Best Portable Smokers For Your Backyard and Camping Needs

2. Masterbuilt MB20074719 Digital Electric Portable Smoker

Masterbuilt MB20074719 Digital Electric Smoker is for you that love innovative and convenient things. With Bluetooth smart tech, you can easily monitor and control the smoke and temperature of your meat from the digital control panel or smart device.

This smoker comes with a meat probe thermometer that allows you to control the internal temperature for superior smoking results precisely. Additionally, this digital electric smoker is all about features and performance.

Its unique side-wood chip loading system lets you add wood chips while the smoker door is still locked. That makes things easier for you and prevents heat loss, which could affect the outcome of your cooking. The four chrome-coated racks ensure that no food sticks on them, making it easier for you to clean the unit after use.

What’s more, this unit comes with interior lights that illuminate the inside when you open the door to allow you to see your food clearly and make sure that everything is on point.

3. Char-Griller E06614 Charcoal Grill

Char-Griller E06614 Charcoal Grill offers 153 square inches of primary cooking surface. Though this surface may not be enough for a large group, it’s perfect for a small family. The cast-iron cooking grates are stick-resistant and make it easy for you to clean.

This Kamado-styled grill locks hot air inside to promote even and consistent heating for that delicious flavor. Additionally, the units feature a more durable and lightweight design to allow for easier portability. Its ceramic grills and durable construction enhances longevity and makes this unit an ideal option for camping, tailgating, park, or other outdoor activities.

The simple dump ash pan ensures fast and straightforward cleanups to enhance your cleaning experience. What’s more, the bottom and top air dampers let you enjoy precise temperature monitoring and eliminate the guesswork in your cooking.

The dual air-flow dampers, heat gauge, hinged locking lid, and triple insulated steel wall allow for a superior cooking experience. The wall insulation also aids in holding heat for an energy-efficient cooking experience. Its convenient handles enhance portability and on-the-go grilling. This unit is ideal for RVing, tailgating, camping, and much more.

4. Traeger TFB30KLF Tailgater Pellet Grill

Traeger TFB30KLF Tailgater Pellet Grill could be the smoker you’re looking for if you wish to cook a massive amount of food to entertain your family and friends. With 300 square inches of cooking surface, this unit provides the generous cooking area that you want.

This pellet grill and smoker has a maximum temperature of up to 450 degrees, which allows for a simultaneous cooking and smoking experience. The pellet hopper capacity is 8-pounds and can accommodate enough pellets to take you for a considerable amount of time.

The meat probe has five-degree temperature setting increments means that you enjoy a customized cooking experience where you adjust the temp depending on the cooking requirements of your food. This grill delivers reliable results thanks to its consistent temperature every time you’re cooking.

This unit gives you unmatched versatility as you can use it for grilling, smoking, baking, roasting, braising, and barbequing all types of foods, from apple pie to ribs. Since pure all-natural hardwood pellets fuel it, this unit is not only energy-efficient but also delivers a delicious wood-fired flavor in every meal that you cook.

Lastly, the unit’s lightweight and compact design enhances portability and makes it a perfect choice for tailgating, balconies, patio, etc.

5. Broil King Kamado Grill 911470 Keg 5000

Broil King Kamado Grill 911470 Keg 5000 is for those who like to invest in a durable item, so you won’t have to buy another any time soon. This best portable smoker is manufactured with durability in mind.

Its double-walled, well-insulated steel body retains the moisture and heat on the inside to ensure a more heat-efficient cooking experience. This unit is more energy-efficient than most ceramic grills out there.

The insulated steel construction, aluminum lower damper, cast iron top damper, and heavy-duty gasket allows you to cook your food without adding charcoal more often. The unit utilizes less charcoal than most typical smokers and grills, thanks to its insulated walls and features that promote efficient energy usage.

To make it quick and stress-free when cleaning this unit, it comes with a removable steel ash catcher that allows you to access the ash out of your grill easily. You won’t need to scrape them out and waste all your precious time or make the ash end up on your deck.

Additionally, this unit is equipped with features that make your cooking experience friendlier and more fun. That includes the chrome swing-away secondary rack, mobility cart, detachable resin side shelves, and multi-tool. More importantly, this unit is built to last.

