Box, Tube or Pouch? The Best Smoker Box for a Gas Grill

Carne asada tastes the way it does in northern Mexico partly because of the fire under it. Mesquite or pecan smoke gives the beef a sharp, woody edge that a plain gas flame cannot. If you cook on a propane grill, a smoker box is the small, cheap fix: a vented metal box or tube of wood chips or pellets that sits over a burner, smolders, and fills the closed grill with smoke while the meat cooks.

The best smoker box for your grill depends on how much room you have under the grates, whether you want to burn chips or pellets, and how long you need the smoke to last. A quick sear of skirt steak needs twenty minutes of smoke; a pork shoulder for tacos al pastor-style plates needs hours. This guide covers stainless and cast-iron boxes, pellet tubes and a mesh pouch, with what each maker states about size, fuel and care.

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Quick verdict: which smoker box to buy

Below, five standouts side by side, then all seven reviewed in full.

Five smoker boxes compared

One pick for each kind of grill cook, with the type, material and fuel each maker states. All seven are reviewed below.

Product images from Amazon. Sizes, materials and fuel are as stated by each maker or listing; check the listing before you buy.

Our picks for the best smoker box

These seven cover the three ways to get wood smoke out of a gas grill: a closed box of chips that sits over a burner, a perforated tube of pellets that smolders on the grates, and a flat mesh pouch that lies on the grates or flavorizer bars. For the wood itself, see our guides to the best smoker wood chips and the best smoker pellets. The Pit Boss expandable tube is already reviewed in our pellet grill accessories guide, so it is not repeated here.

How to choose a smoker box for a gas grill

Box, tube or pouch. A box holds chips over a burner and is the easiest place to start. A tube burns pellets slowly from one end and gives the longest smoke, with or without the burners on. A flat mesh pouch fits grills with very little room under the grates. Many cooks end up with a box for quick cooks and a tube for long ones.

Stainless or cast iron. Stainless steel boxes and tubes heat fast, weigh little and do not rust easily, though they discolor. Cast iron, as Char-Broil puts it, retains heat well and can withstand hotter temperatures, at the cost of weight and the need to keep it dry.

Measure the space under your grates. Lift the grates and measure the gap between the flavorizer bars or heat tents and the grates, and the length of the burner run. Weber’s box is 2 inches high and 9.8 inches long; GrillPro’s is 1.5 inches high; the Smokist pouch is flat. A box that rests unevenly will tip and spill hot ash.

How long you need smoke. For a skirt steak or chicken thighs, one load of chips in a box is enough. The kit maker in our list says a 6-ounce load smokes about two hours; pellet tubes are rated for up to five. For a long cook, either refill the box (a hinged lid makes that easier) or use a tube.

Chips or pellets, and the wood. Boxes take chips; tubes take pellets; many boxes will also take pellets. Mesquite gives the strong smoke many people associate with northern Mexican carne asada, pecan is milder and nutty, and fruitwoods suit chicken, fish and vegetables. Chipotles themselves are jalapeños that have been smoke-dried, which is a good reminder that chiles and smoke belong together; our guide to Mexican chiles explains the rest.

Smoker box safety on a gas grill

A smoker box adds burning wood to a gas appliance, so the usual grill safety rules apply with more force. The U.S. Fire Administration says to use propane, charcoal and pellet grills outside only, to place the grill well away from siding and deck railings and out from under eaves and overhanging branches, to keep a 3-foot safe zone around it for children and pets, to open a gas grill before lighting it, and not to walk away from it while it is lit. It also says to clean the grill after each use to remove grease that can start a fire, and not to store or use a grill on a porch or balcony.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises checking hoses for cracks, brittleness, holes and leaks before you grill, and testing connections with a soapy solution: if bubbles appear, there is a leak. It recommends keeping gas hoses as far as possible from hot surfaces and dripping grease, turning the gas down to control flare-ups, and, for a grease fire, turning off the gas grill and using baking soda or a kitchen fire extinguisher.

For the box itself, use heat-resistant gloves and long tongs to move it; our guides to the best grill gloves and best grill tools cover both. Let the box cool completely in the grill before you empty it.

How we chose these seven smoker boxes

We started from what a gas-grill cook needs to add real wood smoke to carne asada, chicken, pork and chiles, and looked for boxes, tubes and pouches from identifiable makers, sold on Amazon in the United States, in stainless steel and cast iron, for chips and for pellets. We checked that each was in stock when we wrote this and took every size, material and fuel detail from the maker’s Amazon listing, writing “not stated” where a listing gives no detail. Safety advice comes from the U.S. Fire Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Several boxes buyers often ask about were left out because they were not reliably in stock when we checked: Char-Broil’s stainless box, the Grillaholics box and the Charcoal Companion box were out of stock or only scarcely in stock, and we could not find a Cuisinart, Kona or A-MAZE-N smoker box or tube listed in stock on Amazon. The Pit Boss tube is reviewed on our pellet grill accessories page. We have not used these products ourselves.

Smoker box questions, answered

What is the best smoker box for a gas grill?

For most grills, the Weber Premium Universal Smoker Box: stainless steel, sized to fit most grills, and refillable while in use. For a box that handles a hot burner, the Char-Broil Cast Iron Smoker Box.

Should you soak wood chips for a smoker box?

Makers disagree. Char-Broil’s stainless box listing says to load soaked chips; the starter kit maker in our list tells you to use dry chips and wait about 20 minutes for them to smolder. Dry chips start smoking sooner; soaked chips steam first, then smoke. Try both and keep the one that suits your grill.

Where do you put a smoker box on a gas grill?

Under the grates, directly over one burner, usually at one end. Run that burner on high until the wood smokes, then set the other burners low and cook the meat on that side, with the grill lid closed.

Is a pellet tube better than a smoker box?

For long cooks and cold smoking, usually yes: a tube is rated for hours from one fill and works with the burners low. For a quick smoke on a weeknight, a box of chips is simpler to light and manage.

Can you use pellets in a smoker box?

Many boxes take pellets as well as chips, though the makers here list chips. A tube is designed around pellets and burns them more evenly.

The smoker box we would put on the grill first

Start with the Weber box and a bag of mesquite for carne asada; add a LIZZQ pellet tube when you want to smoke a pork shoulder or a block of cheese. If you decide you want a dedicated cooker instead, our guide to the best smoker covers charcoal, electric, propane and pellet models, and the best gas grill guide covers the grill you set the box in. For how to serve what comes off it, read how to eat fajitas.

Related guide: Smoker alternative.

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