Dyna-Glo
Dyna-Glo 36-Inch Wide Body LP Gas Smoker
The propane answer to Dyna-Glo's charcoal cabinets and the natural replacement shopping target now that the Camp Chef Smoke Vault is discontinued. Two cast-iron burners totalling 20,000 BTU sit under a porcelain-enameled wood chip box, with four height-adjustable grates rated to 25 lbs each for 1,235 sq in, electronic pulse ignition and a top damper. The wide-body chamber takes a turkey across rather than front-to-back.
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Specifications
Pros
- ✓Dual cast-iron burners rather than the single stamped burner most cheap propane cabinets use - more even heat across a wide chamber
- ✓1,235 sq in for around $284 is the best area-per-dollar of any propane cabinet currently in production
- ✓Propane means the temperature holds without a fan, a controller or any electricity at the smoker
- ✓Porcelain-enameled chip box lasts far longer than the bare steel trays that warp and rust out
- ✓Grates come pre-fitted with sausage hooks and a removable rib rack, so it does hanging cuts out of the box
- ✓Still in production and listed on Dyna-Glo's own site, unlike the Smoke Vault it competes with
Cons
- ✗Dyna-Glo publishes no low-end temperature figure, so whether it will hold 180°F for jerky is unverified
- ✗Thin powder-coated body at 74 lbs - the same cold-weather and door-leak problems as the charcoal cabinets
- ✗No numeric thermometer, just the Smoke Zone dial
- ✗31 inches deep is unusually deep for the category and will not fit some patio corners
- ✗Needs a full-size 20 lb propane cylinder standing beside it, which the footprint figures do not include
Compare the Dyna-Glo 36-Inch Wide Body LP Gas Smoker
Related grills
More from Dyna-Glo →A vertical offset, which is a different animal from the horizontal offsets already in the catalog: the firebox sits at the base of a tall cabinet and heat rises through six adjustable grates rather than travelling sideways down a barrel. Dyna-Glo's wide-body version gives 1,890 sq in across those six grates, each rated to 25 lbs, with a porcelain-enameled charcoal chamber, a pre-installed high-temp rope door seal and a removable ash pan. At $349 it is the cheapest way to get close to 2,000 square inches of charcoal smoking space.
Dyna-Glo's volume model and a fixture of Home Depot and Lowe's floors: four burners making 48,000 BTU over 461 sq in of primary grate, 136 sq in of secondary, 597 sq in total, with a side burner. The open-cart layout leaves the tank visible but drops the price against cabinet grills of the same size. Stainless steel with a black powder coating rather than bare stainless.
A straight vertical charcoal cabinet with no offset firebox - the charcoal chamber sits directly under four 196 sq in grates and the heat rises through them, with a separate wood chip box for smoke. Double doors keep the fuel access separate from the food access so refuelling does not dump the cooking chamber's heat. At around $149 it is the entry point of the whole charcoal-cabinet category and the cheapest smoker in this catalog that still gives you four full racks.
The budget end of the propane cabinet category: a dual-burner 12,500 BTU gas vertical with four porcelain-coated racks and a manual needle valve rather than a thermostat. That is the key distinction from Masterbuilt's ThermoTemp — you set the flame and the cabinet drifts with the weather, which is why it costs $100 less. A door-mounted dial is the only temperature feedback.
Camp Chef
Camp Chef Smoke Vault 18
For fifteen years this was the default propane vertical: a 20,000 BTU cast-iron burner under a wood-chip tray, three damper valves, two adjustable racks and a jerky rack, and a 160-350°F range that goes low enough for sausage and high enough to bake. Camp Chef discontinued the Smoke Vault in April 2026 and it is gone from campchef.com entirely, though Sportsman's Warehouse and BBQGuys are still clearing new stock well below the $380 list price. It is listed here because it remains one of the most-owned propane cabinets in the country and the nearest thing to a reference point for anyone shopping the category.
A propane vertical cabinet, which sits between an electric smoker and a charcoal one: a single burner at the base heats a wood-chip tray, and the ThermoTemp thermostat opens and closes the gas valve to hold a set temperature the way a gas oven does. That thermostat is the distinguishing feature — most propane cabinets in this price band have a manual needle valve and drift with the weather. 960 sq in over four racks, and a 375°F ceiling that beats every electric cabinet here.