Welterweight · $729–$1,220

Grills, Smokers, and Pizza showdown

The Best Offset Smokers Over $700 (2026): Longhorn Reverse Flow vs Broil King Regal, and the Steel Only Two Makers Print

By The Smith Family, reviewed by Brad Smith · Independent, no paid placement · Updated October 18, 2026Prices checked October 2026

Some links here are affiliate links — if you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you (sometimes with a discount for you). It never changes which products we recommend — and we name the SKIPs to prove it.

Over $700 an offset smoker stops being a weekend project and starts being a pit you expect to hold its heat. This is the step up from our offset smokers under $700, and the field is smaller than it looks: Amazon sells two current offsets in this class, both from Oklahoma Joe’s. The rest sell only at Home Depot and Academy, and none of the four makers is in stock on its own store as we write this.

We read the field on 18 October 2026: Amazon every way we could search it, signed in, plus Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Academy, Tractor Supply and Ace. We read every listing we card with its critical reviews, each maker’s page and warranty, and the one hands-on test anyone has published in this class. The question the makers make hardest to answer is the one an offset lives or dies on: how much steel are you buying?

How they compare

Model	Best for	Primary grate	Steel per sq in	Steel thickness	Firebox grate	Warranty	Owner rating	Price
Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn Reverse Flow Offset Smoker	The deepest owner record over $700, on a firebox you will seal	751 sq in	0.36 lb (268.3 lb ÷ 751 sq in)	Not published ("heavy-gauge steel")	Not published	2 years on all parts (Oklahoma Joe's); authorized sellers only	4.4★ / 515	Check price →
Broil King Regal Charcoal Offset 500	The one offset over $700 a tester cooked on, and the only maker that prints its steel	625 sq in	0.38 lb (239 lb ÷ 625 sq in)	2 mm / 14 gauge (Broil King)	175 sq in offset barrel (Home Depot listing)	5 years on the steel body; parts and paint 2 years (Home Depot listing, Broil King badge)	Not counted (Home Depot review text unreadable)	~$1,049typical at Home DepotCheck price →
Oklahoma Joe's Highland Reverse Flow Offset Smoker (24203003)	Reverse flow for the least money, on the lightest steel here	616 sq in (Oklahoma Joe's spec table; its feature bullet says 619)	0.25 lb (156 lb ÷ 616 sq in)	Not published	281 sq in (Oklahoma Joe's)	2 years on all parts (Oklahoma Joe's); authorized sellers only	4.3★ / 57	Check price →
Old Country BBQ Pits Wrangler Smoker	The most steel for its grate over $700, from a maker that publishes no warranty	461.5 sq in (17.75 × 26 in main grate, Academy)	0.49 lb (225 lb ÷ 461.5 sq in)	11 gauge with 3/16 in doors (Academy's spec table; Old Country prints none)	234 sq in (17 × 13.75 in firebox, Old Country)	None published by Old Country; Academy lists 1 year on parts	4.3★ / 110	~$749.99typical at AcademyCheck price →
Oklahoma Joe's Highland Reverse Flow Smoker (17202052, previous generation)	SKIP: the old Highland at a newer smoker's price	619 sq in (The Barbecue Lab, testing this generation)	0.29 lb (180.8 lb ÷ 619 sq in)	Not published	Not published	2 years on all parts (Oklahoma Joe's); authorized sellers only	4.1★ / 111	Check price →

Prices move constantly — any Amazon price shown is as of the date noted and subject to change; tap through for today's number.

How to read the ratings. The three Oklahoma Joe’s ratings are Amazon bases we read ourselves, signed in, on 18 October 2026, with their critical reviews; none of the visible cards came from the Vine programme, and the Longhorn’s shows reviews from Mexico, so it is flagged global. The Wrangler’s is Academy’s: older reviews, some of them tagged as collected in a sweepstakes, so it is flagged. The Broil King’s 16 Home Depot reviews could not be read from here, so we print the count and do not rank on it.

The steel only two makers print

An offset holds its heat in its steel. Two of the four makers will tell you how thick it is: Broil King prints “2 mm/14-Gauge steel”, and Academy’s listing for the Old Country Wrangler prints “11ga with 3/16” doors”. Oklahoma Joe’s calls both of its pits “heavy-gauge steel” and prints no number, so on 18 October 2026 we asked Oklahoma Joe’s for one; we will add it here if they answer. Every maker prints a weight, and weight divided by grate is the closest thing to a steel spec you can compare:

It is a rough measure — wheels, shelves and cast-iron grates weigh something too — but it sorts these pits the way our under-$700 offsets sorted: the lighter the pit for its grate, the more of its critical reviews are about paint, warping and leaks.

