Here’s a conversation I’ve had at more backyard cookouts than I can count: someone eyeballs my setup, sees a grill AND a smoker sitting side by side, and asks, “Do you really need both?”
Honestly? Most people don’t. And that’s the whole reason this guide exists.
A dedicated smoker and a dedicated grill each do one job extremely well. But they also each take up patio space, each cost money, and if you’re not smoking brisket every weekend, one of them is probably going to sit under a cover collecting dust most of the year. I’ve been there — I bought a stick-burner offset early on because I thought I needed “the real thing,” and for about eight months of the year it was basically expensive lawn furniture.
That’s where a charcoal grill and smoker combo earns its keep. Done right, one cooker can sear a steak at 600°F on Tuesday and hold a steady 225°F for an overnight pork shoulder on Saturday. You get direct-heat grilling and low-and-slow smoking out of a single rig, which means less gear, less money spent, and less real estate taken up on your deck or patio.
Here’s the catch, and it’s an important one: not every product marketed as a “grill smoker combo” actually pulls off both jobs well. I’ve cooked on cheap combos that grilled fine but leaked so much air around the lid that holding a low temperature was a losing battle. I’ve also cooked on ones that smoked beautifully but had such a small grate that searing more than two burgers at once meant crowding the fire.
In this guide, I’m walking you through the seven combos I trust most, how I evaluated them, and — maybe more importantly — how to think about your own cooking habits so you buy the right one the first time. If you’re a “some weekends I grill, some weekends I want real barbecue” kind of cook, you’re in the right place.
Primary keyword: charcoal grill and smoker combo Main target keyword: best charcoal grill smoker combo
If you’re in a hurry, here’s the short version:
Keep reading for the full breakdown, the buying criteria that actually matter, and answers to the questions I get asked most about these cookers.
Before we dig into the details, here’s the full lineup side by side. I’ll go deeper on each one below, but this table is a good starting point if you just want to compare the basics.
| Grill/Smoker Combo | Best For | Cooking Area | Smoker Style | Fuel | Key Feature | Price Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 | Best Overall | ~800 sq in | Gravity-fed digital | Charcoal/wood | Digital fan-controlled temp | $$$ |
| Oklahoma Joe’s Highland Offset | Best Value | ~750 sq in | Offset firebox | Charcoal/wood | Heavy-gauge steel for the price | $$ |
| Weber Smokey Mountain 22″ | Best for Smoking | ~726 sq in | Vertical water smoker | Charcoal | Rock-solid temp stability | $$ |
| Weber Master-Touch 22″ | Best for Grilling | ~363 sq in | Kettle (with mods) | Charcoal | Best-in-class direct heat control | $ |
| Char-Griller Akorn Kamado | Best for Beginners | ~447 sq in | Insulated kamado | Charcoal | Holds temp with minimal fuss | $$ |
| Dyna-Glo Signature Series Offset | Best Large-Capacity | ~1,890 sq in | Offset, multi-rack | Charcoal/wood | Huge total cooking space | $$$ |
| Big Green Egg (Large) | Best Premium | ~262 sq in (base) | Ceramic kamado | Charcoal | Ceramic heat retention & longevity | $$$$ |
I’ll be upfront about something: purists sometimes turn their noses up at gravity-fed cookers because there’s a digital controller involved. I get the instinct, but after a few cooks on this thing, I stopped caring. It’s still burning real lump charcoal or briquettes, it still produces real wood smoke, and the flavor is legit.
Why it won: The Gravity Series 800 solves the single biggest headache of charcoal cooking — babysitting the fire — without giving up charcoal flavor. A hopper feeds charcoal down into the firebox by gravity (hence the name), and a digital fan controls airflow to hold your set temperature. You can walk away for hours during a long smoke and not worry about it drifting 40 degrees while you’re asleep.
