Commercial kitchen smokers are usually electric refrigerator like devices that are basically computer controlled, climate controlled environments that you set and forget. An electric element heats wood pellets or chips to generate smoke. There are backyard versions of electric smokers, but they are a little too clean and simple to call them BBQ tools. There must be fire to make it a manly tool. Hard core BBQ guys only use charcoal or wood fired smokers, which are also the only type smoker allowed in competition. However, they must be watched and tweaked constantly to maintain a constant temperature and smoke level. While these look awesome and make great BBQ, I'm not willing to spend all day every Saturday messing with charcoal and vents, hoping I don't ruin a bunch of meat.
The best backyard charcoal version is the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) which is high quality and generally easy to use by comparison. Meat is placed on 2 layers of racks and the lower rack can only be accessed by removing the upper rack. Seems like a bit of a hassle.A gas smoker is a nice compromise between the two - consistent easy temperature control with a flame. I ran a natural gas line to our deck for our Weber Genesis grill which I love but no one makes a natural gas smoker so I was in for a conversion project no matter what I picked. I was very close to getting the WSM and After Burner conversion kit but decided the inconvenience of how you load it and the lack of enough venting on the lid it was not ideal. The fridge style was much easier to load and Sam's sells a version with 2 burners for even more heat control as well as a large door with a window to see what's going on. As a smoking newbie, being able to see the smoke and meat as it cooks seems like a great advantage. So I ordered the Smoke Hollow Dual Burner PS4400. I'll convert it to Natural Gas once it arrives.