Firebox against grate

The other number that shapes an offset is the firebox. Three makers print it. The Highland Reverse Flow’s firebox grate is 281 square inches against 616 of cooking grate; the Wrangler’s firebox is 17 by 13.75 inches against a 17.75 by 26 inch main grate; Broil King gives its offset barrel 175 square inches against 625. That smaller firebox is the likely reason The Barbecue Lab sometimes had to crack the Broil King’s burn-chamber door for air. Oklahoma Joe’s prints no firebox figure for the Longhorn Reverse Flow.

The warranty, and who can claim it

Buy an Oklahoma Joe’s from Amazon itself, which both current pits were sold by when we read them, and not from a marketplace seller — which is one of two reasons the skip below is a skip.

Recalls

No recall covers any smoker on this page. We queried the CPSC recall database on 18 October 2026: Oklahoma Joe’s returns none, none of Char-Broil’s nine recalls (Oklahoma Joe’s parent) is an offset, Broil King returns none and its maker’s one recall is a 2008 gas grill, and every “Old Country” result is a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store product.

Best overall: Oklahoma Joe’s Longhorn Reverse Flow Offset Smoker

Winner

Our top pick

Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn Reverse Flow Offset Smoker

The deepest owner record over $700, on a firebox you will seal · A 751 sq in offset that runs reverse flow or traditional by moving its baffles and stack, 268.3 lb by Oklahoma Joe's own spec table. It holds 4.4★ across 515 on Amazon, the deepest base in the class, and Amazon sells it under Oklahoma Joe's list price. Its critical reviews are about gaps, leaks and paint, not the cooking.

Your pick if you want reverse flow and a traditional offset in one pit, 751 sq in of grate for a crowd, and you will spend an afternoon with gasket and clamps before the first brisket

4.4 · 515 owner ratingsacross Amazon · 2026-10-18 · global base

Check price at Amazon →

Sold and shipped by Amazon · 30-day refund / replacement · read 2026-10-18

Picked before we checked what this link pays us.

Also at: Oklahoma Joe's

Verified owner · Amazon

“Good smoker made great with firebrick and a few gaskets. Best food I have ever smoked with any smoker.”

Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn Reverse Flow Offset Smoker

The deepest owner record over $700, on a firebox you will seal

Your pick if you want reverse flow and a traditional offset in one pit, 751 sq in of grate for a crowd, and you will spend an afternoon with gasket and clamps before the first brisket

4.4 · 515 owner ratingsAmazon · 2026-10-18 · global base

“Good smoker made great with firebrick and a few gaskets. Best food I have ever smoked with any smoker.”— brad taylor, Amazon · Verified owner

Pros

• The deepest owner base of any offset over $700: 4.4★ across 515 on Amazon
• Runs reverse flow or as a traditional offset: Oklahoma Joe's moves the stack and four baffles
• 268.3 lb on 751 sq in of grate, 0.36 lb of pit per square inch
• Sold and shipped by Amazon.com, which Oklahoma Joe's warranty counts as an authorized source (read 2026-10-18)

Cons

• 7 of the 10 newest written critical Amazon reviews describe gaps, leaks or parts that do not fit, and 4 the paint coming off
• No credentialed outlet has tested the reverse-flow Longhorn
• Oklahoma Joe's prints no steel thickness for it

What owners complain aboutDefect reports

Fit, leaks and paint, not the cooking. The newest critical reviews describe gaps at the firebox ("a quarter inch gap on both sides"), doors that need gasket and clamps to seal ("Be prepared to spend extra time and money getting the cooking chamber door and firebox to seal up"), a misdrilled hole, interior panels that warped on the first burn, and paint "flaking" after one cook.

7 of the 10 newest written critical reviews describe gaps, leaks or fit and 4 the paint, of 54 written critical reviews on Amazon (2026-10-18) · critical reviews read 2026-10-18

Check price at Amazon →

Sold and shipped by Amazon · 30-day refund / replacement · read 2026-10-18

Also at: Oklahoma Joe's

✓ Safety: no active recallNo active CPSC recall found (checked 2026-10-18): the CPSC recall API returns no "Oklahoma Joe" recall, and none of Char-Broil's nine recalls (Oklahoma Joe's parent; the control query) is an offset smoker.