Grill performance: This is where it genuinely surprised me. There’s a flat-top griddle insert and a full grate area that can hit high-heat searing temps fast, since the fan can push airflow hard when you want a blast of heat. Smash burgers on one side, ribs smoking low and slow on the other — I’ve done exactly that for a Sunday football spread and it worked without a hitch.
Smoking performance: Rock solid. I’ve run 12-hour brisket cooks on this without touching the vents once. The digital controller keeps the swing tight, usually within 5–10 degrees of your target.
Temperature control: This is the standout feature. Set it, walk away, come back. If you’ve ever fought a stubborn offset smoker in 20 mph wind, you’ll understand why this matters.
Cooking capacity: At roughly 800 square inches combined, you’ve got room to smoke two full packer briskets or several racks of ribs at once.
Ease of use: Genuinely one of the easier cookers to run, digital or not. The learning curve is mostly just learning the app and controller, not fighting a fire.
Build quality: Heavy-gauge steel, sturdy hinges, and a hopper that holds a serious amount of fuel — I’ve gone 10+ hours on a single load during cooler weather.
Fuel efficiency: Better than you’d expect, mostly because the fan only feeds the fire what it needs instead of you guessing with vents.
Cleaning: Easier than most combos thanks to a slide-out ash pan, though the griddle insert needs its own scrub-down after greasy cooks.
Who it’s best for: Anyone who wants charcoal and wood flavor but doesn’t want to babysit a fire for 12 hours. Great for people who work during the week and want to start a brisket before bed and wake up to check it, not chase it.
Main drawback: It needs an electrical outlet for the fan and digital controller, so it’s not fully “off-grid.” If the power goes out mid-cook, you’ll need to manage airflow manually until it’s back.
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If the Gravity Series 800 is the “set it and forget it” option, the Highland is the “roll up your sleeves and actually learn fire management” option — and for a lot of BBQ folks, that’s exactly the point.
Price-to-performance ratio: For what you pay, the steel gauge and total cooking capacity on this thing are hard to beat. I’ve handled offsets that cost twice as much with thinner steel and worse fit-and-finish.
Construction: Heavy-gauge steel body with a traditional offset firebox. It’s a classic barrel-and-firebox layout, which means real wood and charcoal smoke rolling across your food the old-fashioned way.
Grill space: There’s a main chamber grate you can use for direct grilling if you build a fire under it, plus a small grate inside the firebox itself for quick sears — handy, though not a substitute for a true grill grate.
Smoking capability: This is where the Highland shines. Smoke travels from the firebox across the main chamber and out the chimney, giving you that classic offset smoke ring and bark on brisket, ribs, and pork shoulder.
Features normally found on more expensive models: Adjustable smoke stack, cast-iron style handles, and a firebox that holds heat better than most cookers at this price.
Who gets the most value from it: Someone who wants the “real” offset smoking experience without spending four figures, and who’s willing to learn the fire management skills that come with it.
Supporting keyword: best charcoal grill smoker combo for the money
Main drawback: Like most budget offsets, it benefits from some air-leak modifications out of the box (more on that below). Expect to spend a little time and maybe a tube of high-temp gasket sealant to get it running tight.
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The Weber Smokey Mountain, or “WSM” as most pitmasters call it, has been a competition-circuit staple for years, and there’s a reason for that.
Low-and-slow temperature control: This is simply one of the most stable smokers you can buy at this price point. The vertical water-smoker design, combined with a tight-sealing lid, means it holds temperature better than almost anything else in this list.
Airflow: Three bottom vents give you precise control, and once you dial them in for your target temp, they rarely need touching again.
Fuel management: The Minion Method — arranging unlit charcoal in a ring and lighting just a portion of it — works beautifully here, giving you 8–10+ hours from a single charcoal load.
Smoke production: Clean, consistent smoke thanks to the water pan, which also helps moderate temperature swings and keeps meat from drying out.
Indirect cooking: By design, everything on the WSM is indirect. There’s no direct-heat option here, which is the trade-off for this level of smoking performance.
