Oklahoma Joe smokers bear their origin from three men who built custom-made smokers in their home garage. Their smokers turned out to be so good that it caught the eye of the top-notch manufacturers, char-broil smokers. They then picked up their idea and began supplying these smokers under their brand, but maintaining the original name, “Oklahoma Joe” Smoker.
This article highlights three top brands of the Oklahoma Joe Smoker commonly sold in the market with great customer reviews. Keep reading to find out more about the unique features characterizing these smokers.
Oklahoma Joe Highland Reverse Flow Smoker
If you have a large, ravenous family to feed or are throwing a sizable party in your backyard, the Oklahoma Joe Highland Reverse Flow Smoker is the ideal choice for you. It is an enormous smoker that weighs 200 pounds and has a cooking surface size of 900 square inches. The firebox occupies the remaining 281 square inches, leaving 618 square inches for the primary cooking surface. In a single smoking session, it can fit huge briskets and cook up to four racks of pork ribs.
You can use the smoker to adopt two cooking styles: traditional offset smoking and reverse flow smoking. You simply switch between the two by adjusting the location of the smokestack. It can also grill amazing steaks and cook fine lamb, duck, and chicken.
It comes with five non-stick porcelain grates that are durable and easily maintainable. The nice shiny finish on the grill grates can literally last after several sessions of searing steaks at high temperatures of 600 degrees Fahrenheit. This also makes cleaning it much easier.
Owing to its large and heavy robust structure, it has a deep firebox that can store a large amount of charcoal and hold plenty of ash. This gives you room to slow cook continuously for 16 hours straight without having to keep dumping the ashes. This makes it safe for you to use the smoker when tending on your slow-cooked pork butts, briskets, ribs, and shoulders. It helps in preserving consistent heat throughout the cooking session as you don’t have to keep opening the firebox to remove accumulated hot ash and starting the fire over and over again.
It comes with an ash bin you can use to collect excessive ash and a firebox access door for adding more charcoal safely. The firebox is big enough to hold half a bag of charcoal.
Most smokers tend to lose heat by escaping the smoke from the edges of the barrel’s opening. The Oklahoma Joe Reverse Flow Smoker, however, has ribbed edges all around its barrel opening to deal with this problem. You can also get a gasket customized for Oklahoma Joe smokers on amazon to completely seal the barrel door and minimize the smoke escaping.
It also has a built-in temperature gauge to help you measure the barrels’ temperature when in use. Many dampers accompany this product for precise control of the airflow.
Pros
- Large enough for cooking at a party or serving a big family
- Assembling the entire product is easy
- The big deep firebox helps you manage your fire better
- Has a strong heavy-duty structure
- Can maintain 250 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for a considerable amount of time.
Con
- Requires high maintenance to preserve its nice finish. You’ll need to frequently season it to keep it from rusting.
Oklahoma Joe’s Longhorn Reverse Flow Smoker
This smoker functions almost the same way as the Oklahoma Joe’s Highland Reverse flow smoker. The difference is in their respective sizes. The Highland reverse flow smoker has 900 square inches of cooking space while the Longhorn version has 1060 square inches. The cooking area measures 750 square inches, and the firebox 310 square inches.
The reverse flow mechanism works in such a way that the smoke comes from the firebox then travels through the smoke chamber and cooks the food inside it. The smoke then comes out of the smokestack mounted just next to the firebox. This location of the smokestack is what differentiates the longhorn reverse smoker from other smokers.
Underneath the cooking grates are four porcelain-coated baffles that direct the heat and smoke from the firebox towards the cooking surface. The smoke and heat then travel up to around the cooking surface and out of the smokestack mounted on the firebox side. The reverse flow mechanism enhances the even distribution of temperature in the smoke chamber. It also radiates heat throughout the panels which always brings out uniformly smoked steaks within the cooking chamber.
You can also use this product as an offset smoker. A secondary plug is provided on the end away from the firebox. You can unplug the smokestack from the firebox side and fix it on this secondary plug. This will entirely convert your product to a traditional offset smoker.
This Longhorn reverse smoker comes with a stainless steel charcoal basket that holds burning coals used for smoking. It also helps in containing the fire thus making it easy to maintain throughout a smoking session. The firebox chamber has a clean-out door used for removing accumulated ash.
Apart from these two upgrades of the Longhorn reverse smoker, it also has a robust cold-rolled steel construction just like the original longhorn smoker. Its entire structure is embodied in high-temperature paint and the cooking grates have a porcelain-coat finish that gives it non-stick properties that are easy to clean up.
Other amazing accessories it comes with include a cool-touch handle, a high-quality temperature gauge, a large expanded metal shelf, and multiple dampers that can be used to control heat and smoke.
Pros
- Has a robust steel construction
- Even distribution of heat aided by the reverse flow of smoke mechanism
- It’s easy to clean it up
- Has two wagon-style wheels for easy mobility
Con
- The temperature gauge may give inconsistent temperatures leading to inaccuracies
The reverse flow smoking technology of this Longhorn smoker makes it stand out among other superior smoker brands. With its sturdy structure, reliable heat distribution system, and a cooking space big enough to serve big families and large gatherings, the smoker is worth a purchase.
Longhorn Combo Charcoal/Gas Smoker & Grill
This charcoal/gas smoker and grill is a classic Oklahoma Joe’s product that gives you the convenience of using a gas grill and having the taste of a smoker in one product. By tapping into the special features that this product comes with, you can use it both as a smoker and a gas grill at the same time.
The primary cooking space measures 750 square inches while the second area is 310 square inches. It comes with three different chambers, one for high-capacity smoking, another for charcoal grilling, and the other for gas grilling. Each chamber has its own burner that emits 12,000 BTUs of heat. You can monitor the temperature of each chamber using the in-built professional temperature gauge on its barrel.
It has four cooking grates that are resistant to rust due to the porcelain coating on them. It also has well-insulated handles to keep your hands safe from burning. The door of the firebox has an air damper that eases its cleaning process. It’s also made of heavy-duty stainless steel designed to last for a long time.
The smoker features a metal shelf at its bottom for convenient storage of cooking utensils and extra fuel. Its classic wagon-style wheels make it convenient to move it around.
Pros
- Has a robust heavy-duty construction
- Assembling the package is easy and straightforward.
- Highly durable
- Requires little maintenance to retain its efficient functioning and the stunning exterior appearance
Cons
- The integrated thermometer on the gas grill at times gives inaccurate temperatures
- Smoke leaks occur occasionally around the edges of its opening. You may need to acquire a gasket to seal off the edges of the barrel as well as its firebox.
The Oklahoma Joe’s Longhorn Combo Charcoal/Gas Smoker & Grill is a quality product with stunning features. If you’re looking to own a gas/charcoal grill and smoker combo, this Longhorn Combo is worth giving a try.
Final Thoughts
The Oklahoma Joe smokers are an excellent brand with extraordinary features that produce quality barbecues. Most of them are affordable and can fit right into your budget. If you’re looking to advance your barbecue skills or try out new smokers, try the Oklahoma Joe’s smokers.