If you want to make real authentic smoked Barbecue, you will need a real authentic barbecue smoker. Here are four quick and easy tips to help you decide what type of barbecue smoker is best for you. The four factors to consider are, first, what type of smoker do you want to have. Second, what type of fuel do you want to burn. Third, what are you going to use your smoker for. And finally, fourth, what is your budget.
Type of smoker. There are basically three types of barbecue smokers, and they will all make good smoked meat if you know how to use them. The first type is an offset smoker point. This type of smoker has a fire box offset from the cooking chamber, and cooks strictly with smoke and indirect heat. The fuel is burned in the fire box, smoke and heat flow into the smoke chamber, surrounding and cooking the meat then exiting through a chimney. The second type is a vertical smoker. A vertical smoker has only one chamber, with the fire box at the bottom, and the meat suspended over the smoke source on a system of racks. The third type of smoker is a "kettle smoker", very similar to a Weber Grill that almost everyone who has ever grilled meat outside has either seen or used. A Weber grill can be set up to act as a smoker, using indirect heat and wood smoke to turn out some fine barbecue.
Type of fuel to burn. The secret to smoke barbecue, is of course, wood smoke. You must burn some type of wood to provide smoke for the meat. Types of wood are either whole log, wood chunks, charcoal, hardwood charcoal, or even wood pellets. Also a factor is how to supply heat to make the smoke. Some smokers are fueled with propane, which burns the wood, and provides smoke. Some smokers use electricity which burns the wood and provides smoke. Some smokers just burn wood or charcoal to provide smoke. There are many choices.