Brisket/ribs/pork shoulder performance: This is what it’s built for, and it delivers. I’ve had some of my best briskets come off a WSM, no exaggeration.
Main drawback: Searing a steak directly over coals is awkward — you’d have to pull the middle water-pan section out, which most people don’t bother doing. If grilling matters to you as much as smoking, this isn’t your best pick as a true combo.
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I know what you might be thinking: “That’s just a kettle grill, not a smoker combo.” Fair point — but with the right technique and a couple of cheap add-ons, the Master-Touch does double duty better than people expect, and it remains the gold standard for direct-heat charcoal grilling.
High-heat performance: Nothing beats a well-tuned Weber kettle for a hard sear. The bowl shape concentrates heat efficiently, and you can get screaming-hot coals close to the grate.
Searing: This is the kettle’s home turf. Steaks, burgers, chicken thighs with crispy skin — all excellent.
Direct cooking: The classic charcoal grilling experience, with excellent heat distribution across the grate.
Charcoal access: A hinged grate section (on newer Master-Touch models) lets you add charcoal mid-cook without lifting the whole cooking grate off.
Heat distribution: Even and predictable once you’ve learned your kettle’s tendencies.
Steak and burger performance: Some of the best I’ve had. This is genuinely one of my go-to cookers for a weeknight grill session.
Turning it into a smoker: With a two-zone charcoal setup (coals banked to one side) or an insert like a Slow ‘N Sear, you can hold low-and-slow temperatures for ribs or a pork butt. It won’t match a dedicated smoker’s capacity or convenience, but it’s a legitimately capable option for someone who grills often and smokes occasionally.
Main drawback: Smaller smoking capacity compared to dedicated offsets or large barrel smokers, and you’ll need to actively manage the fire more than you would on a WSM or gravity-fed unit.
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If you’re new to charcoal cooking and the idea of “managing airflow” sounds intimidating, this is where I’d point you.
Ease of setup: Comes mostly assembled compared to some kamados, and it’s ready to cook within an hour of unboxing.
Temperature control: Triple-wall insulated steel construction holds heat remarkably well — I’ve held 225°F on a windy fall afternoon with barely any vent adjustment.
Learning curve: Forgiving. Small vent adjustments produce small, predictable temperature changes, which is exactly what a beginner needs while they’re learning how airflow and fire work together.
Accessibility: At a much lower price than ceramic kamados, this is an easy entry point into kamado-style cooking without the higher financial commitment.
Cleaning: An ash pan underneath makes cleanup simpler than most charcoal grills.
How forgiving it is for new pitmasters: Very. This is the cooker I’d recommend to a friend who’s cooked on a gas grill their whole life and wants to try real charcoal smoking without a steep learning curve.
Supporting keyword: best charcoal grill smoker combo for beginners
Main drawback: The air dampers are sensitive at the extremes — if you overshoot your target temperature, it can take a while to bring it back down because the insulated body holds heat so well.
When you’re cooking for a crowd — a full holiday spread, a graduation party, whatever it is — capacity starts to matter more than almost anything else.
Total cooking area: Close to 1,890 square inches across the main chamber and firebox grates combined. That’s enough room for multiple briskets, several racks of ribs, and a couple of chickens at the same time.
Two-zone cooking: The offset firebox design naturally creates a hotter zone near the firebox side and a cooler zone further away, letting you manage different foods simultaneously.
Capacity for larger gatherings: This is the pick if you regularly host. I’ve used similarly sized offsets for backyard competitions among friends, and the extra grate space is the difference between stressing over timing and just cooking.
Smoking multiple racks of ribs or large cuts: Multiple full racks fit with room to spare, along with a packer brisket or two.
Fuel management: Larger chamber means more fuel consumption to maintain temperature, especially in colder weather — budget for that when you’re planning long cooks.
Main drawback: The larger footprint takes up real patio space, and it’s heavier to move around than most of the other combos here.
