If you want to take your culinary adventures to a whole new level, you need a smoke tube. This simple device can allow you to add a delicious smoky flavor to your grilling, but you can also use it for cold smoking nuts, cheese and other foods.
Our research team has reviewed over 30 smoke tube models to assess how they operate for the typical grill owner. We’ve created a list of our top picks and our editor’s choice LIZZQ Premium Pellet Smoker Tube offers a fantastic balance of smoking performance and compact design. However, we’ve also ranked other smoke tubes at different price points to provide a top pick for everyone.
Our researchers deliberated for hours to find the best smoke tube. Whether you’re new to smoking or an experienced hand, we’ve assessed the ease of use and functionality, so you can have confidence in your purchase. First and foremost, we looked at the sizes of smoke tubes, which can impact the duration of smoking, but we’ve also looked at the materials used and weight, which affect ease of cleaning, durability and portability. We’ve compiled our findings into a simple overview table and a list of detailed reviews. We’ve also included our buying guide to help you to make your final purchase decision.
The LIZZQ Premium Pellet Smoker Tube is our editor’s choice because it’s a user-friendly tool with an intriguing ability to taste your food to the next level. This smoker tube ensures that all the contents of your grill in their entirety are penetrated with the smoky flavor as it guarantees even distribution of smoke through its rounded shape. Thanks to its shape and design, It can be positioned on whatever grill you have. It has a five-hour smoking time, and there’s enough space to accommodate all your pellets, for it is 12 inches long.
Whether you are a beginner outdoor cook or a seasoned smoking expert, you can’t afford to miss out on this smoke tube because it’s an exceptional and highly price-efficient tool for your smoking needs. Especially if you’re interested in versatility, this smoker tube is excellent for your bacon, corn, nuts, fish, lamb, cheese, chicken, sausages, hot dogs, cured meats, ribs, and pork. While it’s designed to work with all kinds of grills, charcoal, electrical, or gas, there’s no limitation to the kinds of wood pellets it can work with.
Other features: hexagonal shape, smokes up to 4 hours
For many users this may be the best smoke tube for traeger grills on the market today. The XT Pellet Smoker Tube can be used with gas, charcoal, electric and portable grills with a smoking time of up to 4 hours. This is perfect for both cold and hot smoking and it imparts a wonderful smoky taste to meat, poultry, sausages, ribs, vegetables, nuts and cheeses. This smoker has a hexagon design to prevent lateral movement and it’s built from premium grade stainless steel. Simply fill the tube with your favorite wood chips, light them with your propane torch, let the burn develop for 10 mins and enjoy 4 hours of high quality smoking.
Other features: superior hexagon design, FDA certified
The Z GRILLS Pellet Smoker Tube is versatile and works with most smokers and grills, including portable grills, electric grills, gas grills, charcoal grills, etc. It’s made of pure stainless tesla that is resistant to heat & rust, is sturdy, and doesn’t break easily. You can use this pellet smoker on hot and cold smoking, including hot smoke pork, chicken steak, etc., and colts smoke cheese and nuts. A single tube smoker lasts for around 5 hours, and you only have to light it with a torch, allow the flame to burn for a maximum of 5 minutes, and then blow it out.
The sleek hexagon design is more functional than aesthetic as it prevents the smoker from rolling off the grill. This smoker doesn’t leave any residue, so the integrity of your food will be maintained.
Other features: expandable, smokes up to 5 hours
The GMG-6027 Thin Blue Smoker Tube is an unusual entry on our list because the tube is expandable. The slide extension mechanism allows the user to choose any smoke tube size from 11” up to 18” for the exact smoke flavor required. The smoking process can last from 3 hours up to a maximum of 5 hours’ time. This is more than enough to smoke your favorite poultry, meat, ham, steaks, fish, veggies, nuts and delicious cheeses. This product works best with gas, charcoal or pellet grill systems and the smoker tube is easy to use.
Other features: provides billowing smoke for 5 hours.
The Garllen Pellet Smoker Tube has a new upgraded square design as opposed to traditional circular designs. This enhances the diffusion and smoke to ensure you get the best smoking results. This design also ensures it stays in place and doesn’t roll around the grill for balanced smoking.
It is only 12 inches and can be used with all types of grills, including charcoal grills, gas grills, gas grills, etc. This smoker is made from stainless steel for durability and produces smoke for a maximum of 5 hours. It can be used for hot and cold smoking meats.
Other features: square, smokes for 5+ hours, capacity of 1 pound of wood pellets
The GRILL SERGEANT Smoker Tube may be the best smoke tube for gas grill users that like to use other fuel sources for different results. This is a very versatile smoker tube made from thick stainless steel, it’s not the cheapest tube on our list, but it will stand the test of time. This tube can smoke for 5 hours or longer in your grill and you can use it hot or cold. The square shape allows this tube to hold more than a round on hexagon configuration and it will stay in place during use. The “star hole” pattern is unique to this product and it delivers an even distribution of high-quality smoke.
Other features: round, prefilled with 1 lb. of Pitmasters Choice Wood Pellets
The A-MAZE-N AMNTS12PF Pellet Smoker Tube is our editor’s choice because it’s an ideal supplement to your favorite electric smoker. This may be the best smoke tube for pellet grill users, it’s 12” size is ideal and it’s made from durable stainless steel. This smoker tube requires no extra binders, filters or oils to flavor your meat as it smokes for up to 11 hours. However, the flavored BBQ pellets impart the rich and deep flavor that you want in your meat, poultry and smoke cheeses. This smoker is compact, it’s very portable and easy to transport from home to your camper making it an ideal travelling companion.
