You can find a lot of cooking methods that get used for cooking meat at your home. This includes different techniques like frying, grilling, baking, smoking, as well as others. As you would expect, all of these methods result in a slightly different taste and texture.
Out of various cooking options out there, smoking is considered to be one of the best for cooking meat. Not only does it slowly cook meat, but it also adds a smoky flavour to your steaks that cannot be achieved without using a smoker.
As a result, smokers are highly popular, and you can find a wide range of options out there. Unfortunately, most of them are quite large, and these may have concerns related to storage. Thankfully, that is not the case with the best vertical pellet smokers mentioned in this article.
These have a vertical design that takes up less space while allowing you to smoke a lot of meat at once. Hence, you can go through this article until the end to find all the important details regarding vertical pellet smokers and buy the perfect one for you.
7 Best Vertical Pellet Smokers
Now that you know more about vertical pellet smokers and how they take up less space, the chances are that you are also interested in getting one. But as different smokers offer different features to the user, we are here with the best one along with all their important details:
1. Weber Smokey Mountain
Weber is one of the most popular brands of cooking appliances that are mainly made for cooking meat. Apart from their grills, you can find multiple upright pellet smokers from Weber as well. The smoker mentioned in this article has a high user rating because of the excellent build quality that it offers. Apart from being sturdy, you also get a ten-year-long warranty with it. As for its fuel, it can work with either coal or wood pellets that you can add using its removable fuel door with ease. Its small and compact design of 22 inches allows you to store it easily.
PROS —
- Highly durable construction with a 10-year warranty
- Small and compact design
- Ideal for beginners as well as advanced users
- Comes with a removable fuel door
- Offers precise temperature controls
- Available in other sizes as well
CONS —
- Does not have any lid handle
- Smoke door does not have a perfect seal
2. Pit Boss Grills 77550 Pellet Smoker
In comparison with other upright pellet smokers and offset vertical smokers, this Pit Boss vertical pellet smoker is quite modern in terms of its features as well as design. Starting with the design, it has a rectangular and upright shape. On the front, you get a large glass panel that looks quite modern and classy. Additionally, it provides you with an uninterrupted view of your smoking process. This smoker offers you advanced temperature controls along with a digital LED display for checking the temperature if needed. Speaking of the temperature, it can go from 150 to 450 Fahrenheit with ease for properly smoking different kinds of meats.
PROS —
- Can be used to cook all sorts of meats
- Great looking smoker with a large glass window at the front
- Comes with a digital LED screen for controls
- Offers a lot of space for smoking a lot of meat at once
- Works from 150 to 450 Fahrenheit
- Includes a thermometer on the inside for measuring temperature
CONS —
- Cannot maintain a constant temperature in certain cases
- LED display has low brightness for a sunny day
- Auto shut off feature can be annoying
3. Dyna-Glo Vertical Offset Smoker
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Those of you who are looking for an offset vertical smoker should consider this Dyna-Glo as it is one of the best options out there that come in an offset design. This is simply due to the reason that it has a dedicated charcoal box on the side that stores as well as burns charcoal inside for creating smoke to cook your meat. When compared with other offset vertical smokers out there, this one is quite affordable and results in high value for money that is always great to have.
PROS —
- Justified price tag with a high value for money.
- Large cooking capacity while having a compact form factor and footprint.
- Includes an additional offset charcoal-burner box for offset design.
- Adjustable temperature with adjustable flue height.
- Offers an inbuilt thermometer for checking the temperature.
CONS —
- Build quality could have been better.
- Smoke leakage is a possibility in a lot of cases.
4. Masterbuilt Digital Electric Smoker
You can find a wide range of vertical pellet smokers out there, some of which are traditional while others are electric pellet smokers. These kinds of smokers either include an electric burner or simply electric control for better control on the different settings of your pellet smoker like the temperature and other things. This Masterbuilt electric pellet smoker is one of the few options out there that come included with a fully digital controlling system for easily changing the temperature and timer of this smoker unit. Its build quality is also quite good and similar to most traditional vertical pellet smokers.
PROS —
- Electric pellet smoker with digital control options.
- Allows you to set temperature and timer options if needed.
- Includes a probe thermometer for perfect meat cooking.
- Offers a classy and sleek design.
- Easy to use controls and options on the top.
CONS —
- Lacks any wireless connectivity options.
- A bit on the heavier side while moving around.