These two get lumped together because they’re the benchmark ceramic kamados, and honestly, either one is a fantastic long-term investment if you’re ready to spend the money.
Construction: Thick ceramic shell that retains heat and moisture far better than steel, which shows up in juicier smoked meats and more consistent temperatures.
Materials: High-quality ceramic, stainless steel components, and well-engineered dampers.
Temperature control: Precise. Once dialed in, ceramic kamados barely need vent adjustments over a multi-hour cook.
Durability: These are built to last decades with basic maintenance — I know people still cooking on Big Green Eggs they bought 15+ years ago.
Advanced features: Kamado Joe in particular includes divide-and-conquer grate systems for simultaneous direct and indirect cooking zones on the same cook.
Long-term value: The upfront price is steep, but if you’re going to own one cooker for the next couple of decades, the cost-per-year math actually works out reasonably well.
Main drawback: Heavy — really heavy — and the upfront financial investment is the highest on this list by a wide margin.
I didn’t just look at spec sheets for this list. Here’s how I actually evaluate these cookers.
I look at maximum achievable heat, how evenly that heat spreads across the grate, whether the design supports true two-zone cooking, how well the cooker sears (a smash burger or a ribeye tells you a lot fast), and how easy it is to add charcoal mid-cook without losing heat or making a mess.
The big ones here: can it actually hold a low temperature like 225–250°F for hours without constant babysitting? How precise is the airflow control? Does the smoke taste clean or acrid? How well does it cook indirectly, and how much fuel does an overnight or all-day cook actually burn?
Steel thickness (thin steel warps and loses heat fast), grate material, hinge durability, damper quality, wheels that actually hold up under weight, handles that don’t get scorching hot, and the overall finish and weld quality.
How painful is assembly? How intuitive is the temperature control? Can you add charcoal without a struggle? How easy is cleanup and ash removal? Can you make small, precise adjustments, or does the design force big swings?
The cheapest cooker on the shelf isn’t automatically the best value. If a budget combo leaks air everywhere and you spend $40 on gasket kits and three frustrated cooks figuring it out, that’s not actually cheaper than paying more upfront for something built right the first time.
A charcoal grill and smoker combo is exactly what it sounds like — a single cooker designed to handle both high-heat direct grilling and low-and-slow indirect smoking, using charcoal (and often wood) as the fuel source.
The difference between a standard charcoal grill and a grill/smoker combo usually comes down to airflow control and chamber design. A basic kettle grill can technically smoke food if you set up a two-zone fire, but a purpose-built combo typically has features — separate fireboxes, larger chambers, better-sealed lids, more precise dampers — that make smoking easier and more consistent.
How one cooker performs both functions comes down to fire placement. Put the food directly over hot coals, and you’re grilling. Move the coals to one side (or into a separate firebox entirely) and let the food cook using ambient heat and airflow, and you’re smoking.
Direct vs. indirect cooking is the core concept to understand here. Direct heat cooks food quickly from below — great for steaks, burgers, and anything you want charred and juicy fast. Indirect heat cooks food slowly using circulating hot air and smoke — what you need for tender brisket, ribs, and pulled pork.
How airflow turns a charcoal grill into a smoker is simple in concept: restrict the intake vent and exhaust vent to slow combustion and lower temperature, then let smoke roll gently across your food instead of blasting it with direct flame.
Not every combo is built the same way, and understanding these categories will save you from buying the wrong style for your needs.
Whether you just unboxed your first combo or you’re switching from gas, here’s the process I walk people through.
Decide whether you’re grilling or smoking first, because it changes your charcoal placement. For grilling, spread coals evenly (or bank them for a two-zone setup so you have a hot side and a cooler side). For smoking, pile coals to one side, in a firebox, or in a ring around the perimeter, depending on your cooker’s design. Use enough charcoal for your expected cook time — a general rule I follow is roughly one full charcoal chimney for a shorter grilling session, and a partially lit “Minion Method” ring for longer smokes.
