Best offset smokers
There are many different types of smokers, like vertical water smokers or horizontal offset smokers. Whether you want to smoke meat or fish, there is a smoker for every taste. When you start smoking foods with your own smoker, the most important thing is to choose the best one according to your needs. This article will give some advice on what kind of smoker would suit you best.
If you are just beginning in smoking food, then it makes sense to start with an offset smoker . It has lower operating costs than other types since it uses natural gas, charcoal briquettes or sometimes even wood for fuel. Depending on how much effort you put into building the fire in the box next to the actual smokestack, this type of smoker can provide an assortment of different smoky flavors, from the traditional barbecue to a much sweeter flavor.
Offsets are very easy in use and do not demand constant attention in order to produce good results. They allow for a better temperature control than most other smokers and you can easily add wood chips or water through the open door when needed. The disadvantage might be that there is no exact way to tell the internal smoker temperature so you have to learn this by experience which means some trial and error smoking before perfecting your own recipes. Also, offset smokers are very heavy since they are built mainly out of steel or iron metal. On the plus side, offsets are easy to assemble with only basic tools required for assembly.
Vertical water smokers on the other hand are very different from offsets since the box in which you build your fire is located below the actual smoking chamber. The water pan that lies between them keeps humidity high inside the smoker. Be prepared to use a lot of charcoal or burn wood for long periods in order to get enough heat for proper smoking.
Due to all this hassle, vertical smokers are not right for beginners who have no idea how to smoke foods so when I would start with buying a smoker I would go for an offset smoker . It's much cheaper than other types and it's much easier to control than vertical water smokers so you can produce great tasting food without spending too much time behind your smoker.
On top of these two most common types, there are also pellet smokers or electric smokers . These two are completely different to other types since they do not require any effort for managing temperature and fuel. Pellet burners use small wood pellets made out of sawdust for producing heat and smoke. With built in auger systems, pellet smokers automatically feed the required amount of pellets into the firebox without any external help from you. They also control temperature automatically which makes them perfect for smoking every kind of meat, fish, vegetables or cheese.
Electric smokers need to be plugged into an electrical outlet but otherwise work like pellet burners. The main difference is that instead of wood pellets they use metal heating elements which produce heat when electricity flows through them. Both these smoker types have their pros and cons but I would recommend pellet burners for beginners. They are also more expensive than other types but that is explained by their ease of use which makes them the best smoker type for people who just want to relax without worrying too much about what's happening inside the smoker.
One last thing I'd like to mention is if you should choose horizontal or vertical offset smokers . Vertical offsets might be preferable for commercial usage since they produce more meat per hour but horizontally placed fireboxes give better flavor so it really comes down to personal preference. If you would like to learn more about how different types of smokers work, go online and read reviews on other sites like this one: https://theoffsetsmoker.com/best-offset-smokers-under-500/
You can also find actual smoker reviews and useful tips for beginners to smoking meats at Smoky Mountain Knife Works: http://www.smkw.com/blog/best-offset-smokers