Comparisons · Two kinds of barbecue
Bullet water smoker or Drum smoker
Two charcoal smokers at roughly the same money that disagree about what the cook should be doing. One asks you to keep a pan filled; the other asks you to leave the lid alone.
What each one is
Bullet water smoker
The most forgiving way into long smoking, and the reason is a pan of water: while there is liquid in it, it stays near boiling and absorbs energy as it evaporates, steadying the chamber in a way a beginner does not have to hold with the vents. Two stacked grates give it far more capacity than its footprint suggests, and a full charcoal chamber will run most of a day.
Drum smoker
Meat hangs on hooks over a basket of charcoal with the lid shut. Fat drips into the fire instead of into a pan, everything cooks from every side at once, and there is one vent — which the maker tells you to set for your altitude and then leave alone. It is the least adjustable cooker here and, for the cook who wanted to stop adjusting, that is the appeal.
Where they overlap
- Both do smoking — designed for this.
- Both do low and slow — designed for this.
What actually differs
| Aspect | Bullet water smoker | Drum smoker |
|---|---|---|
| Shape and how it works | Bullet smoker | Drum smoker |
| What heats it The energy source sets the ceiling temperature and how quickly the cooker answers a change. | Charcoal briquettes | Charcoal briquettes, Lump charcoal |
| What smokes it Separate from the heat, and deliberately so: one cooker in this catalogue draws its heat from the mains and its smoke from wood pellets. | Charcoal combustion, Oak chunks, Wood chips | Charcoal combustion, Oak chunks |
| Cooking surface | 47–57 cm | 47 cm |
| Direct heat | Not suitable | Possible with the right setup — Fit the grate rather than the hanging rods, and run with the lid cracked open about a quarter of an inch. |
| Indirect heat | Designed for this — Load the lower grate first when both are in use, and use the upper one when only one is needed. | Not suitable |
| Foods the difference reaches These are the foods whose cooking profiles call for a heat configuration these two cookers support differently. For anything not on the list, the choice between them does not change how it is cooked. | whole chicken, chicken thigh, bone-in, chicken thigh, boneless, chicken breast, boneless, chicken breast, bone-in, chicken wings, chicken drumsticks, beef burger, rib eye steak, sirloin steak, picanha, whole, pork chop, pork shoulder, baby back ribs, pork tenderloin, lamb leg steak, lamb loin chop, lamb burger, salmon fillet, halloumi, sausage, whole sweet pepper, corn on the cob, aubergine slices, courgette slices, asparagus spears, onion slices, whole onion, spring onions, button mushrooms, portobello mushroom, new potatoes, halved, sweet potato slices, cabbage wedges, cauliflower florets, halved tomatoes, green beans, halved romaine lettuce, whole trout, tuna steak, whole mackerel, whole sardines, whole sea bass, cod fillet, pizza, whole side of salmon | |
Which one, for what
Conditions rather than a verdict. Each line below is a thing one of them can do that the other cannot, or does without arrangement where the other needs it — taken from the what each cooker is documented as doing, rather than from a preference.
Bullet water smoker, if:
- You want to cook with indirect heat, which the other cannot do.
Drum smoker, if:
- You want to cook with direct heat, which the other cannot do.