Learn everything you need to know about how to make smoked hard boiled eggs!
Whether you've got a gas or charcoal grill, a Traeger or Pit Boss pellet grill, or even a Masterbuilt electric smoker, we've got you covered!
Smoked hard boiled eggs are a wonderful blank canvas, and incredibly easy to prepare.
You can eat them plain with a little salt and pepper as a snack, mix them up into smoked egg salad, or turn them into our delicious smoked deviled eggs.
Smoke a dozen eggs and keep them in the refrigerator to mix up into smoked egg salad, add to our famous smoked potato salad, make smoked deviled eggs, put them to top on fresh salads, or grab and go as a simple healthy afternoon snack.
If you re eating healthy, you can pair them with out smoked broccoli, asparagus, and even smoked cauliflower!
Let's look at how to prepare them.
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Hard Boil the Eggs First
While you technically CAN hard boil your raw eggs on a grill or smoker, we find it to be much faster to hard boil them the old fashioned way, then peel and smoke them from there.
While the raw eggs are still in their shell they do not absorb much smoke flavor at all so it is not really worth the effort until they are hard boiled and peeled to smoke them.
Here is a great tutorial on how to perfectly hard boil eggs if you need a refresher. But basically here is what you do:
- Fill a saucepan with cold water and place the eggs at the bottom in single layer. Make sure they are completely covered with water.
- Optional: Add a teaspoon of vinegar to help prevent the eggs from cracking in the water.
- Turn to heat to HIGH and bring the water to a boil uncovered.
- Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let them sit for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove the eggs with a large slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water.
- Once cooled, you can move them to the refrigerator to store or peel them. Do not peel until you are ready to smoke them.
Use a Grill Basket or Grill Mat
Because hard boiled eggs are small and slippery, it may be easier to manage a lot of them on a grill or smoker by using a grill basket or grill mat.
We are particular fans of the ORDORA Portable Grill Basket because it comes with its own handle, making it much easier to manage and move lots of delicate food, even shrimp, scallops, and asparagus around with one quick motion.
- 3 Custom Divided Sections
- Food-safe Material, Rustproof 201 Stainless Steel
- Larger Cooking Surface
- Portable with Detachable Wooden Handle
Another option is to use a grill mat, which are becoming increasingly popular in many BBQ circles, especially for delicate veggies and small seafood like oysters.
Our personal favorite is the Grillaholics Grill Mat.
Just throw it down on your grill to keep your smoked eggs all in one place and you can slide it around as needed to make room for other food without having to move each individual delicate egg.
It keeps your grates really clean, and when you are done, you just throw it right in the dishwasher!
- Grillaholics Grill Mat Mesh allows more air circulation for your food to give it that extra smoky flavor.
- Dishwasher safe
Best Wood and Wood Pellets
Fruitwoods such as apple and cherry as well as oak will give you a subtle smoke flavor on your smoked hard boiled eggs.
Or if you want a more distinctive smoky flavor, try some hickory or mesquite instead.
You can impart A LOT of distinctive smoke flavor into your smoked eggs in a relatively short period of time.
- GOURMET BLEND: Gourmet Blend BBQ pellets add a sweet, smoky flavor to your favorite red meat, poultry, fish, pork, lamb, or vegetable dish
Smoking Temperature
Because the eggs are already cooked, we only need to add smoke flavor to them and not a lot of heat.
For this reason we are going to smoke our eggs at only 180°F with INDIRECT heat.
If using an electric smoker or a pellet grill like a Traeger or Pit Boss, go ahead and put it on the lowest setting possible which is sometimes called the "Smoke" setting.
If you are using a gas or charcoal grill, will discuss how to set those up for LOW indirect heat below.
Cooking Time
We find you get a nice tan coloring and smokey flavor after about 30 minutes of smoking the hard boiled eggs at 180°F, especially when using a stronger flavored wood like hickory or mesquite.
You can let them smoke as long as 60 minutes if you want an even deeper smokey flavor, or if you are using a milder fruitwood such as apple.