Use a chimney starter instead of lighter fluid whenever possible — it lights faster, more evenly, and won’t leave a chemical aftertaste on your food. Wait until the coals are ashed over gray before dumping them in; that’s your sign they’re ready to cook on, not still flaring with lighter-fluid smoke.
Place your lit charcoal on one side of the cooker (or in the firebox) to create a clear indirect cooking zone on the other side. A water pan underneath the food helps stabilize temperature and adds moisture, especially useful on longer cooks. Add a couple of wood chunks or a handful of chips directly onto the coals for smoke flavor.
Your intake vent controls how much oxygen feeds the fire — open it up for more heat, close it down to cool things off. Your exhaust vent controls draft and smoke flow; keep it mostly open so smoke doesn’t turn stale and bitter. Make small adjustments and give the cooker 10–15 minutes to respond before adjusting again — most beginner mistakes come from overcorrecting too fast. And resist the urge to keep lifting the lid to check on things; every peek lets out heat and adds cook time.
Position your food away from direct heat when smoking. Insert a reliable meat thermometer — I don’t trust the built-in lid thermometers on most cookers, they’re often inaccurate by 20-plus degrees. Monitor your pit temperature throughout the cook, not just at the start.
Add charcoal before you run low, not after the temperature has already dropped. Manage your vents as the weather changes — wind and cold both affect how your fire burns. Add wood strategically throughout a long smoke rather than dumping it all at once, and don’t oversmoke your food; a thin blue smoke is what you want, not thick white billowing smoke.
Check internal temperature with your thermometer, not the clock — cook times are estimates, doneness temperature is truth. Remove the meat once it hits your target. Let it rest before slicing (15 minutes for smaller cuts, 30–45 minutes or more for a full brisket) so the juices redistribute instead of running out onto your cutting board.
Internal link opportunity: For a deeper walkthrough, check out our full guide on [how to use a charcoal smoker].
| Feature | Charcoal Grill | Grill & Smoker Combo |
|---|---|---|
| Grilling | Excellent | Excellent |
| Smoking | Limited | Excellent |
| Versatility | Good | Excellent |
| Learning curve | Lower | Higher |
| Space required | Lower | Higher |
| Best for | Grilling | Grilling + BBQ |
This is the section I’d tell you to bookmark. Get these right, and you’ll be happy with your purchase for years.
Advertised square inches can be misleading. Manufacturers often combine the main grate, warming rack, and firebox grate into one big number, which makes the usable primary cooking space look bigger than it actually is. Look at the breakdown, not just the total.
Pay attention to intake vents, exhaust vents, damper quality, and — this is the one people underestimate — air leakage around the lid and firebox seams. A cooker with great vents but a leaky lid will still fight you on temperature stability.
The ability to separate direct heat from indirect heat on the same cooker is what actually makes something a legitimate “combo” rather than just a grill with a fancy name. If a design doesn’t let you create that separation, it’s going to struggle at one job or the other.
Look for hinged grates, easy fuel-loading doors, adjustable charcoal beds, or a separate firebox where applicable. Nothing kills the mood of a long cook faster than having to lift a heavy cooking grate off just to add more charcoal.
Steel construction, grate material, lid fit, seal quality, and hardware durability all matter here. Thin steel warps under heat over time and loses temperature stability faster.
Think realistically about what you’ll cook. A rack of ribs and a couple of chicken thighs is very different from two full packer briskets for a holiday gathering — make sure the smoking chamber can actually fit what you plan to cook.
Ash pans, removable grates, grease management systems, and easy access to the firebox all make a real difference in whether you actually enjoy using the cooker regularly or start dreading the cleanup.
Consider wheels, overall weight, how much patio or yard space it demands, and where you’ll store it in the off-season or bad weather.
The cheapest combo on the shelf can end up costing you more in the long run if poor temperature control and weak construction lead to frustrating cooks, wasted fuel, or a cooker that rusts out in two seasons. I’d rather see you spend a bit more upfront on something built right.