The most-owned offset in this class by a distance — 4.4 stars across 515 on Amazon — and the most flexible: move its four baffles and its stack and the same 751-square-inch chamber runs reverse flow or as a traditional offset. It weighs 268.3 lb by Oklahoma Joe’s own spec table, 0.36 lb of pit per square inch of grate, close behind the Broil King. Amazon sells and ships it at about $780, under Oklahoma Joe’s list price of $900, and Oklahoma Joe’s own store had it out of stock when we looked.

The owners who rate it five stars mostly tell you what they did to it first: “Good smoker made great with firebrick and a few gaskets. Best food I have ever smoked with any smoker.”

Not for you if: you want to cook the day it arrives. Seven of its ten newest critical reviews describe gaps, leaks or parts that do not fit — “Be prepared to spend extra time and money getting the cooking chamber door and firebox to seal up” — and four describe the paint flaking or peeling after the first burns. Nobody has published a test of the reverse-flow Longhorn, and Oklahoma Joe’s will not say how thick its steel is.

The tested one: Broil King Regal Charcoal Offset 500

Broil King Regal Charcoal Offset 500

The one offset over $700 a tester cooked on, and the only maker that prints its steel

Your pick if you want the pit with a hands-on test behind it, a 5-year warranty on the body and printed 14-gauge steel, and you will buy it at Home Depot rather than Amazon

Pro review “The Broil King held its temperature quite well and put a beautiful color on the meats that we smoked on it.”Hands-on test of six offsets from four makers over two weeks; Broil King supplied the sample; the page names the unit the Regal Charcoal Offset XL, Broil King's name for 958050— Melissa Gafford, The Barbecue Lab

Pros

• The Barbecue Lab: "The Broil King held its temperature quite well and put a beautiful color on the meats that we smoked on it."
• Broil King prints the steel: 2 mm / 14 gauge, with a double-walled lid and gasket
• Five years on the steel body, the longest body term in this class

Cons

• Not sold on Amazon; Home Depot charges more than Broil King's list price, and Broil King's own store says "Available soon"
• Its offset barrel is small for its grate (175 sq in against 625), and The Barbecue Lab sometimes had to open the burn chamber door to get enough air
• A thin owner record: Home Depot shows 16 reviews, and we could not read them

~$1,049typical at Home Depot · checked 2026-10-18

Check price at Home Depot →

✓ Safety: no active recallNo active CPSC recall found (checked 2026-10-18): the CPSC recall API returns no Broil King recall; Onward Manufacturing (Broil King's maker) has one, 08261, a 2008 gas grill recall. Control: Char-Broil returned its nine.

The only offset over $700 a credentialed outlet has cooked on. The Barbecue Lab ran six offsets side by side for two weeks and found that “The Broil King held its temperature quite well and put a beautiful color on the meats that we smoked on it”; in its brisket test the Broil King tied for first. Broil King prints the steel — 2 mm, 14 gauge, with a double-walled, gasketed lid — and covers the body for five years, the longest body term here. Its list price is $899; Home Depot charges about $1,049, and Broil King’s own store says “Available soon”. The smaller Regal Charcoal Offset 400 (955050) is the same design with 500 square inches of grate.

Not for you if: you buy on Amazon, or you want the owner record behind the test. It is not sold there. Its firebox is small for its grate — 175 square inches against 625 — and The Barbecue Lab sometimes had to open the burn-chamber door to get enough air. Home Depot shows 3.5 stars across 16 reviews that we could not read, so we cannot tell you what those owners report.

Best value: Oklahoma Joe’s Highland Reverse Flow (24203003)

Oklahoma Joe's Highland Reverse Flow Offset Smoker (24203003)

Reverse flow for the least money, on the lightest steel here

Your pick if you want reverse flow under the Longhorn's price, you cook for a family rather than a crowd, and you are ready to touch up the firebox paint

4.3 · 57 owner ratingsAmazon · 2026-10-18 · early data

“Fairly novice at smoking meat, but wanted an affordable offset smoker, and this is that. The only thing that bothered me was while seasoning it, it warped slightly.”— Jaded, Amazon · Verified owner

Pros

• The least money for reverse flow over $700, sold and shipped by Amazon.com (read 2026-10-18)
• The biggest firebox for its grate of the Oklahoma Joe's pair: 281 sq in against 616
• Owners who seal it like how it holds heat: "it stayed at 225° for hours"

Cons

• 0.25 lb of pit per square inch of grate, the lightest here
• 4 of the 10 newest written critical reviews describe paint peeling, some after the first seasoning burn, and 5 describe fit, leaks or bent parts
• An owner replacing an older Oklahoma Joe's says it "sits about a foot lower" and is uncomfortably low

What owners complain aboutDefect reports

Paint and fit. The newest critical reviews describe the firebox paint peeling at seasoning ("I seasoned the grill at 300* for two hours and the paint peeled off the back"), smoke leaking at the doors, parts bent before packing, screw holes not drilled, and a pit lighter and lower than older Oklahoma Joe's.

