Looking for a combination grill and smoker for my balcony. Requirements are:
Don’t break the bank
Propane for the heat source. Don’t want flames or ashes on a balcony.
Not too big, again it’s on a relatively small balcony.
Grill function will be used more than smoking.
Main foods grilled: chicken, burgers, pork chops, veggies
Novice to smoking, but I foresee brisket, turkey breast, ribs, wings among others.
Recommendations? (I refuse to say “and go” lol)
I don’t think you’ll find a small device that can do both well.
Have you considered an electric grill? Super small and you can find a name brand Weber one for like $300.
I have a kamado grill and smoker from Grilla Grills that I love…. But my mom and in laws have an electric grill I’ve used and I’ve been meaning to get one myself. Super convenient and quick to use while not having to deal with propane.
Just go smoker. Electric. Small balcony, Traeger has a tailgate one for like $450.
We have a Country Smoker we bought at Lowe’s. It’s a tabletop smoker/grill. It uses pellets. It’s electric to drive the pellet auger and burn chamber. Pit Boss makes the same one a little bigger. It gets plenty hot enough for grilling and does a nice job smoking too.
I don’t think you will find such a unicorn that can check all of those boxes.
I might just look at getting a modest propane grill and a separate electric or propane smoking cabinet you can haul out for the odd time you plan on smoking something.
I believe there are some pellet grills out there that can do double duty, but the fuel source is wood pellet and there is a bit of ash clean up, though not Generally as bad as charcoal would be. These units also tend to be better smokers than grillers. Would be fine for burgers, chicken etc but you might not be able to get a good steak sear.
You might also be able to turn a regular propane grill in to a smoker. All you need is a heat deflector between your meat and the heat, and a source of smoke. I’m sure someone on YouTube has tried it.
I’d go pellet grill.
I’ve had them all. Propane grill, charcoal grill, ceramic smoker and pellet grill. The pellet is by far the easiest to smoke good food on and easy to grill as well. I have a set of Grill Grates on the pellet and it allows a pretty good sear on steaks and burgers, which is the downfall of most pellet grills.
Are live fires allowed on balconies in your area/building? I would confirm that.
Do you have a gas line on your balcony? Schlepping a tank may get old. Also, i had a grease fire in my weber gas grill once, buildup of grease, and did not have a big enought drip pan under a pork shoulder. Fortunately fixed by turning off the gas at the tank, leaving the lid closed. And it was at least 20 feet from the house, on the ground.
I have a small weber q I use for camping and a quick burger. For smoking, I use a kamado. In the past a weber kettle served both, but uses chunk charcoal, hence fire risk and discarding ashes.
As others have said a pellet grill/smoker is your best bet with the limitation of searing. Smoking is low and slow like 220 degrees for many hours. Brisket can take a good 8+ hours to cook properly while ribs can be done in 4-5 hours if done properly and wrapped.
I use a Green Mountain pellet grill for my basic needs of grilling and light smoking. I have a Bradley smoker for longer cooks where I want to put the meat in and forget about it. Looks like a dorm fridge and is fed with wood pucks onto a burner plate. It’s strictly a smoker although the oven side has it’s own heating element as you don’t rely on the smoke generator to provide heat. It’s great for low and slow likes ribs, pork butt, brisket, tri-tip etc.
Check out the various pellet grills. We have a small one for our RV thats a Pit boss. Does a great job but not a lot of grill space.
Good luck in your search.
Just replying to last as an addition to my last comment:
A few years ago I was searching for a pellet grill. I think there was one that had a good propane side grill you could use to sear steaks. Can’t recall the name. Also, at the time Weber has just released a pellet grill that could supposedly actually grill in addition to smoke. I was heavily leaning towards this option but ended up with a Kamado Big Joe.
It’s absolutely huge, weighs like 500lbs, was 3x the budget I was initially researching and charcoal but the versatility is unmatched. I can easily do multiple briskets/pork shoulders low and slow all night, or crank up to 750+ for pizzas. The food that thing can pump out is so delicious.
The only downside is it’s a bit inefficient for a quick grill night (have to use a full charcoal chimney to cook a few weeknight burgers, for example).
Just replying to last as an addition to my last comment:
A few years ago I was searching for a pellet grill. I think there was one that had a good propane side grill you could use to sear steaks. Can’t recall the name. Also, at the time Weber has just released a pellet grill that could supposedly actually grill in addition to smoke. I was heavily leaning towards this option but ended up with a Kamado Big Joe.
It’s absolutely huge, weighs like 500lbs, was 3x the budget I was initially researching and charcoal but the versatility is unmatched. I can easily do multiple briskets/pork shoulders low and slow all night, or crank up to 750+ for pizzas. The food that thing can pump out is so delicious.