A few add-ons make a bigger difference than most people expect, especially on budget combos that need a little help hitting their full potential.
I’ll be honest with you — most budget offset combos leak air somewhere out of the box. It’s just the nature of stamped steel construction at a lower price point. The good news is that fixing it isn’t complicated. High-temp felt gaskets around the lid and firebox door are the most common fix, and they typically run you $15–25. Food-grade silicone or toggle clamps can help snug up a lid that doesn’t sit flush. It’s a small investment of time and money that noticeably tightens up temperature control, especially on offset-style smokers where the firebox door and main lid are the biggest leak points.
Not all charcoal burns the same, and it’s worth understanding the difference before your first long cook. Lump charcoal lights faster, burns hotter, and produces a more natural wood flavor, but it burns a bit less predictably and can have more variation between bags. Charcoal briquettes burn longer and more consistently, which makes them a solid choice for extended smokes where steady temperature matters more than peak flavor complexity. I generally reach for lump when I’m grilling and want quick high heat, and briquettes (sometimes mixed with lump) when I’m settling in for an all-day smoke.
Yes — but how well it works depends heavily on the cooker’s design.
Some combos are genuinely built to excel at both jobs, with real heat separation between a grilling zone and a smoking zone (offset fireboxes and gravity-fed cookers are good examples). Others are more of a compromise: fine at grilling, adequate at smoking, but not exceptional at either.
Heat separation matters because grilling wants intense, direct radiant heat close to the food, while smoking wants gentle, indirect heat and slow-moving smoke. A cooker that can cleanly separate those two heat profiles — rather than blending them together — is going to perform better at both.
Airflow is the other half of the equation. Precise intake and exhaust control is what lets you dial in a stable low temperature for smoking, or open things up for a hot sear. If a cooker’s vents are vague or imprecise, you’ll fight it constantly.
If smoking is your priority, look for a design with a genuine indirect cooking zone, solid seals, and reliable low-temperature control — an offset firebox, a water smoker, or an insulated kamado will serve you better than a basic kettle grill.
Yes — these products are commonly sold as grill-and-smoker combos, and you’ll find them in a range of designs:
Worth clarifying: “smoker grill combo” is a broad category that also includes pellet and gas hybrid models. This guide specifically focuses on charcoal-based options, since that’s where the flavor advantage and hands-on cooking experience really live.
This comes up constantly, so let’s settle it.
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
For traditional BBQ flavor, charcoal wins — there’s just no substitute for real wood and charcoal smoke. For convenience, pellet takes it, especially for long overnight cooks. For beginners, pellet is more forgiving, though an insulated charcoal kamado or a gravity-fed unit closes that gap significantly. For high-heat grilling, charcoal is the clear winner. For long smoking sessions with minimal babysitting, pellet has the edge, though gravity-fed charcoal cookers now compete closely on that front.
I’ve made most of these myself, so consider this a shortcut past the mistakes I had to learn the hard way:
A few things I tell every beginner who asks me for advice on their first combo cooker.
Before you attempt anything low-and-slow, get comfortable setting up a hot side and a cool side on your cooker. It’s the foundation for almost everything else.
Brisket is unforgiving of temperature swings. Practice holding a steady 225–250°F on cheaper cuts before you commit 12+ hours and real money to a packer brisket.
Don’t trust the lid thermometer. A dual-probe digital thermometer monitoring both pit and meat temperature will save you from a lot of guessing and lid-lifting.
More smoke isn’t better smoke. A thin, almost invisible blue smoke is what you want — thick white smoke usually means bitter flavor.
Let your temperature settle for 15–20 minutes after lighting before you add food. Cooking through the initial temperature spike leads to inconsistent results.
I keep a simple log on my phone — vent positions, charcoal amount, outdoor temperature, and how the cook went. After a few cooks, you’ll start to see your cooker’s patterns.
