5 Best Vertical Pellet Smokers, Dec(2024).

Best Vertical Pellet Smoker can be hard to find especially when you have a lot of information out there..

Vertical smokers are well suited when space is your major requirement. “

Also vertical smokers design can be very efficient in terms of fuels and its uses. 

But there are other factors as well why you want to consider it before buying..

With all the experiences I have with using vertical smoker, I am going to provide you my current list of favorite Vertical Pellet Smoker...

Let’s find out…;

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5 Best Vertical Pellet Smokers

Recommended Reading :
– Best Pellet Smokers in all category: Discover top picks across all categories.
– Top Electric Pellet Smokers in the market: Find the best in electric smoking.
– Budget Pellet Smoker: Great choices for those on a budget.
– Vertical Pellet Smoker vs Pellet Grill
– Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 Review
– How to Clean Vertical Smoker

#1 Pit Boss 5 Vertical Pellet Smoker (Best Overall)

If you want to smoke a lot of food at a time, you never fail with Pit Boss grills 77550.
But Let’s not conclude and see what actually it has to offer…

The Bad

Delivery Issues
There are some instances where people have found out damaged product during delivery.
But I have to say this is purely a transportation issue..

Availability
Usually this smoker are sold limited in quantity. And sometime it is very frustrating to wait for the next sale.

Do a check
As soon as it gets delivered, it is very important to make sure you got the product in its original form..

The Good

PID
It is an excellent programmable digital controller that gives you complete control of the 150-450 F temperature range.

Porcelain
It has five porcelain-coated cooking grids which is actually a good quantity to have.
And being porcelain it makes it very easy to clean..

Big Hopper
There is a big hopper where you can put 60 pounds of pellets.
But I don’t recommend to put many pellets together.
And also you can easily change the pellets from the trapdoor..

How long can we smoke?
You can smoke low & slow for 24 hours with a 40+ lb hopper. 
Since this smoker is an auger feed system, it continually transfers the required amount of pellets, and the fan doesn’t let the fire extinguish.

Added Benefits
– Stainless steel meat probe , helps you to keep it clean.
– Four caster wheels, that’s just perfect for this model.
– A large viewing window, super helpful when you don’t want to loose smoke by opening the lid.
– Large capacity water pan.
– Auto-start 300-watt igniter with auto shut-off, and
– Double-walled construction, can’t praise enough for this, it surely helps to preserve smoke.

What do I love the most?

Huge Cooking Space
This is my best part..

The Pit Boss 77550 has 1513 square inches cooking area which is a sweet spot when it comes to vertical smokers.
And If you are thinking of the winter then the blanket insulation does protects the internal temperature.

The Taste
Surely this depends on the person. But I have seen smoker which never gets what you want.

For me Vertical Pellet smoker performed more than expected..

The Pit Boss 77550 makes a unique taste with a smoky flavor, and anyone can easily do it.

Quick Info

Pros:

• Digital PID control board.
• Great customer service.
• Heavy-duty steel construction.
• High temp powder coat finish.

Cons:

• The grease tray doesn’t fit well.
• Hard to move.
• You have to be careful whenever you clean the sawdust.

Read customer reviews on Amazon.com

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#2 Louisiana Vertical Pellet Smoker(Best High End)

Specifications:

• Control Board : Digital
• Primary Body: CRS High Heat Coating
• View Window: Full Door Length
• Cooking Space: 1.32m² (2,059 inch²)
• Number of Cooking Racks: 6
• Cubic Cooking Space: 0.17 m³
• Hopper Capacity: 27 kg
• Door Seals : High-Temperature Door Seals
• Wheel Type : Heavy Duty Caster Wheels
• Fuel Type : All-Natural Wood Pellets
• Temperature range : 37°C to 232°C 
• Meat Probes : Two Meat Probes Included

The Louisiana Grills Vertical Pellet Smoker is a large and high-end cooking smoker.

The Bad

Availability Issues
Most of the time this smoker goes out of stock . This is more often than the previous smoker.

So, this also brings a lot of doubt as to how easy it would be to connect to Louisiana for this.

Apart from other things, this particular thing bugs me a lot.

They should make it available more…

The Good

Huge Cooking Space
It has 2059 square inches of cooking surface.
This smoker is not only beneficial for a large family or a huge party, but it is suited for restaurant operators and caterers also.