The only downside is it’s a bit inefficient for a quick grill night (have to use a full charcoal chimney to cook a few weeknight burgers, for example).
Camp Chef has the propane side grill. With the Grill Grates I never use it.
I do agree that the ceramic smoker is my #1. It’s my go to when I need to d a low and slow for many hours, Most of the time I start it the night before and just go to bed.
Yes, it was the camp chef, thanks for jogging my memory.
And same here, I often do overnight briskets. I do find it hard to maintain a low temp though. At 225, my vents are barely cracked. Maybe a 1/4" on the bottom and just a tiny corner of the triangle up top. There’s just not enough airflow and it’s easy to choke out the fire, which you won’t learn about until you wake up to find a ruined brisket. When I do overnight cooks I generally sleep on the living room couch (close to deck entrance) and set a thermometer with alarm in case it dips too low and I can tend to the food without waking the family. I’m starting to do hot and fast smokes (300 degrees) more often as it’s quicker and easier to maintain that temp range, and honestly I haven’t noticed any difference in taste or rendering in the meat.
I currently use a small portable grill that originally used the small 1 lb Coleman screw on tanks, I bought the adapter line to run a regular size propane tank to it.
Our building is condos not apartments and it’s small only 9 units so it’s pretty much whatever we want to do.
I have a green mountain davy crockett pellet grill/smoker. It’s nice and compact but if you do a lot of grilling, I wouldn’t recommend it. It takes a while to get up to high grilling temps. Also, in the initially period it does generate a lot of smoke, but fine after it gets up to temp. I personally love mine as it also has a pizza oven attachment. Wifi with built in temp probe makes smoking super easy.
If you do more grilling with occasional smoking, I’d probably recommend a propane grill and use pellet tray/tube like a-maze-n. My old setup. It does a great job imparting smoke flavor. Brisket would probably be the only thing hard to do with this setup. I don’t think I’ve tried smoking anything over 5-6 hrs with propane and pellet tray, though pellet tray can last very long but i’ve had it die out and needed to relight it after a few hours.
All you need is a heat deflector between your meat and the heat, and a source of smoke. I’m sure someone on YouTube has tried it.
This is what I do. I have a three burner natural gas grill (two burner would work fine, depending how much you want to smoke) with a metal divider between the burners. I put a cast iron pan with wood chips over the one burner that is on, the meat on the other side of the divider with no heat under it.
Interesting. Doesn’t the cast iron pan itself just become the heat source?
For my Kamado, the deflectors are basically just kiln shelves, very similar to what sculptors use to dry clay on.
Ok, so after reading these comments and doing more research, I’m narrowing it down.
Pitboss has a combination propane grill/smoker, not too big, under $500. Uses pellets when smoking.
https://pitboss-grills.com/grills/combos/pit-boss-mile-hybrid-wood-pellet-grill
Or:
Pitboss 700 grill/smoker, uses pellets either way. Little larger than the hybrid, but that gets a lot more cooking space. $400 at Lowes
Or:
As yet unchosen propane grill larger than the portable I’ve been grilling on, plus this A-MAZE-N smoke tube when smoking. https://pitboss-grills.com/accessories/a-maze-n-smokers/5x8-smoker-maze
Thanks for all the help so far!
Interesting. Doesn’t the cast iron pan itself just become the heat source?
For my Kamado, the deflectors are basically just kiln shelves, very similar to what sculptors use to dry clay on.
I would say it becomes a heat sink, which is helpful. It’s on the opposite side of the divider from the meat anyway. Usually I pull it off after a few rounds of refilling the chips. Meat doesn’t absorb much smoke after the first while.
So I really wanted the Pit Boss Mile hybrid, but found out it was out of stock everywhere and couldn’t get it. Plus it might have been pretty small for my needs. So then I decided to go for the pellet grill, and ended up stepping up to the 850 instead of the 700 to get the Wi-Fi connection.
It’s halfway assembled, planning my first smoke tomorrow.
Thanks everyone!
Nice, let us know how it goes. Wifi is great. I’ve done some long smokes while on long indoor bike ride. It’s nice to monitor things from my phone during my ride.
So I really wanted the Pit Boss Mile hybrid, but found out it was out of stock everywhere and couldn’t get it. Plus it might have been pretty small for my needs. So then I decided to go for the pellet grill, and ended up stepping up to the 850 instead of the 700 to get the Wi-Fi connection.
It’s halfway assembled, planning my first smoke tomorrow.
Thanks everyone!
Nice! Post some pictures of your first cook!