Again, they are already cooked, so all we are doing is adding smoke flavor to them and don't need to worry about checking internal temperatures or anything like that.
Setting Up the Grill or Smoker
New to smoking?
Check out our Complete List of the Best Entry Level Smokers for Beginners Here.
Here are the best instructions for setting up different types of grills and smokers to smoke your hard boiled eggs.
Vertical or Offset Charcoal Smoker
Fill your firebox or lower charcoal basin with only about a quarter chimney's worth of unlit charcoal and create a small hollowed out depression in the center where you can add your lit briquets.
If your smoker comes with a water pan, like the Weber Smokey Mountain, don't bother with filling it.
Light a charcoal chimney with about 2 lumps or briquets of charcoal and wait about 10 minutes for them to fully ignite.
Once lit, add the 2 lit briquets to the center depression you created.
Keep the top vents half closed and the bottom dampers about ½ way open until the temperature is in the 160-180°F range.
Add 1 chunk of smoking wood once the smoker is up to temperature, grease the grill grates, and put your hard boiled eggs on.
Then slowly close down the top and bottom dampers to only about ¼ open until you are maintaining a temperature of 180°F.
Propane or Electric Smoker
Propane and electric options are some of the easiest smokers for beginners to start with.
Debating whether to buy a propane or electric smoker? Check out our COMPLETE Comparison Guide HERE.
For Propane: Open your gas valve and light the bottom burner. Adjust it down as low as possible without it going out to keep the temperature no higher than 180° F.
Need a refresher? Check our our Complete Guide to How to Use a Propane Smoker HERE.
Fill the smoking wood tray with your chosen wood chips and keep the top vent closed about ½ way.
Oil the trays and place your hard boiled eggs on the top rack as far as away from the burner as possible.
If the propane smoker still gets too hot, place a foil pan filled with ice on the tray below the eggs to act as a buffer.
For Electric: Plug your electric smoker in, open the vents, and turn the temperature to 180°F.
While it comes up to temperature, add smoking wood chips, not pellets, to the smoking wood tray.
Do not bother to fill the water tray if there is one.
Oil the trays and place your hard boiled eggs on the top rack.
If the electric smoker gets too hot, place a foil pan filled with ice on the tray below the eggs to act as a buffer.
Smoke the eggs for about 30 minutes, or up to 60 for more smokey flavor.
Refilling wood chips is one of the major drawbacks, besides tray size, of electric smokers compared to pellet grills like Traegers and Pit Bosses.
However, we recently found a great solution.
If you are tired of having to reload fresh wood chips into your electric smoker, especially on longer cooks like pork butt and brisket, then check out this Masterbuilt Automatic Slow Smoker Attachment.
It basically burns new fresh wood chips at a constant rate, much like how a pellet grill works, freeing you up to do other things while getting your food nice and smoky!
- Continuous smoke when cold smoking or hot smoking up to 275˚F
- Automatically heats wood chips with the push of a button
- Continuous wood feed system provides up to 6 hours of continuous smoke without reloading
Pellet Grill
Fill the pellet hopper with your choice of smoking wood pellets.
Plug in the pellet grill and turn the temperature to 180°F or the "Smoke" Setting if it has one. Make sure you have the pellet grill set up for INDIRECT cooking.
Let the pellet grill run through its start up process. When the pellet grill has come up to temperature, place your eggs on the oiled grill grates, or preferably in a grill basket, or on Grill Mat and close the lid.
Turn and rotate the eggs as needed depending on how even the heating of your pellet grill is.
Never used a pellet grill before? Read our Ultimate Guide to Pellet Grills to learn why they are so easy and how to set one up for success every time.
Gas or Charcoal Grill
On a gas or charcoal grill you will likely need to use a smoker box filled with wood chips, or a pellet tube smoker filled with wood pellets.
Think you need a fancy smoker to smoke food at home?
Think again.
Great smoked food can be made right on your current gas or charcoal grill.
Check out our Ultimate Guide to Smoking on a Gas Grill HERE.
If you are unfamiliar with these gas grill smoking devices mentioned above, no worries, we have you covered!