5 in 1
This Louisiana Grill is a 5 in 1 pellet smoker where you can..
– Roast
– Smoke,
– Braise barbecues, and
– Bake inside the smoker.
Also, it gives you natural wood flavors.

For Busy People
You just set the temperature and let the smoker do while you are busy with other work.
Because this is a “set it and forget it” system.
So Louisiana can be the right choice for busy people.

Viewing Window
The viewing window is the one more important feature from where you can check the cooking without opening the door.
The door is sealed with a gasket so smoke and heat can’t leak from the door.

Double Walled Insulation
The double-wall insulation comes with this pellet grill which controls the temperature at 3 degrees.
It is an excellent thing to be shown accurate temperature in a smoker.

Locking System
The Louisiana pellet grill has a great locking system because it pushes the door against the wall very tightly and saves smoke.

Number of Cooking Grates
I’m sure that you will like the six cooking grates and it is under one water pan.
You will be glad to know that the heat and this water will evaporate and keep a constant humidity level inside the cooking area.

Easy to Use
It has a control board with the
– Power button,
– Celsius switch,
– Temperature dial switch, and the
– Prime button that you can press and hold to activate.
This smoker is very simple and easy to use.

What do I love the most?

Hopper Capacity
The 6.2 hopper capacity allows you 60 pounds.
You can smoke for more than 35 hours without refueling the hopper. From the hopper wind, you can check and control the hopper’s pellet level.

If you want to change the pellet, you have a small door behind the smoker that you can change the pellet from small door.

However you need to remember this is a high end product..

Quick Info

Pros:

• Heavy-duty steel construction.
• High temp powder coated finish.
• Four sturdy locking caster wheels.
• Porcelain-coated steel grids.
• Two programmable meat probes.
• Cooking temp range 100- 420 F.

Cons:

• Bulky and heavy.

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#3 Pit Boss 3 Vertical Pellet Smoker ( Best for Small Space)

Specifications:

• Control Type : VP1 – Digital Control Center
• BTU Value : 20700
• Cooking Racks : 5
• Cooking Area : 721 SQ. IN.
• Hopper Capacity : 39 LBS.

The Pit Boss PBV3P1 is a copperhead three series great little unit with a control panel. This pellet smoker produces temperatures up to 450 degrees and as low as 150 for smoking.

The Bad

Heavy for the size
Although it is quite compact in size, the weight is on the higher side.

As when we think about small we also want something which is portable enough.

However heavier also means that the built quality is pretty good and the metal used are heavier.

The Good

Temperature Monitoring
The cooking process and internal temperature monitors with programmable digital LCD readout and meat probe.

Racks
It has porcelain-coated four racks so you can cook large amounts of food like brisket or pulled pork ribs.12 by 15 usable space on a shelf.

Hopper
It has a pellet hopper that holds 40 pounds of pellets. There is a nice little window near the pellet box.

Water Pan
This pellet smoker has a water pan you can also use for grease, a sturdy door latch, a small door at the bottom for clean-out, four strong legs that support movement and storage, and a heat deflector at the bottom.

What do I love the most?

Saves Space
The PIT BOSS PBV3P1 vertical has a versatile smoking option; this will save your space if you have a small area or balcony.

A perfect Gift
This pellet smoker is the best gift for your dear ones. You can give someone’s birthday or any particular day.

Quick Info

Pros:

• Saves space. 
• Double-walled construction.

Cons:

• Heavy unit.

#4 Pit Boss 7 Vertical Smoker (Best for Cold Weather)

Specifications:

• Control Type : VP1 – Digital Control Cnter
• BTU Value : 20700
• Cooking Racks : 6
• Cooking Area : 1853 SQ. IN.
• Hopper Capacity : 55 LBS.

The Pit Boss 7 series is not so different from their other series. However, people like their one more Pit Boss 5 series..

The Bad

Cleaning
You need to clean the hopper almost after every cook .
Otherwise there is a chance of the pellets getting stuck in the next cook.

The Good

Smoke Long Hours
You can smoke low and slow for over 24 hours with a 40+ lb hopper.

Porcelain Grates
It has 1853 square inches of cooking surface, including six porcelain-coated cooking grates and a heat deflector.

Viewing Window
The Pit Boss 7 series comes with a large viewing window from where you can monitor the smoking meat.

Hopper
The large hopper with 60 pound capacity in the back and half of 40 pounds pellets fits inside of this smoker. A side window is there, near the hopper, to check the fuel level.

