if you’re too busy to make it to your meal on time. Other models assume that you’ll be ready once they are, even after a cooking cycle lasting several hours. They don’t kick the system into any special mode and, instead, hold your food warm only for as long as it takes the hot air inside the oven to dissipate.

Another cool feature that adds to the “set it and forget it” appeal of this smoker is its internal meat thermometer. Since the thermometer itself is hooked into the control panel system, you can get an accurate readout of your food’s status at a glance. If you set your desired food temperature, the unit will automatically alert you as soon as your food reaches that level of doneness. Only the Masterbuilt’s Smart Smoker has a feature similar to this one.

If you really want something with a built-in thermometer and an advanced digital display, but aren’t ready to pay upwards of $400 for the privilege, this low-price, slightly lower-tech option may be just what you need.