Viking 30″ Gravity Feed Charcoal Smoker Review

VIKING HAS DISCONTINUED PRODUCTION OF ALL GRAVITY FEED SMOKERS.

The Viking 30″ Gravity Feed Charcoal Smoker is the smaller of two smokers. Viking is known for shiny stainless steel high end pro-sumer grade cooking equipment. This 30″ cabinet style smoker has 6.7 cubic feet of cooking capacity on three removable shelves.

A charcoal fire is started at the bottom of the smoker and it is constantly gravity fed from a charcoal chute. You can use briquettes or lump charcoal and mix in wood chunks for flavor. Viking claims it burns about one pound of charcoal per hour. They further claim it can maintain 150°F for cold smoking with the aid of ice pans above and below the food and that it can get hot enough for grilling.

It has adjustable legs for leveling, solid hinges, heavy insulation for efficiency, a spatter and grease collection system with a removable grease pan on the exterior, and a bimetal thermometer in the door. Airflow is controlled with a ballcock operated by a handle: Very clever. It can also be fitted with a fan operated third party airflow controller like Rock’s Stoker or a BBQ Guru to give you digital temperature control and monitoring.

All units have a removable rain cap. We wish they had a ventilated rain cap that could stay on for use in the rain. We have not tested this smoker, but Viking has an excellent reputation and  it appears to be well built. We believe it is built by a third party for Viking, and in the past Viking has put its label on Stump BBQ Smokers. But that relationship ended badly, so who knows how stable this relationship is?