Water Pan
A removable porcelain-coated water pan is located near the cabinet’s base, filling with marinades to add more flavor.

Grease Tray
It has a grease tray to collect the drippings at the bottom, which you can easily slide and clean, and four locking caster wheels for placement and portability.

Sealed Doors
The door is completely sealed, and it has a sturdy latch to stop the leakage.

Digital Boards
This smoker is entirely digital. It has a control panel board to control the whole smoking process. So without worry, you can do your other things simultaneously.

What do I love the most?

Double Walled Insulation
The double-wall insulation controls the temperature range inside the cold weather’s cooking chamber.

Cold Weather Smoking
The meat probe allows you to go from 150 to 450 degrees to use this
smoker in cold weather.

Quick Info

Pros:

• Temp range from 150 to 450.
• Porcelain coated tray and drip pan.
• Quality construction .

Cons:

• Single meat probe.
• You have to clean hopper after each session.

#5 Camp Chef XXL ( Best with Wifi )

Specifications:

• Body Dimensions (without legs) : 24 in. L x 36 in. H x 15.5 in. W
• Cooking Rack Dimensions : 21.5 in. x 14 in. (301 sq. in.)
• Eight Rack Cooking Area : 2408 sq. in.
• Hopper Capacity : 18 lbs. of pellets
• Overall Height (with legs) : 55 in.
• Overall Weight : 145 lbs.
• Total Output : 33,000 BTUs/Hr.

This is an upgrade to the previous XXL smoker by Camp Chef. The old version is discontinued and now is available with wifi.

The Camp Chef XXL Vertical Pellet smoker is a versatile and is also high-end smoker. It has many good qualities, features, and excellent performance.

Camp Chef comes with an 18 gauge door and walls, 16 gauge drip tray, and 14 gauge baffles.

The Bad

Small dripping cup
The Dripping Cup could have bigger because It is not very helpful to keep on replacing the cup in between the cooks.

The Good

Trays and Hooks
You can cook a large amount of food because it has three jerky trays
and twelve sausage hooks.

Bottle Opener
Camp Chef has a bottle opener on the front and a built-in towel bar so you can wipe your hands and keep everything clean.

Wheels
The Camp Chef has locking caster wheels for mobility, a cup for removing the ash, and a grease bucket to catches drippings.

Probes
The probe wire comes along with two probes to monitor your cook. It will not go through the door.

Easy to make changes
If you want to change the pellet flavor in between, you can change. There is a view window in front of the hopper, so it can be easy to check the fuel level.

What do I love the most?

PID Controller
This grill came with a PID controller and paired with the Camp Chef connect app so that you will be able to know the whole activity of the cooking process.

Space
You can cook multiple foods with seven thick racks, which are 21 and a half inches wide by 14 inches deep.

Quick Info

Pros:

• PID controller.
• Ash clean-out.
• Multiple racks.
• Well built construction.
• Well grease management.
• Three jerky racks.
• Two temp probes.
• Temp range from 150 to 350.

Cons:

• Small dripping cup.
• Racks are not chrome coated.

Conclusion

So here is the deal!..
Pit Boss 5 Vertical smoker is what I choose for overall.
With strong reasons like built quality , ease of use and the amount of cooking space it provides.
Other smokers simply don’t cover all.
Rest it depends on your needs which I have clearly mentioned in the above what they are good for.

FAQs

# Are vertical pellet smokers any good?

Yes, Vertical smokers are really good for even smoking. It is also a great solution when space is your concern. Vertical Pellet smokers requires less space.

# Are vertical or horizontal pellet smokers better?

Yes, Vertical pellet smokers are far better in smoking. Horizontal smokers can do smoking, grilling both. Vertical smoker usually takes less space too.

# Who makes the best vertical pellet smoker?

Pit Boss, camp chef, Louisiana, and Masterbuilt makes some of the best vertical pellet smokers. Add Image

# Are pellet smokers cheating?

No. Pellet smokers are not cheating. It simply produces lighter smoke. Which most people actually look for.

But if you are into thick smokes then yes you may require some skills for it.

# Is a vertical pellet smoker preferable than a horizontal pellet smoker?

However, both vertical and horizontal smokers are energy efficient.In comparison to the horizontal pellet smoker, the vertical pellet smoker uses less fuel and is thus more energy efficient.

The vertical smoker also heats up quickly, but meat cooking requires constant attention..