Oklahoma Joe's® Highland Classic Offset Charcoal Smoker & Grill

I would call this a mid level offset smoker, for entry level price. Bang for buck it’s a great smoker. I’ve done 4 cooks on it so far. Super happy with temperature control. After first cook I feel totally comfortable walking away for an hour at a time once I got a good bed of coals.(I use just wood, no charcoal). Never used a premium offset smoker before but for the average “Joe” this one is perfect

I am enjoying using the Oklahoma Joe's Highland smoker and the great BBQ it produced this weekend -- baby back ribs and chuck roast. I upgraded from an electric vertical pellet smoker to the Highland. The flavor of the food coming off the Highland is noticeably better than my old pellet smoker. I realize that offset smokers produce a better smoke flavor but its not something you really understand or expect until you experience it. I thought the flavor of BBQ coming off my pellet smoker was great compared to using a chip box on my propane grill to smoke ribs or pork chops. Twice I smoked brisket on my pellet smoker but the smoke flavor of a chuck roast done on the Highland this weekend was far better than that of the brisket. Obviously, the brisket was juicier and more tender, but the smoky flavor from the beats the smoky flavor of a brisket done on a pellet smoker. My family agreed. I also realized before making the switch to an offset that fire management was a much more intensive process than the set it and forget it of a pellet smoker (save some spritzing). I have used charcoal briquettes in combination with hickory or oak wood in my Highland. I used hickory chunks first with the ribs. The fire management seemed much harder with wood chunks than with oak splits used for the chuck roast. Maybe I used too many wood chunks at a time which caused the temps to run higher than I wanted. I did notice that it seemed like I was putting in more chunks about every 20 minutes. The oak splits seemed to produce a more sustained temp and obviously didn't burn up as fast as chunks, but I do think when I use up the rest of my briquettes I'm going to switch to lump charcoal and see what the overall results look like over the duration of a cook.