4 of the 10 newest written critical reviews describe paint and 5 fit, leaks or bent parts, of 12 written critical reviews on Amazon (2026-10-18) · critical reviews read 2026-10-18

Check price at Amazon →

Sold and shipped by Amazon · 30-day refund / replacement · read 2026-10-18

Also at: Oklahoma Joe's

✓ Safety: no active recallNo active CPSC recall found (checked 2026-10-18): the CPSC recall API returns no "Oklahoma Joe" recall, and none of Char-Broil's nine recalls (Oklahoma Joe's parent; the control query) is an offset smoker.

Reverse flow for the least money in the class: about $729, sold and shipped by Amazon, 4.3 stars across 57 owners. It converts like the Longhorn, its 281-square-inch firebox is the largest for its grate of the Oklahoma Joe’s pair, and owners who have sealed it like how it holds: “it stayed at 225° for hours.”

Not for you if: you want mass. At 156 lb on 616 square inches it is the lightest pit here, 0.25 lb per square inch, and its newest critical reviews are paint peeling — some at the first seasoning burn — plus doors that leak and parts bent before they were packed. One owner replacing an older Oklahoma Joe’s says it “sits about a foot lower” and is uncomfortably low.

Most steel: Old Country BBQ Pits Wrangler Smoker

Old Country BBQ Pits Wrangler Smoker

The most steel for its grate over $700, from a maker that publishes no warranty

Your pick if you want the heaviest steel per square inch in this class, you can buy it at an Academy store and look it over before it goes home, and you will add your own thermometer

4.3 · 110 owner ratingsAcademy · 2026-10-18 · incentivised base

“It was awesome - the only problem we had was guessing at the heat”— oujia601, Academy

Pros

• 0.49 lb of pit per square inch of grate, the most in this class, on 11-gauge steel by Academy's spec
• Ships welded and assembled; Academy adds free assembly with store pickup
• An owner comparing it with Oklahoma Joe's: "Significantly heavier gauge steel so it keeps temp better."

Cons

• Old Country publishes no warranty, and critical reviewers say the maker did not answer them; Academy lists 1 year on parts
• Critical reviews describe welds failing (a firebox door "falling off"), leaks and rust within months
• No thermometer comes with it, and no credentialed outlet has tested it

What owners complain aboutDefect reports

Welds, leaks and a silent maker. Critical reviews describe the firebox door "falling off" when its welds failed, a rack bracket "broken at the weld", a pit that "leaks like a sieve", one that would not climb past "about 220 degrees" (May 2024), rust and bubbling within months, and owners who wrote to Old Country and heard nothing: "Warranty means nothing to manufacturer."

13 of 110 Academy reviews are one or two stars (2026-10-18); all 18 one-, two- and three-star reviews read, the newest from 2024 · critical reviews read 2026-10-18

~$749.99typical at Academy · checked 2026-10-18

Check price at Academy →

✓ Safety: no active recallNo active CPSC recall found (checked 2026-10-18): every "Old Country" hit in the CPSC recall API is a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store product; none is Old Country BBQ Pits.

The heaviest pit for its grate in this class: 225 lb on a 17.75 by 26 inch main grate, 0.49 lb per square inch, on 11-gauge steel with 3/16-inch doors by Academy’s spec table. It arrives welded, and Academy sells it at about $750 with free assembly when you pick it up. An owner who compared it with an Oklahoma Joe’s put it simply: “Significantly heavier gauge steel so it keeps temp better.”

Not for you if: you want a warranty you can use. Old Country publishes none (Academy lists one year on parts), and its critical reviews describe failing welds — a firebox door “falling off” — leaks, rust within months and owners who wrote to Old Country and heard nothing back. Its 4.3 stars across 110 is an older base, some of it collected in sweepstakes. It comes without a thermometer. If you buy one, buy it in a store and look over the welds and the doors before it goes home.

