Best Pellet Smoker Tube

Last Updated: May 5, 2023 @ 1:53 pm.

Best Gift Smoker Tube: Lanney Pellet Smoker Tube

Let’s talk pellet smoker tubes!

These tubes work much the same way: you stuff wood pellets into a stainless steel tube (or tube tray). Once lit, they provide smoke that flavors your BBQ ribs or chicken.

We tried out several top brands of pellet smoker tubes with our regular gas grill. As BBQ enthusiasts, we take our brisket seriously—and smoker tubes help give the meat that “low and slow” goodness.

After trying these tubes out for this article, we have a few general tips to make your BBQ efforts more successful:

1. Don’t overfill! Leave about 1″ from the top on the open end.
2. Tamp it down! You want to pack the pellets in the tub tightly. Why? That keeps them lit and provides more smoke. The biggest complaint with smoker tubes is they pellets go out . . . and stop smoking! The more compacted the pellets, the less chance of that happening.
3. Be patient. Give the pellets in the tube some time to smolder and then set the tube upright for a few minutes (some makers suggest 10 minutes). That helps establish the flame.
4. Blow out the flame and then lay down the tube on your grill. Use a bit of aluminum foil on the open end to keep the pellets from falling out.
5. Make sure your grill has enough ventilation. Like any fire, the pellets in a smoker tube can be snuffed out without enough oxygen. Some grills have tighter fitting lids than others—if yours is tight, you may need to crack it open slightly to provide air.

Now that you are ready to get grilling, here are our top picks for the best pellet smoker tubes.

If you are looking for a gift for the BBQ enthusiasts in your family. we’d recommend Lanney’s Pellet Smoker Tube. Here’s why:

What We Liked

• Complete set: smoker tube, two hooks, silicone basting brush and cleaning brush. This is great for the first-time or novice BBQ’er in your family

• Easy to use.

• Creates quite a bit of smoke! We thought this tube performed well in our tests.

• Dishwasher safe.

• Six hours of smoke.

• Compact size doesn’t take up much grill space.

What Needs Work

• More pricey than just a plain smoker tube. If you don’t need all the extras, we’d suggest the next recommendation.

Best Hexagon Smoker Tube: LIZZQ Premium Pellet Smoker Tube

Pellet smoker tubes for grills come in four basic shapes: cylinders, hexagons, squares or trays. We tried out one of each for this article and thought hexagon shaped smoker tubes were probably the best for more folks. (Yes, some people prefer the tray/tubes—we will have one recommendation in this category later in this article)/

Why a hexagon? It provides more surface area for the steel tube, while still being stable. (That’s the major flaw with cylindrical smoker tubes—they roll around too much!).

After trying out several hexagon smoker tubes. we thought LIZZQ’s Premium Pellet Smoker Tube is the best for most folks. Here’s why:

What We Liked

• Excellent for use on a gas grill.

• Five hours of smoke.

• Hot or cold smoking.

•12″ of perforated steel. 

• Affordable.

What Needs Work

• No cleaning brush. However, some folks already have this, so it may be unnecessary.

• No hooks to hang it on a grill.

Best Budget-Friendly: DIMESHY Pellet Smoker Tube

If you want to try out pellet smoking at your next BBQ, a good place to start is DIMESHY’s Pellet Smoker Tube. Nothing fancy, but gets the job done based on our testing! Here’s more:

What We Liked

• 12″ square stainless steel.

• Dishwasher safe.

• 5 hours of smoke.

• Storage bag.

• Affordable.

• Includes cleaning brush.

What Needs Work

• Square shape tube = less smoke then hexagons-shape tubes? We thought both this square smoker tube and hexagon tubes we tried how similar amounts of smoke, but we know some BBQ enthusiasts think hexagon-shaped smoker tubes produce more smoke. We suppose having more sides could let in more air, creating more smoke. In fact, we see some folks report they found this tube harder to keep lit then others. We didn’t see that in our testing, however!

• Harder to clean. We thought hexagon tubes were somewhat easier to clean than this square-shaped tube.

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing products for the home and families since 1994. We do hands-on testing—we buy the products with our own money and evaluate with an eye toward quality, ease of use and affordability.

Here’s another key point: we don’t take money from the brands we review. No free samples, no sponsors, no “partnerships.” Our work is 100% reader-supported!