Want the superior searing of a grill and the low-and-slow performance of a smoker? Good news: You don’t have to choose. Our Grill and Smoker Combos blend the best of both worlds, giving you everything you need in one convenient unit.
How is this possible? Let’s take a look at what grill and smoker combos actually are and how they work.
A combo grill is a versatile outdoor appliance that combines two or more cooking methods into one unit. In this case, a grill (gas/charcoal) and smoker.
A grill and smoker combo blends the convenience and high-heat capacity of a grill with the rich flavors of a smoker. Sear hot and fast or smoke low and slow. A grill and smoker can do both.
While grill and smoker combos are among the most popular combo grills, there are other options based on your cooking style.
The name says it all: a 2-in-1 grill combines two cooking methods into one unit. There are 2-in-1 combo grills available for many types of outdoor cooking, including:
Grill + Smoker
Pellet + Gas
Gas + Offset Smoker
Gas + Charcoal
Grill + Griddle
A 3-in-1 grill ups the value and versatility, combining three different cooking methods into one unit. There are several types of 3-in-1 combo grills, including:
Gas/Charcoal Grill + Smoker
Gas Grill/Griddle + Charcoal Grill
Want a complete outdoor kitchen setup in one convenient, multi-purpose unit? The 4-in-1 combo grill is for you. The most popular combos include:
Gas/Charcoal Grill + Smoker + Side Burner
Basically, if there’s a cooking method (grill, smoker) or fuel type (gas, charcoal), there’s probably a 2-in-1, 3-in-1, or 4-in-1 combo grill for it.
Now that you know the different types of combo grills, let’s dive into the science behind searing and smoking.
Searing and smoking are probably the two most popular ways to cook food outside. There’s a simple reason: they’re both delicious. But while they each create tasty results, the science behind them is very different.
Searing is the art of cooking food (usually meat) over very high heat – around 450-500°F. The high heat doesn’t just cook the food; it changes it at a molecular level. The reason is the Maillard reaction.
The Maillard reaction is a chemical process that occurs when searing meat causes the amino acids and reducing sugars to rearrange. This process creates hundreds of new flavor compounds, resulting in a complex flavor profile that’s nutty, roasted, and savory. It also creates a flavorful crust that adds a delicious bite, while trapping the juiciness inside the meat.
Although searing is usually associated with meat, there are lots of other grill recipes to try.
If searing is cooking “hot and fast,” smoking is going “low and slow.” In fact, smoking is typically done at roughly half the temperature of searing (around 180–275°F) and for a lot longer (up to 10 hours or more).
By cooking at a low heat over a long period of time, smoking meats slowly breaks down the connective tissues into a gelatin, making it more tender, while creating a dark, flavorful crust known as the bark. Just below the bark is the smoke ring, a pink/reddish layer of meat formed by a chemical reaction between the meat’s myoglobin, and the gases released from the burning wood.
Smoking tenderizes tough meats like brisket, ribs, and pork, so it’s most associated with BBQ. However, you can smoke lots of different foods — even desserts. Get ideas for everything you can smoke on our Smoke Recipes page.
One unit. Multiple cooking styles. Here’s how grill and smoker combos are able to do it:
The offset firebox design gets its name because it’s “off” the main cooking unit, usually at the side or bottom. The offset firebox burns wood or charcoal with the heat and smoke traveling to the main cooking area where the food is located. This creates the authentic, low-and-slow flavor profile.
Dual-cooking chambers feature two separate, independent areas for cooking, so you can cook two different ways at once. Combo grills typically have one chamber for gas or charcoal grilling and another chamber for smoking. You’re able to sear a steak in one chamber and smoke a brisket low-and-slow in the other—all at the same time, in the same unit, without one interfering with the other.
You can’t cook meat without heat. On a combo grill, the heat comes from different places. The Flame Broiler™ Lever in the grill chamber creates direct flame access for searing meats and veggies. At the same time, the smoker in the other chamber uses indirect heat to slow-cook larger or tougher cuts. A combo grill can do both at once.
When it comes to outdoor cooking, how you cook is just as important as what you cook. On a combo grill, the grill side uses propane burners and/or charcoal briquettes/lump coal. For the smoker, it uses hardwood pellets, typically stored in hoppers. Better fuel leads to better flavor, because quality counts when it comes to selecting pellets.
At Pit Boss, our Grills Collection is stacked with heavy hitters for every kind of outdoor cook. Our Combo Grills Collection offers many popular, multi-purpose units chosen by both beginners and experienced cooks.
The Memphis Ultimate Combo Grill is our fan-favorite flagship model, and it’s easy to see why. Its 4-in-1 design performs as a gas and charcoal grill, an electric smoker, and an offset smoker — all across 1,850 sq. in. of cooking space. That kind of versatility makes it one of our most popular products.
The Lockhart Platinum Pellet/Smoker Combo Grill does it all. Its 8-in-1 versatility (grill, smoke, bake, braise, roast, sear, char-grill, BBQ) spans more than 2,200 sq. in. of cooking space. Add a 180–500°F temperature range, a 40-lb. pellet hopper, and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth controls you can run from your phone, and the Lockhart handles both ends of the heat spectrum with ease.
Yes, with combo grills, you can sear and smoke (and more) without compromise, using the same unit.
A grill and smoker combo is a combo grill that combines the two distinct cooking methods of grilling (using gas and/or charcoal) and smoking into one unit.
Yes, a gas/charcoal combo grill can smoke meat thanks to a design that combines multiple cooking methods into one unit. The dual-chamber cooking design uses two separate cooking areas, plus two different heat sources, so you can grill food in one chamber and smoke food in the other—all at the same time, in the same unit, without one interfering with the other.
No, combo grills don’t significantly compromise either the grilling or smoking quality. The key difference is the dedicated cooking space, as smokers typically have a larger capacity for smoking multiple large cuts of meat, such as briskets, rib racks, etc. This is typically more of an issue for competitive cooking. For everyday outdoor cooking, combo grills have plenty of cooking capacity.
A reverse sear is the opposite of a traditional sear because it starts by slow-cooking the meat at lower temps, then finishing it off with a sear on high heat. The reverse sear is popular because it offers the tenderness and timing flexibility of low-and-slow smoking, with the flavorful crust of searing.
A combo grill + smoker is perfect for a reverse sear, because you can sear and smoke the meat on the same unit. Here’s how:
Smoke the meat at ~225°F until it hits just below your target internal temp; e.g. 130-135°F for medium-rare, 140°F–145°F for medium, etc.
Crank your grill to 500°F.
Sear the meat on both sides until you form a crust (typically a minute per side).
Want the superior searing of a grill and the low-and-slow performance of a smoker? Good news: You don’t have to choose. Our Grill and Smoker Combos blend the best of both worlds, giving you everything you need in one convenient unit. ...
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