Minecraft Basics
Crafting Recipe
Smoker

How to Make a Smoker in Minecraft (Easy Guide)

Smokers are one of the most underrated blocks in Minecraft. They can cook food at double the speed of furnaces, making meal preparation a breeze. Plus, they also unlock a bunch of unique and easy meat trades in Minecraft survival servers. If you want to stop worrying about your food then smokers are your best bet. Let's dive in and learn how to make a smoker in Minecraft.

How to Make a Smoker in Minecraft (2023)

From locking to crafting it, you can find everything you need to know about a smoker in Minecraft.


What is a Smoker in Minecraft

Smoker is a popular functional block in Minecraft known for its ability to cook food faster than other blocks. It can cook food in just 5 seconds, double the speed of a regular furnace which takes 10 seconds. Moreover, it also as a job site block for the butcher villagers, unlocking a variety of food trades in the game.

Where Does the Smoker Spawn

The smokers only spawn inside the houses of butchers in Minecraft's villages. But, these villagers are fairly rare. You might have to explore a bunch of villages before coming across one. So, don't forget to check our guide on how to find villages in Minecraft to speed up the process.

Is Smoker Better Than the Furnace

If you want to cook your food faster then a smoker is your best option. It doubles the speed of cooking compared to a furnace. But, this faster speed comes at the cost of faster fuel consumption. The total consumed in both cases is the same, but the smoker just consumes it faster.

So, if you are unable to replenish your fuel fast enough, the smoker might halt the cooking process. To solve this dilemma, you can use a furnace to make charcoal in Minecraft and funnel that charcoal into your smoker as fuel.

Campfire Saves Fuels

While the smoker is much faster than the furnace, it isn't the most fuel-efficient option. That's where the campfire comes in. While its abilities are limited to cooking food, just like the smoker, the campfire doesn't require any fuel. You just need to place your item on the campfire and they start cooking immediately.

But, there are a couple of trade-offs to consider:


  • Time: The campfire takes 30 seconds to cook one item, compared to 5 seconds on a smoker. Though, when you can cook four items at once in the campfire, the final comparison comes down to 7.5 and 5 seconds.
  • Stacking: Smokers allow you to place an entire stack of items. But, the campfire only supports four items, although these items can be of different types.

So, the choice between a campfire and a smoker comes down to your personal preferences. If you want to cook your food faster than smoker is the ultimate choice. But, if you are low on fuel, the campfire is your only option.

Items Required to Craft a Smoker

You only need the following items to make a smoker in Minecraft:


  • 4 Log/Stem/Wood/Stripped Wood Blocks (any type)
  • 1 Furnace
  • 8 Cobblestone Blocks (to make the furnace)

Collecting wood is the simplest part of making a smoker in Minecraft. You can easily get wood by finding a tree and breaking its trunk. Unless you are playing on the desert Minecraft seeds, this step shouldn't take more than a few seconds.

Furthermore, you can use any type of wood in the game including bamboo wood. Plus, the four wooden blocks don't need to be the same type for the recipe to work.

How to Make a Furnace in Minecraft

Follow these steps to quickly make a furnace for your smoker in Minecraft:

1. First, make a wooden pickaxe and use it to mine stone blocks. You can find stone blocks in underground caves and on the side of mountains.

2. When you mine the stone, they drop cobblestone blocks. You need to collect a total of 8 cobblestone blocks.

3. Finally, arrange the 8 cobblestone blocks as a hollow square to make a furnace in Minecraft. With that, your furnace is ready. But, don't forget to explore our linked guide to explore other ways to get this useful item much faster.

Crafting Recipe of a Smoker in Minecraft

Once you have collected all the items, making a smoker in Minecraft is quite easy. First, place the furnace in the middle of the crafting grid. Then, place any type of wood on each side of the furnace, leaving the corners empty. Just like that, your smoker is ready for action.

What Does a Smoker Do in Minecraft

You can use a smoker in Minecraft for the following purposes:


  • Cooking: You can use smokers to cook meat and vegetables in Minecraft.
  • Light: Much like furnaces and Froglight, smokers emit a light level of 13 while they are in use. This level is enough to help crops grow but also to prevent hostile mobs from spawning.
  • Decoration: Smokers have a truly unique and attractive design. Its unique appearance makes it perfect for decorating your bases.
  • Profession:

How to Cook with Smoker

Follow these steps to use a smoker to cook food in Minecraft:

1. First, place the smoker on top or the side of a solid block.

2. Then, get the food you want to cook in Minecraft. You can find the complete list of compatible foods in the next section. For this guide, we're going to kill a sheep to get raw mutton.

3. The UI of a smoker is the same as the furnace. Place the food you want to cook in the slot on the top.

4. Then, place the fuel to activate the smoker in its bottom slot. Once you place the fuel, the smoker will only take 5 seconds for your food to cook.

What Can You Cook in a Smoker

You can cook the following food using a smoker in Minecraft:


  • Chicken
  • Cod
  • Mutton
  • Porkchop
  • Rabbit
  • Salmon
  • Beef
  • Kelp
  • Potato

Please keep in mind that the smoker only works with edible items in Minecraft. So, you cannot use it to cook chorus fruit, as there is no way to consume popped chorus fruit.

Jobsite Block of Butcher

While being an amazing cooking tool, the smoker also acts as a job site block. If you place a smoker next to an unemployed villager, it gives them the profession of a butcher. You can trade with them to buy the following items:

  • Rabbit Stew
  • Cooked Chicken
  • Cooked Porkchop

Meanwhile, when it comes to selling, you can trade with butchers for emeralds using:


  • Raw Chicken
  • Raw Beef
  • Block of Kelp
  • Raw Mutton
  • Raw Rabbit
  • Sweet Berries
  • Raw Porkchop
  • Coal

Frequently Asked Questions

What do you use to fuel a smoker in Minecraft?

You can use the same items to fuel a smoker that you use to fuel a furnace or blast furnace in Minecraft. The list includes wooden items, charcoal, coal, lava bucket, and more.

Is a smoker faster than a furnace?

Smokers cook food at twice as fast as a furnace.

Is a campfire better than a smoker in Minecraft?

While the campfire is slower than a smoker, it doesn't require any fuel. So, if you have some time to spare, the campfire is the most fuel-efficient way to cook food in Minecraft.

Does the smoker release smoke in Minecraft?

Unfortunately, the smoker doesn't live up to its name and doesn't release any smoker while it's active. So, you cannot use it to calm the bees while collecting honeycomb in Minecraft.


Make and Use a Smoker in Minecraft

With all your cooking needs taken care of, it’s time to focus on the other aspects of gameplay. The first thing that comes to mind is exploring structures and collecting all armor trims in Minecraft. But, to do so, you also need to make a shield and grab some weapons for your survival. If you have the time, you can also try to get Netherite in Minecraft. Though, more often than not, it’s best to stick with diamonds and avoid the endeavors. With that said, are you going to make a smoker in Minecraft or will you rely on the good old furnace? Drop your pick on our Discord server and join the ongoing debate.


Udayveer Singh

Udayveer Singh is a contributor to our news feed here at Servers-Minecraft and is passionate about all things Minecraft!