SKIP: the previous-generation Highland Reverse Flow (17202052)

Oklahoma Joe's Highland Reverse Flow Smoker (17202052, previous generation)

SKIP: the old Highland at a newer smoker's price

Your pick if you specifically want the previous Highland Reverse Flow and are happy to pay a third-party seller well over what the current one costs from Amazon

4.1 · 111 owner ratingsAmazon · 2026-10-18

“Received it put it together started a fire in it and right away noticed the fire box started to droop down”— Andrew Leonardi, Amazon · Verified owner

Pros

• Amazon lists it with a deeper base than the current model

Cons

• The previous generation, sold by a third party, UnbeatableSale, for far more than Amazon's own price on the current Highland Reverse Flow
• Oklahoma Joe's warranty says units from unauthorized marketplace sellers may not be eligible
• 12% of its ratings are one star; the newest critical review (October 2025) is a firebox that "started to droop down"

What owners complain aboutDefect reports

Paint, rust and fit on an older design: paint that "came off immediately", rust in a week, a firebox door that does not cover its opening, missing screw holes, and a firebox that "started to droop down".

10 of 12 written critical reviews read, 2017 to October 2025 (2026-10-18); 12% of 111 ratings are one star · critical reviews read 2026-10-18

Check price at Amazon →

Sold and shipped by UnbeatableSale Local · 30-day refund/replacement · read 2026-10-18

✓ Safety: no active recallNo active CPSC recall found (checked 2026-10-18): the CPSC recall API returns no "Oklahoma Joe" recall, and none of Char-Broil's nine recalls (Oklahoma Joe's parent; the control query) is an offset smoker.

The steel-man for it: it is a real Oklahoma Joe’s reverse-flow pit with a deeper Amazon base than the current one, and The Barbecue Lab tested this generation. But it is the old model, Oklahoma Joe’s no longer lists it, and it is sold on Amazon by a third party, UnbeatableSale, at about $1,220 — far more than Amazon’s own price on the current Highland Reverse Flow above — from the kind of seller Oklahoma Joe’s warranty says “may not be eligible”. Its newest critical review is a firebox that “started to droop down” on the first fire.

The offsets we read and did not card

• Char-Griller Grand Champ (8250) — AmazingRibs’ Gold medal and a Barbecue Lab test, 780 square inches on 254 lb. Char-Griller now lists it at $699, under this class, and it is out of stock on Char-Griller’s store; Home Depot sells it.
• Broil King Regal Charcoal Offset 400 (955050) — the 500’s smaller sibling, no test of its own; see the 500’s card.
• Old Country Over and Under, Pecos and Brazos — the Over and Under shares the Wrangler’s list price but prints no grate area; the Pecos lists under $700 and the Brazos well over $1,000.
• Char-Broil American Gourmet Offset Deluxe — on Amazon at a marketplace price far above what the pit is, so not a contender here.

Buying guide: an offset over $700

• Weigh the pit, not the name. Divide the maker’s weight by the grate; it is the one steel figure every maker prints.
• Ask for the gauge. If a maker will not print it, ask; we did, and we will print the answer.
• Seal it before the first cook. Owners of every pit here mention gasket, clamps or sealant.
• Buy from a seller the warranty covers. Oklahoma Joe’s may refuse marketplace sellers, and Old Country publishes no warranty at all.
• Look at the firebox. A small firebox for the grate means more door-cracking and more fuel runs.

Next showdown

Keep the fight going

Catchweight

Grills, Smokers, and Pizza

The Best Portable Charcoal Grills (2026): Jumbo Joe vs Rambler, and the Tested Winners You Can't Buy

Ten portable charcoal grills read on their own listings on 18 October 2026, every critical revi…

Updated Oct 2026

Catchweight

Grills, Smokers, and Pizza

The Best Gravity-Fed Smokers (2026): The Masterbuilt 1150 Two Test Kitchens Liked, Food & Wine's AutoIgnite 545, and Three Burn Times on One Hopper

Seven gravity-fed charcoal smokers read signed in on their own Amazon listings on 17 October 20…

Updated Oct 2026

Pound-for-Pound

Grills, Smokers, and Pizza

recteq Staq vs Grilla Mammoth vs Pit Boss Navigator 6: The Best Vertical Pellet Smoker of 2026

The Grilla Mammoth is the best vertical pellet smoker of 2026: a tester's overnight cook at 225…

Updated Oct 2026

Light Heavyweight · $1,100–$1,150

Grills, Smokers, and Pizza

Grilla Silverbac 2.0 vs Traeger Woodridge Pro: The Light Heavyweight Pellet Grill Showdown (2026)

The Grilla Silverbac 2.0 wins the Light Heavyweight pellet grill fight: a tester's three probes…

Updated Oct 2026