5. Louisiana Grills Vertical Pellet Smoker
The Louisiana grills vertical pellet smoker is another option that you should consider before getting one for yourself. It is one of the largest and most feature-rich options present in this article, making it a great pick for a lot of users. You get a pretty high cooking area of 2059 square feet in total with this pellet smoker. As for the pellet hopper capacity, it can hold up to 60 pounds of the pellet so that you do not have to refill it again and again while smoking meat for hours at once. A great thing about this smoker is that it offers insulated walls for holding up temperatures for a long time. If you are looking for all in one grill pellet smoker, then you can check our Louisiana Grills Champion Pellet Grill Review.
PROS —
- Offers a large cooking area for smoking a lot of meat at once.
- Large pellet hopper for smoking meat for hours.
- Includes insulated walls for holding up the temperature with ease.
- Flame keeps burning even in the wind.
CONS —
- Temperature probe is not the best.
6. Masterbuilt MES Electric Smoker
We have yet another electric vertical pellet smoker from Masterbuilt that is quite similar to the previous one in various ways but still has its differences.
As it is an electric pellet smoker, you get multiple electric and digital controls with it. These allow you to change the temperature with extreme precision. It also comes with an inbuilt temperature gauge for easily checking the temperature if needed. As for its performance, this electric pellet smoker has a power rating of 1500 watts that is quite high and should properly cook any meat of your choice with ease.
PROS —
- Offers a lot of space for storing and cooking a lot of meat at once
- High power electric heating element of 1500 watts
- Includes three chrome-coated smoking racks for easily putting meat inside
- Comes with a highly precise temperature control dial and a temperature gauge
CONS —
- Does not have any digital display
- Power consumption is a bit on the higher side
7. Camp Chef XXL Vertical Pellet Smoker
When compared with most other electric pellet smokers out there, this Camp Chef XXL smoker has a very unconventional design. While it looks a bit odd, the wheels on the bottom can be quite handy while moving this heavy smoker around your backyard. As for its performance, it uses a stainless steel construction to offer you a maximum cooking capacity of 1950 square inch. A great thing about this vertical smoker is that it comes with accurate temperature controls that offer you control over the whole smoking and cooking process.
PROS —
- Comes with an automatic pellet dispenser
- Offers an auto shut down feature for saving wood pellets
- Includes accurate temperature controls
- Smoke a lot of meat at once with ease
- Includes fans on the inside for better air circulation
- Wheels on the bottom for comparatively easier movement
- Highly strong and sturdy build quality
CONS —
- Unconventional vertical pellet smoker design
- Weight is a bit high for movement even with the wheels
Other Grills to be considered:
Factors to consider before buying Vertical Pellet Smokers
Even though we have mentioned the best vertical pellet smokers along with all their important features and details, some of you might be still confused. Therefore, we are here with some factors that you should consider before getting a vertical pellet smoker, as shown here:
1. Materials Used
Different vertical pellet smokers use different kinds of materials for their construction. This results in different strength and cooking properties offered by them. While some of the vertical pellet smoker models have an aluminium construction, others might use steel or cast iron for their construction. When compared with each other, the cast iron and steel options are much better since they offer better strength and retain higher temperatures.
2. Space
When compared to other cooking appliances like an oven, grill, and other things at your home, a vertical pellet smoker is much larger in size. This is something that you need to consider if you want to store your smoker in your backyard or outhouse properly. Even though a vertical smoker takes less space than a standard, you should still check its dimensions before getting one.
3. Capacity
Apart from the external size, the internal size or the capacity of your vertical pellet smoker is another factor that is to be considered before getting a pellet smoker. As you would expect, it tells you about the amount of meat you can store inside a pellet smoker. You can find different capacity or size ratings like 22 inches or 30 inches depending on the model that you get. Out of these two models, the larger 30-inch size offers more space to the user for storing and smoking a lot of meat at once.
4. Budget
Since meat smoking is such a popular method of cooking, you can find a wide range of pellet smokers out there. These come at different price points which is something you need to consider by checking your budget. This is simply due to the reason that you need to find a balance between features and price before getting the best vertical smoker for your needs. Not all expensive vertical pellet smokers are better than the cheaper ones in terms of their features and performance.
Conclusion
Smoking is considered as one of the best ways to slowly cook the meat that makes it highly tender while adding a smoky flavour that almost everyone loves. But since not all smokers are made for use at your home, we have mentioned the best vertical pellet smoker reviews up above in this article. This simply means that we have included all of the details that you would ever want to know about these pellet smokers. You can also find some of the most important factors that have to be considered before getting a vertical pellet smoker. Although, if you are still confused, make sure to leave your thoughts and questions in the comments section down below.