Read Everything You Need to Know about how to use Smoker Boxes here, and see a selection of our Favorite Pellet Tube Smokers here.
Or check out this handy comparison between smoker boxes and pellet tube smokers if you can't decide which is right for you.
In the case of smoked hard boiled eggs, we would opt for the smoker box on a gas grill since you only need to smoke the eggs for about 30 minutes.
If using a charcoal kettle style grill like in the picture below, use one chunk of smoking wood.
Set up your gas or charcoal grill for indirect cooking with only one burner or a very small amount of lit briquets on one side and plan for your eggs to be on the other side.
Remember, we are smoking the eggs INDIRECTLY, with as little heat as possible. So put one far side burner on LOW just to light the smoker box on a gas grill, or light only 1 or 2 charcoal briquets placed in a small pile of unlit ones on a charcoal grill.
Once the temperature of your grill is around 160°F, place your smoker box or pellet tube smoker over the lit burners or place a chunk of wood on the lit charcoal and once smoke begins coming out, place your eggs on the opposite side onthe well oiled grate.
Continue bringing the temperature up to 180°F and smoke at this temperature for about 30 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
Carefully remove the smoked eggs from the grill or smoker and set on a plate to cool a little before serving.
Smoke hard boiled eggs are great plain with a little salt and pepper, or even better yet, a good BBQ rub.
We are big fans of Blues Hog Barbecue Rub Seasoning on our smoked eggs because you get salt, sweetness, and a little spice all in one versatile rub.
Alternatively, you can follow our smoked deviled eggs recipe if want to bring the best deviled eggs ever to you next gathering.
If you have just a couple leftover smoked hard boiled eggs, chop them up and mix them with a couple other simple ingredients to make an out of this world smoked egg salad sandwich!
📖 Recipe
Smoked Eggs
Equipment
- Large Stock Pot
- Large Slotted Spoon
- Large Bowl filled with Ice
- Smoker or Pellet grill -OR-
- Gas or Charcoal Grill setup for indirect heat
- Hickory, Mesquite, and/or Apple pellets, woodchips, or chunks
- Knife
Ingredients
- 12 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vinegar
- Cooking Oil Spray preferably Canola oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Barbecue Rub Seasoning optional, to taste
Instructions
Hard Boil and Peel the Eggs
- Fill a saucepan or stock pot with cold water and place the eggs at the bottom in single layer. Make sure they are completely covered with water.12 Eggs
- Optional: Add a teaspoon of vinegar to help prevent the eggs from cracking in the water.1 teaspoon Vinegar
- Turn to heat to HIGH and bring the water to a boil uncovered.
- Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let them sit for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove the eggs with a large slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water.
- Once cooled, you can move them to the refrigerator to store up to 1 week until ready to peel. Do NOT peel until you are ready to smoke them.
Set Up the Grill or Smoker
- Preheat the smoker, or grill setup for indirect cooking, to 180°F.
- If using a pellet grill, load the hopper with your chosen pellets, turn on the grill, and set the temperature for 180°F or the "Smoke" setting.
Smoke the Eggs
- Once the grill or smoker is near its temperature, add your wood chips, wood chunks, or pellets into a pellet tube smoker and place it over the direct heat and close the lid.
- Once the grill or smoker is up to 180°F and producing smoke, oil the grates with the cooking oil well, and place the eggs into the smoker, or on the cool side of the grill. Use a grill basket or grill mat if needed.Cooking Oil Spray
- Smoke at 180°F for 30 minutes. You can smoke them up to 60 minutes if you want additional smokey flavor and color.
- Carefully remove the smoked eggs from the grill or smoker using BBQ tongs and place somewhere to cool for 10 minutes before cutting or serving.
- Cut an egg in half and sprinkle salt and pepper or your favorite BBQ rub before eating.Salt and Pepper, Barbecue Rub Seasoning
- Or, refrigerate and save to use in another dish such as smoked deviled eggs. Smoked eggs can be refrigerated up to 1 week (from the time they are first hard boiled) before consuming.
Kim says
Great easy recipe, thanks for sharing!