6. Charcoal Companion CC4132 KitchenQue Portable Smoker

Charcoal Companion CC4132 KitchenQue Smoker delivers up to 400-degree F of temperature that helps you smoke and cook food simultaneously. It’s an excellent unit that any homeowner who loves smoking food will appreciate.

With this unit, you’ll be able to smoke your food right in your kitchen. The units support the majority of stovetops, including electric and NG/propane. You can also use it on induction cooktops that come with a diffuser.

Durability is also taken care of in the construction of this unit. It features steel-coated construction with enameled steep drip pan and stainless steel grates. These coatings allow for easy cleaning.

Additionally, this unit comes with a thermometer to allow for precise temperature monitoring. To make handling safe during the cooking process, CC4132 KitchenQue Smoker comes with heat-resistant silicone takes both on the base and lid.

7. Char-Broil Bullet 16-inch Portable Smoker

Char-Broil Bullet 16-inch Smoker gives you up to 370 square inches of the cooking surface to prepare enough food and entertain your family and friends. Convenience is a number one priority in this grill, and you can rest assured that cooking with it is such a smooth experience.

The cooking surface features two porcelain-coated grates, which are stick-free and easy to clean. Its state-of-the-art airflow control system makes it easy for you to regulate the internal temperature to get superior smoking results.

The Char-Broil unit features numbered damper settings to make the temp regulation even more precise. Its porcelain-coated body means that this unit will serve you for years as it resists rusting, corrosion, and other lifespan-threatening issues.

When it comes to cleaning, the process is a breeze thanks to the features like the removable ash pan that allows easy and fast cleanup. Handling the unit is also a no-hassle experience, thanks to its two chamber-lid handles. The lid-mounted temp gauge enhances your temperature control.

With steel tube legs of this best portable smoker, you enjoy a comfortably accessible height so that you can cook without leaning your back so much. Additionally, the convenient fire access door easily seals the smoker chamber to lock the hot air inside for practical cooking.

8. Davy Crockett Tailgating Pellet Grill

If you’re a lover of the outdoors, whether camping, tailgating, or any other, then you won’t go wrong with this one. Investing in Davy Crockett Tailgating Pellet Grill will help you enjoy smoking food anywhere you are.

This unit allows great portability with its design. As the name suggests, it’s the perfect tailgating grill. With its Sense-Mate, you’ll constantly monitor the grill’s internal temperature for an authentic cooking experience to get superior results.

This pellet grill is a highly portable and ideal choice for any outdoor occasion, including picnics, beach parties, tailgates, and patio or backyard smoking. With 219 square inches of cooking surface, you’ll cook enough food for your entire family.

Additionally, the unit features stainless steel baffles, and its temperature can rise steadily from 150 degrees F to 550 degrees F. With an auto-start feature, starting it is a breeze. The units come with a high-end pellet head exclusive grill cover black, pellet head magnetic grill lights, and collapsible rack to increase the grilling surface.

9. Camerons Large Stovetop Portable Smoker

Camerons Large Stovetop Smoker can be ideal for anyone looking for a unit for an indoor smoking experience. What makes it an excellent choice for indoor is that you can use it on any heat source, including gas, campfire, or electricity.

Its stainless steel construction allows it to clean with ease. The construction material is also rust and corrosion resistant, which means that it’s a durable option that will serve you for years. Its components are also dishwasher safe to allow you to put in little effort to clean it.

This stovetop smoker is an excellent smoker of meat, vegetables, meat, and more. You can use it as a steamer, roasting pan, or poachers. Its smoking box accommodates all the components when they aren’t in use. Its handles fold away to facilitate an easy storage process.

The package includes all that you need, including the stovetop smoker, drip pan, stick-free rack, lid, wood chip sample, and recipe guide to get you started.

10. Char-Griller E22424 Charcoal Grill Table Top

Last but, of course, not least, Char-Griller E22424 Charcoal Grill Table Top allows you the convenience of cooking from anywhere, both indoors and outdoors. All you need is a raised surface for placing it.

Thanks to its heavy-duty steel construction, this grill will withstand the mistreatments and pressure of constant smoking and serve you for years. Its cast-iron cooking grates resist sticking and make it easy for you to clean them.

