Charcoal BBQ Water Smoker and Grill, Steel, 40 x 80 cm

There is a particular kind of cooking that a barbecue cannot do, and this is the appliance for it. A vertical charcoal smoker keeps the fire at the bottom of a tall steel barrel and the food near the top, with a pan of water in between, so what reaches the meat is warm, damp smoke rather than direct heat. Ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, whole chickens and fish spend three or four unhurried hours in it and come out tender and smoky.

The barrel is black steel and separates into two stacking sections, which is what gives the smoker its range: built up tall it holds two cooking grates, one above the water pan and one higher still, while lifting the top section away leaves a compact barbecue with a grate close over the coals. Both pans are enamelled steel, the grates are chrome-plated, and the domed, powder-coated lid carries a dial thermometer and a rotating vent damper. Three moulded handles and three detachable legs finish it off, and each body section has its own hinged door.

Those two doors matter more than they look. One reaches the charcoal in the lower section, the other the water pan above, so a long cook can be fed and watered without the lid ever coming off and the temperature dropping away. The vent in the lid does the fine tuning, and the thermometer tells you whether it worked.

It suits a household that likes to cook slowly at the weekend without giving over half the garden to a barbecue. Assembled it stands on a small round footprint, so a patio, a courtyard or a corner of the lawn is enough, and it is light enough to lift into a car boot for a camping trip. It arrives flat-packed with brackets, fixings and an illustrated manual, and goes together with a screwdriver and a spanner.

Like every charcoal appliance, it is for outdoor use only. Burning charcoal gives off carbon monoxide, so it must never be lit, used or left to cool indoors, in a tent, garage, shed or caravan awning. Stand it on a firm, level, non-flammable surface, keep children and pets clear while it is hot, and let the fire die out completely before moving it. The manual asks you to burn it empty for half an hour before its first use.