By Michael Hiller
It begins with smoke. Clean, blue, curling slow from a four-foot chimney stack, the kind that tells you something good is coming.
The Texas Smoke King is built in Tool, Texas, by M&M BBQ Company, a small but mighty outfit founded by childhood friends Mike Miller Jr. and Matt Sutton. They grew up around weld shops, rebuilding commercial pits long before they ever built their own. Today, their smokers are working hard in major league baseball stadiums and Texas barbecue joints, including Hutchins BBQ, Goldee’s Barbecue, Terry Black’s Barbecue, and the Michelin-praised Rosemeyer Bar-B-Q.
Offset smokers are built for the kind of barbecue that takes patience, vigilance and a well-managed fire. The firebox sits on one end, where heat and smoke begin their journey, rolling through the cook chamber and out the stack.
That slow roll surrounds the meat, rendering fat, building bark, and layering flavor the way a live fire should. It’s an old-school method, but when done right, there’s nothing better.
In our testing, we cooked enough briskets, ribs and pork shoulders to feed a family reunion and then some. The briskets smoked low and slow, wearing bark like armor. The ribs came off the grates juicy and lacquered. Pork shoulders surrendered at the touch of a fork. It was nearly as easy to manage as a pellet grill, feeding it a log every hour or so and letting it ride. But the payoff? Bigger. Smoke that sticks to memory. Flavor you don’t forget.
The Smoke King is built like a tank from quarter-inch steel. It feels indestructible. Its oil-black finish isn’t paint but a fire-tempered patina that picks up character with every cook. The firebox takes full 24-inch logs, so you build a proper fire, not a pile of scraps. Once burning, it holds steady. No chasing temps. No stress. Its thick steel traps heat while the airflow system keeps it even. Its 100-gallon capacity can easily accommodate 7 briskets at a time.
In most offsets, the cooking surface closest to the firebox is too hot to use. But the Smoke King has cleverly designed metal fins and an adjustable baffle that direct airflow evenly, eliminating hot spots and making the entire grate usable.
We also loved thoughtful details like welds that mean business, hinges that glide like a well-oiled tailgate, and wheels that glide over gravel. We laid a sheet of foil under the grates to catch the drippings — easier than using the drain, and cleaner too. Up top, the damper’s set at eye level, controlled by a pin-and-lever arm that’s smooth in the hand and precise on the draw. Miller and Sutton set out to build the ideal backyard smoker, one that solved the problems others ignored. We think they nailed it.
Father’s Day or not, some gifts are better than others. At $3,995, the Smoke King isn’t a whim. It’s an heirloom in waiting — grease-stained, fire-tempered, and full of stories. Get something that smells like oak and tradition. Something built for long weekends and longer memories. Something heavy, honest, and made to be fired up with pride.
Available now at mmbbqcompany.com for $3,995.