The pit changes how you hold a temperature. A packer is still done around 203°F and probe-tender, whether you cooked it on ceramic, on pellets, or over sticks.

Pellet grills

A pellet grill feeds compressed sawdust into a fire pot with an auger, and a controller tries to hold the grate on the number you set. That is the whole appeal on an overnight brisket: the cooker keeps eating pellets while you sleep, and you are not standing at a firebox with a stick in your hand. The smoke is real, and it is also milder than a stick fire, because the pellets are a small, clean flame rather than a log you can watch.

It is good at long cooks where the setpoint is the point, and at cooks you cannot babysit.

Pros

  • A pellet grill sits on a setpoint while you sleep, which is what the auger is for.
  • Startup is a button and a hopper, so a weeknight butt does not begin with a chimney of charcoal.

Cons

  • The smoke tastes like the pellets in the hopper, and it stays milder than a stick fire.
  • A flameout is quiet. The meat can cool in a dead pit if you are not watching the grate.

It suits a cook who wants the clock more than the fire. The pellet buying guide is not written yet, so this section does not send you to one.

Offset smokers

An offset is a cook chamber with a firebox off to the side. You burn wood or charcoal in the box, and heat and smoke travel across the meat. You can see the fire. The bark takes on that wood in a way a sealed cooker softens, because fresh smoke keeps moving instead of sitting in a closed dome. The trade is attention. The firebox is the cooker.

It is good at brisket and ribs when you will be there to feed it, and at a bark that tastes like the wood you just split.

Pros

  • An offset lets you see the fire and feed it real wood.
  • Smoke moves across the chamber, so the bark picks up the wood you are burning.

Cons

  • An offset asks you to stay. A nap is how the firebox dies.
  • The end near the firebox runs hotter until you learn where to put the flat.

It suits someone who likes tending a fire and has the day. The offset buying guide is not written yet.

Kamado grills

A kamado is a ceramic cooker. Lump charcoal sits in the firebox, the lid seals, and small vent moves are the whole fire control. I cook on a Kamado Joe, and the reason it earns its keep is a low temperature that holds for hours, including in weather that would empty a thin steel pit. The thermometer in the lid is not the number the meat sees. It sits up in the dome and usually reads hotter than a probe at the grate. When these plans say 225°F, they mean the grate.

It is good at long, steady cooks on lump, and at holding heat once the vents have settled.

Pros

  • A kamado holds a low temperature for a long time on lump, including in rough weather.
  • The lid seals, so a small vent change is the fire control.

Cons

  • On a kamado the lid thermometer sits in the dome and usually reads hotter than the grate.
  • The ceramic wall blocks a lot of Bluetooth, so a wireless probe needs its charger just outside the cooker.

It suits a cook who wants one heavy pit for low barbecue and for hotter grilling, and who will learn vents instead of a keypad. The kamado buying guide is not written yet. Nothing here picks a Kamado Joe over a Weber ceramic, or the other way around.

Drum smokers

A drum smoker, the shape people call a UDS when it is built from an ugly drum, is a steel barrel with charcoal in the bottom and the meat on a grate above it. Air comes in through intakes low on the barrel. Once those holes are set, a drum can sit at a low grate temperature for a long cook, with more smoke than a pellet hopper and less welded steel than an offset cabinet. The first cooks are intake practice. Too much air and the barrel runs hot. Too little and the fire smothers.

It is good at a steady charcoal fire you can learn, and at a pit you can build or buy without a trailer.

Pros

  • A drum holds charcoal under the meat and can sit at a low grate temperature once the intakes are learned.
  • The wall is steel, so a wired probe does not have to fight a ceramic shell.

Cons

  • A drum's first cooks are intake practice. Too much air and the barrel runs away.
  • Rain on a thin barrel steals heat, so a long cook in weather needs a closer eye.

It suits someone who wants charcoal barbecue and is willing to learn a few holes before they trust an overnight. There is no drum buying page here yet.

Kettle grills

A kettle is a round charcoal grill with a lid and two vents. It is enough for chicken, steaks, and a pork cook that finishes the same day, and the vents are a complete lesson in fire control. A chunk of wood on the coals makes real smoke without a second appliance. A 14-hour packer is a different ask. The charcoal basket is small, the lid is thin, and you will be refueling when you would rather be asleep.

It is good at weeknight grilling and at any cook short enough that one chimney of charcoal can finish the job.

Pros

  • A kettle is enough for chicken, steaks, and a shorter pork cook, and the vents are the whole lesson.
  • Charcoal plus one chunk of wood makes real smoke without another appliance.

Cons

  • A kettle's charcoal basket is small for a 14-hour packer, so you refuel in the dark.
  • The lid is thin, so wind asks more from the fire on a long stall.

It suits a cook who grills more often than they smoke, and anyone who wants to learn vents before they spend offset money. The charcoal grill buying guide is not written yet.

Electric smokers

An electric smoker makes heat with an element and smoke with a chip tray, a chunk tray, or a small pellet cup. You set a number and the box tries to hold it, which is the right tool when you cannot run charcoal: an apartment patio, a windy balcony, or a day when a live fire is more trouble than the cook is worth. The smoke is light. A packer will not taste like a stick-burner, and a hard sear is not what the element is for.

It is good at a steady cabinet temperature and at a light smoke on a butt, ribs, or a bird.

Pros

  • An electric smoker holds a number from a heating element when you cannot run charcoal.
  • A wood chip tray still puts a light smoke on a butt or a bird.

Cons

  • An electric smoker makes light smoke. A packer will not taste like a stick fire.
  • The element's top temperature and the chip tray are the ceiling, so a hard sear is a different cooker.

It suits a cook who needs a cabinet that behaves and can live with a gentler smoke flavor. There is no electric buying page here yet.

Gas and combo grills

A gas grill lights from a burner and is ready, which is why it wins on a weeknight chicken or a steak. A combo adds a wood box, a smoker tube, or a charcoal tray so some smoke can reach the meat. The burner that sears a ribeye is not automatically a pit that holds 225°F until a packer is probe-tender. You can do a long cook on gas if the grill will sit that low and you add wood on purpose. You are asking a sear machine to imitate a pit for half a day.

It is good at hot, fast food, and at a little smoke when the combo actually has a place to put wood.

Pros

  • A gas burner lights and is ready, which suits weeknight chicken and steaks.
  • A gas combo with a wood box or a charcoal tray can add some smoke without a second pit.

Cons

  • A gas burner that sears well is not automatically a pit that holds 225°F all day.
  • Smoke on a gas grill depends on a wood box or a smoker tube. The flame itself does not taste like oak.

It suits weeknight grilling, and a long smoke only if you already know the grill will hold a low number. The combo buying guide is not written yet.

Brand-by-brand notes are not written yet. Nothing here names a winner. What changes dinner, once the pit can hold a grate temperature, is the probe and the clock. Read meat thermometers for smoking before you add another gadget to the lid. Set the cook on the brisket calculator or the pork butt smoking time calculator. If the argument is paper versus foil, that lives on butcher paper vs foil.