Build confidence before you tackle brisket. Suggested first smoking cooks, in order:
The Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 is our top overall pick. It combines genuine charcoal and wood flavor with digital temperature precision, making it easier to get consistent results across both grilling and smoking without constant fire management.
For most backyard cooks, yes. You get real versatility, save patio space versus owning two separate cookers, and typically spend less overall than buying a dedicated grill and smoker separately. The trade-off is a slightly steeper learning curve than a gas grill, but it flattens out quickly with a few cooks under your belt.
Yes. Set up your charcoal for indirect cooking (banked to one side or in a ring), control your vents to hold a low temperature, and add wood chunks or chips for smoke. It won’t match a dedicated smoker’s convenience, but it works.
On cookers with real heat separation — offset fireboxes, gravity-fed units, or kamados with divide-and-conquer grate systems — yes. On simpler combos without that separation, it’s harder to do both at once effectively.
The Oklahoma Joe’s Highland Offset Smoker is our value pick. It offers heavy-gauge steel construction and genuine offset smoking performance at a price point well below comparable competitors.
“Better” depends on what you’re optimizing for. Charcoal generally wins on flavor and high-heat grilling capability; pellet generally wins on convenience and hands-off operation for long cooks. Neither is objectively superior — it comes down to how much hands-on fire management you actually want to do.
Start with a stabilized fire before adding food, use a two-zone or indirect charcoal setup, and make small, patient adjustments to your intake vent rather than big swings. Give each adjustment 10–15 minutes to take effect before changing anything further, and keep an eye on wind and outdoor temperature, both of which affect how much airflow you need.
It varies quite a bit based on the cooker’s size and insulation, outdoor weather conditions, your target temperature, and how long the cook runs. As a rough guide, expect a well-insulated kamado or gravity-fed cooker to use noticeably less charcoal over a long smoke than a large offset with a bigger, less-insulated chamber.
The Char-Griller Akorn Kamado is our beginner pick. Its insulated construction holds temperature with minimal vent fiddling, which makes the learning curve much gentler than a traditional offset smoker.
Here’s the lineup one more time, organized by who each one is actually for.
Best Overall: Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 Best Value: Oklahoma Joe’s Highland Offset Smoker Best for Smoking: Weber Smokey Mountain 22″ Best for Grilling: Weber Master-Touch Charcoal Grill 22″ Best for Beginners: Char-Griller Akorn Kamado Best Premium: Big Green Egg (Large) / Kamado Joe Classic III
If I had to boil this whole guide down to one piece of advice, it’s this: buy based on how you actually cook, not how you imagine you’ll cook. If you’re realistic that most of your weekends will be quick grilling sessions with the occasional ambitious smoke, the Weber Master-Touch with a two-zone setup or the Gravity Series 800 will serve you well. If low-and-slow BBQ is genuinely your priority and grilling is secondary, lean toward the Weber Smokey Mountain or the Oklahoma Joe’s Highland. New to charcoal entirely? Start with the Akorn Kamado and build confidence before you invest in anything bigger.
Whichever one you land on, the fundamentals matter more than the model: learn two-zone cooking, be patient with your vents, and give yourself a few forgiving cooks before you attempt brisket. That’s really the whole game.
Ready to choose your charcoal grill smoker combo? Compare today’s prices and find the model that fits your backyard BBQ setup.
Choose a charcoal grill smoker combo if you want:
Choose a dedicated smoker instead if:
Want a printable reference for your next cook? Grab our free BBQ Smoking Temperature & Time Cheat Sheet — a handy one-page guide to internal temps and estimated cook times for the cuts you’ll smoke most.
GET THE FREE BBQ CHEAT SHEET
Related reading: Best Charcoal Grills | Best Charcoal Smokers | Best Offset Smokers | Best Pellet Smokers | How to Use a Charcoal Grill | How to Use a Charcoal Smoker | Best Wood for Smoking | How to Smoke Brisket | How to Smoke Ribs | Charcoal vs. Pellet Grills | How to Control Charcoal Grill Temperature
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