With 250 square inches of primary cooking surface, you can rest assured that this unit will cook enough food for everyone at a go. This smoker comes with an excellent offset design for a Texas-style smoking experience. You can use this smoker as a horizontal Texas-style smoker or table-top grill.

Additionally, you can easily transition from a grill and to a side firebox. This unit features a sliding drawer that allows for easy access to ashes and coals to make it easy to clean. What’s more, the easy dumping ash pan makes the ash disposal even more accessible and quicker.

The heat-resistant, Stay Cool handle allows you to hold your unit without risking your hands getting burned. This unit can attach to any Char-Griller barrel grill.

• Body Design

As mentioned, different smokers come with varying designs of the body as they come from different manufacturers. While others may feature a vertical Kamado body style, others may come with a horizontal body supported with metallic stands.

You may also find other smokers with a circular-like body design and others with an almost square-like design. Others may be table-top designs, which means you will need to place them on top of a table or a higher surface when cooking.

Suppose you want a unit that you can quickly get inside your car when going out on a camping execution or tailgating or road trip and enjoy an on-the-go cooking experience. In that case, you can go for a unit with the ideal body design, depending on your means of transport.

• Mobility cart

While some smokers may be as lightweight and compact as possible, some (though still portable) may not. Some may be weighing less than 20 kgs, while others may be over 50 kgs. The weightier units may also not be as compact as those considering around 20kgs or less.

In that case, depending on the unit that you choose, you should check whether it comes with a mobility cart feature to ease mobility. The carts or wheels help you push the smoker with ease from one point to another without requiring the help of another person.

• Overall Weight

As mentioned, the best portable smokers come from different manufacturers. For that reason, they also come with varying capacities of weight. Some smokers may be over 50 kg in weight, which means that you have to utilize the assistance of another person when taking this smoker from one point to another where features like the mobility cart may not help, such as through stairs or inside the vehicle.

Therefore, the overall weight of your smoker will depend on your needs, how big it is, and its features.

3. Is It User-friendly?

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned smoker who’s looking for the best portable smoker, you want to purchase a unit that’s easy to use and won’t require you to spend time learning some things. When it comes to ease of use of your smoker, there are about four factors to consider:

• Ease of Lighting

You’ll need to light your smoker to get the heat you need for cooking. Whether you’re going for an electric, pellet, or charcoal smoker, you have to ensure that it’s easy to light it up. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you spend over ten minutes trying to light up your smoker.

For an instant, if you want to go outdoors like camping, tailgating, or any other activity out there in remote places, you want a unit that can light quickly, if not instantly. Some of the best portable smokers come with features like automatic lighting feature (auto ignition) to ensure that making fire is a breeze.

• Heat-resistant handles

Your smoker will most likely get hot unless it comes with insulated walls. When that happens, the handles could become unbearable and increase the risk of getting your fingers or hands burned.

With that in mind, you have to ensure that your unit’s handles are heat-proof to protect you from accidents. Heat-resistant handles also help make things easier when you want to move the portable smoker while it’s hot or the cooking is going on.

• Ease of Cleaning

Smokers will get dirty after every cooking season and require cleaning. Though sometimes you might not find it necessary to clean your smoker, it’s essential to do so after every session. That will ensure that it remains clean all the time and remain ready for the next cooking.

However, if it’s not easy to clean, the process can be very annoying. You, therefore, need to ensure that the portable smoker you pick is designed in a way that allows fast and straightforward cleaning. There are a couple of aspects to consider in this case:

a.) Removable ash catcher

A removable ashtray allows you to easily remove the ash and dispose of it off with great ease without messing it up around. Without this feature, you’ll need to scratch the ash out, which can be very messy.

b.) The coating or finish of your smoker

The finish on the cooking grates and the overall body of your smoker can also determine how easy the cleaning will be. If your smoker has a finish that’s prone to food sticking on it, your cleaning will be a real chore. Most of the best portable smokers come with a stainless steel body with a porcelain-enameled finish on grates that make cleaning a breeze. Others may come with ceramic construction and finish, which is also a good material.

• Ease of storage

You’ll need to store your smoker until the next time you need to cook. For that reason, you have to ensure that it’s effortless to keep, especially in situations where space is not readily available. Check features like foldable legs and some detachable parts to facilitate easy storage.