Gas versus a charcoal smoker: the debate can land you in a fight in Texas. There are some experts that swear by charcoal because of the flavor they say it adds to the meats. While charcoal will always have its fans and its unique qualities, gas meat smokers offer an easy way for beginners to learn the art.

One major benefit of gas meat smokers over charcoal is the consistency of the temperature. With charcoal, you have to tend it carefully to make sure the smoker stays at a constant temperature. Gas will burn steadily as long as the tank has fuel, and as long as the line is clear. Another benefit is that it makes less of a mess. Cahrcoal will leave a heap of ash in the smokers, where as a gas meat smoker will only leave the wood used for smoke.

Gas can be left unattended for a greater period of time. That comes in handy when you have other things cooking inside, or a group of guests who refuse to come outside while you tend the charcoal.

One hobby smoker, who typically used charcoal, bought a gas smoker to test the taste out for himself. After using it privately a few times, he smoked dinners for other serious-smoker friends who, he said, could not tell the meats were smoked in a gas smoker.

But the drawback to gas is missing the ritual of charcoal that fulfils a primal urge, one that harkens back to hunter-gatherer days when men hunted dinner and cooked it slowly over a fire. Carefully checking the temperature, adding charcoal and water, spending the time outside with friends and family while the meat smokes. Learning how to manage charcoal is an art, an advanced skill that comes with practice, trial and error, and failure.

A gas meat smoker can be good way to get your feet wet and learn the basics of smoking before diving in with charcoal. Gas meat smokers are a little more expensive than your basic charcoal smokers, starting at around $140 for a cylindrical model with a water pan and at least two racks. Basic charcoal smokers start around $50 for the same shape and style.

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