Compared to building an offset smoker using an old gas tank, this build is about as easy as it gets. All you need is an old metal filing cabinet, a drill, and some spare time. In terms of the exterior, some smoker boxes char easier than others. Try to remove as much of this as you can with soap and water, so it won’t build up over time. Features Shape You’ll need to cut and weld together steel box sections to make the frame, steel plate to make the firebox, and steel tube to make the chimney. As you can see from our list above, getting a smoker doesn’t have to be expensive. You can make one from a trash can, flower pots, or even just aluminum pans and some stationery. However, if you are the kind of person that relishes a challenge and has a workshop, this is an excellent way to recycle an old gas tank into something useful again. Basic materials needed

That's thanks to the depth and shape of the kettle you can build a small charcoal bed on one side and set the grate on the other. This is most easily done with Weber's Char-Basket charcoal holders and a bit of aluminum foil as a heat deflector. You’ll need to get yourself an unpainted filing cabinet because, as with the ugly drum smoker, the epoxy paint used on the painted ones to prevent rust releases toxins when heated up.If you cook with propane, you can use just about any barbecue smoker box. This is not the case if you cook with charcoal, though. Because a charcoal grill can burn much hotter than a gas grill, some smoker boxes, particularly those made of thin steel, can warp. Reinforced steel usually fares well with charcoal, but to be safe, go with a cast-iron smoker box if charcoal is your go-to grilling fuel. Zucchini strips: At 350 degrees Fahrenheit, we spread strips of zucchini across each grill to look for char marks to make sure grills were cooking evenly.

The Ironwood series also comes with Traeger's Downdraft exhaust, a convection feature that helps circulate smoke rather than channel it upward and out a chimney. While Traeger only offers basic "smoke" and "super smoke" (the latter is only available when cooking at temps lower than 225), the fan helps up the smoke level at higher temperatures far more than we've seen in any other smoker. This is an excellent example of how you can take something that would normally be discarded, like a 100lb expired propane tank, and turn it into the DIY bigger brother of the always popular Weber Smokey Mountain smoker You may find it necessary to refill your smoker box with chips partway through your cook session. If you don’t see any smoke leaking out from under the lid, it may be time to reload!

Smoker boxes are available in various shapes: rectangle, square, V shape, and oval. Each shape has its pros and cons.

These handy grill tools feature a set of ventilation holes along their surface, and sit over your grill burners to allow smoke to bellow through your grill and infuse your food with incredible smoky flavor. Traeger originated the pellet grill, and the brand makes the hardiest smokers we've tested thanks to the 13-gauge stainless steel exterior, cold-rolled stainless steel interior parts, and double side wall interior. This construction, along with the 36,000-BTU burner, allows for better and higher heat retention (500 degrees Fahrenheit to the Pro model's 450). Keep grilling gloves and tongs on hand. Any barbecue smoker box that you use is going to become extremely hot. Keep grilling gloves or tongs on hand in case you need to move or refill the box mid-smoke. There are no holes in the bottom of a smoker box, so the chips or smoking wood pellets are never exposed to direct flame. This means they won’t burn; they’ll smolder. So again, no soaking is necessary.

This build is a fair bit more complicated, but if you have the skills and equipment, it’s certainly a budget way to get yourself an offset smoker. Grill style: While smoking over hardwood is probably the most fun experience, not everyone wants to spend the better part of a day hunched over a fire. If you're a smoke enthusiast, opt for an offset or charcoal-powered smoker but be prepared for a learning curve. Otherwise, a pellet grill will get you good flavor (albeit not quite as smoky) and is almost entirely hands-off. There is also some reasonably complicated metalwork needed to fit all the parts together and make sure there are no leaks and that the airflow correctly circulates the smoke in the cooking chamber. While using a smoker box is one way to elevate your grilling experiences, you need to consider several factors to satisfy your grilling needs. While none of them are overly large, barbecue smoker boxes vary in size. If you have a larger grill, this probably won’t be an issue, but if you have a compact grill, you will need to find a smoker box with compact dimensions.

There's no small series of YouTube wormholes to nose your way through on the art of converting Weber's Kettle grill into a smoker. If you want to keep things compact and simple but also afford yourself a little versatility with a charcoal grill, the good old-fashioned Weber Kettle (available in 18", 22", and 26" models) allows for just enough ingenuity that it passes for a smoker when called upon. You can use a smoker box on charcoal, too, rather than putting chips or chunks right on the coals. The advantage of the smoker box is the slow release; because the chips aren’t directly exposed to the fire, they’ll smolder for longer. A smoker box is essentially a small steel box that houses wood chips. The chips are lit and brought to a smolder. Once they are smoldering the lid of the box is closed, and the holes and air vents on the lid allow smoke to flow into the chamber of your gas grill.

Fill up slightly more than half of the smoker box with dry wood chips. One other way is adding wood chunks to allow it to burn more slowly and consistently. One benefit of a smaller smoker box is that it will take up less grill space. If you’re cooking for a crowd, you’ll appreciate this. On the downside, a smaller smoker box holds fewer chips or pellets, which may result in you having to refill it in the middle of grilling. Ease of cleaning When you are buying your drum, make sure it hasn’t been treated with an epoxy coating to prevent rust. The epoxy will not react well to being heated up, and the last thing you want is to be smoking your meat in toxic fumes. It measures three by nine inches and can hold up to two cups of wood chips. This is more than enough to house a good amount of wood chips to turn your grill into a smoker.