Other features: hexagonal, smokes up 3-4 hours
The Kingsford Pellet Smoker Tube is available in a hexagon configuration. We believe that this smoke tube has a lot to offer and it’s a cheaper option compared to others on our list. This smoker tube is suitable for every type of grill, it’s easy to fill with your favorite wood chips and it only takes a few moments to light. The smoker tube delivers smoke evenly and efficiently and it can be used in a hold or cold grill or smoker. This product is light, portable and the stainless steel construction makes it durable and corrosion-proof.
Other features: hexagonal, produce smoke up to 2/4 hours
The BEWAVE Pellet Smoker Tubes are our best value pick because they offer a great deal of flexibility for a “bargain” smoker tube. There are two models available, they are 6½” and 12” long and made from 304 stainless steel. The shorter smoker tube can be used to produce supplementary smoke in your grill or smoker for up to 4 hours. The larger 12” smoker tube can generate smoke for up to 5 hours making it ideal for longer hot or cold smoking. The hexagon shapes allow the user to add more wood pellets and the smoke tube will stay exactly where it’s placed.
A smoke tube can take your culinary adventures to a whole new level. From adding smokey deliciousness to your grilling through to smoking nuts, cheeses and other foods, you can add wonderful flavor to your dishes. However, with so many different smoker tubes on the market, it can be challenging to find the best one. So here we’ve created our buying guide with features to look for, things to consider and answers to some common questions to help you make a purchase decision.
A smoking tube is ideal if you want to smoke your own meat, ham, poultry and cheeses at home. Many people lack the experience and tools needed to try their look on creating smoked brisket and other tasty foods at home. However, as we’ve demonstrated above a good smoke tube is very affordable and this gives the average person the chance to try it out for themselves.
A smoke tube allows the user to turn virtually any grill into a smoke machine. Some grills work better than others when it comes to hot smoking, but pretty much any grill can cold smoke effectively. A gas grill is designed to quickly sear and then cook your food in an efficient manner. But, if the meat is cooked on the indirect cook setting it can be slow cooked over a considerably longer time. When meat is cooked for 10-12 hours it’s more tender and adding a smoke tube will impart extra flavors to the meat. A good smoke tube can produce smoke for up to 4 hours and some models on our list last even longer.
Using a smoke tube is simple, fill the tube with your favorite flavor wood chips or wood pellets. The wood should not be too small, sawdust will fall through the smoke holes and chipped small pieces work best. Over time smoking enthusiasts will gather many different types of wood to smoke and they can impart a variety of tastes and aromas. It’s not unusual to meet people with their own recipes and mixing different wood types together can reveal even more to enjoy.
Once the tube is filled you light one of the ends with a butane torch in the vertical position. This will ensure that the wood is lit properly and then the wood will have plenty of burning embers. Then blow out the flames until the tube is smoking and place the tube in the area where you need smoke. A smoke tube will continue to smoke for around 2-4 hours but the best models such as the A-MAZE-N AMNTS12PF Pellet Smoker Tube can keep smoking for much longer.
With so many smoke tubes on the market, it can sometimes be tricky to find the best one for your requirements. So, here we’ll explore the key features to consider and help you to narrow down the options.
There are a variety of smoke tube sizes available from the smallest we’ve seen at 4” up to the more standard 12” models. The longer the smoke tube, the more wood pellets you can pack in and the longer the smoking times. For most people, a large smoke tube is the more desired product because we all want those deeper and more developed tastes. But, a shorter 4” model could provide a short-term boost to an existing smoking project and the exact time it would provide would depend on the type of wood used. Some manufacturers claim that they can achieve an 8-hour smoke from a 12” long smoke tube. However, that’s a difficult claim to believe and a time of up to 5 or 6 hours is possible if a harder smoking wood such as hickory is used.
Each of the smoker tubes we have features may appear at first glance to be pretty much the same. However, they all work in a slightly different way to provide the level of smoke diffusion required to smoke the food efficiently. Most modern smoke tubes including all those on our last are made with stainless steel of varying grades and quality. Stainless steel is a fantastic material, it’s light, easy to work, durable and it resists corrosion well.
The holes in the smoker tube are also important to determine how fast the wood pellet or shavings will burn. If the holes in the smoker tube are too large or there are too many the oxygen levels in the wood will be higher and the material will burn too fast.
If you’re new to smoking it’s a great idea to choose a smoke tube that comes with a few extras to get you up and running quickly. Garllen Pellet Smoke Tube is a good example of this type of product and it’s a great entry point to smoking. It’s important to think about the shape of the smoke tube, traditional models have a circular diameter, but cube and octagonal shapes are very popular. A smoke tube with a flat side is less likely to move after it’s been placed in the grill making it a more reliable option. Some smoke tubes are extendable allowing the user to adjust the length for shorter or longer smoking times.
As one might imagine a smoke tube can become very dirty after use due to an accumulation of creosote. If this material is not cleaned away between uses it will impart an acrid flavor to any of the foods that you want to smoke when you use it next. It’s easy to clean and maintain your smoke tubes, let the tube cool and empty out any of the unburnt wood pellets or chips. Some smoke tubes are dishwasher safe but it’s important to remove any creosote dust with a cleaning tool or an old toothbrush first. Other models can be washed in warm soapy water and then fully dried before they are stored away. It’s a good idea to clean all of your smoke tubes before they are put into long term storage over the winter months.
