Hasty Bake Grill Review: Roughneck vs. Legacy

Hasty Bake has been manufacturing the backyard grills of America since 1948. Made in Tulsa, Oklahoma, these charcoal grills and smokers are not the thin metal kind you'd find in big box stores. These grills are built to last.

If you're someone who enjoys entertaining and are in the market for a charcoal grill with plenty of cooking space and haven't yet seriously considered a Hasty Bake, this article was written for you.

Here's a few of my favorite Hasty Bake charcoal grills and why I like each one:

The Hasty Bake Roughneck Barrel Smoker

If you've ever heard of an ugly drum smoker, this is its handsome counterpart.

The Hasty Bake Roughneck is a vertical charcoal smoker and grill, and it's the champ when it comes to hanging ribs. Included in the cooker when it's shipped is a rib hanger that can easily hang 10-12 racks of ribs over the charcoal firebox. If you added a second rib hanger, I bet you could get 20-22 racks of ribs in this small form factor grill. I've never cooked on a grill that had this much capacity in such a small footprint.

Save 10% on your purchase with the code "BBQLAB10" at checkout.

If you order the fully loaded version of the Hasty Bake Roughneck barrel smoker, you get a wheel kit to move it around easily as well. It also comes with a Tel Tru thermometer and a second level of stainless steel grates in the fully loaded version, and for only about $250 more, it's well worth it in my opinion.

My first cook on the Hasty Bake Roughneck was a Tomahawk steak, and I slow smoked it until I hit 115° F internal, then used the lower grates for grilling to sear both sides.

The cook I haven't tried yet is brisket, but I think the Roughneck is built for a nice long low and slow brisket cook. Those juices dripping right into the fire, vaporizing into smoke that comes back up to season the meat? That's the ticket. I did smoke beef cheeks in here and the smoke color was beautiful.

Another test I ran was a bit of light grilling with 20 bone in chicken thighs. I started them on the top grates and let them soak in the cherry wood smoke for 45 minutes. I dropped the racks down to the lower level and charred the chicken to finish it off, and it's easily some of the best bone in chicken thighs I've made this year.

If you like summer competition events or cooking in the backyard, the Roughneck barrel smoker is just the ticket.

You might think moving this around would be heavy, but with the wheels included in the Fully Loaded version, it's quite easy.

The Hasty Bake Legacy (Model 131) Charcoal Grill

The Hasty Bake Legacy is the original Hasty Bake design and their most popular model, and it's all new and updated for 2025. It's available in a black powder coated finish, stainless steel (Model 132), and corten steel (Model 133).

If you haven't seen the Hasty Bake Legacy Model 131, there are a couple of things you need to know to get up to speed.

First, the grates are not flat on this grill. These grates are intentionally made in a V format to channel grease to the center of the grill grate. There's a center channel that collects the grease and funnels it out of the cooking chamber into an aluminum tray on the side of the grill. It's unlike any grill you'll find in a local store.

Also, since this is a charcoal grill and smoker, the entire charcoal tray can raise and lower depending on how you're cooking. If you want to run low and slow, keep the coals on the bottom of the grill and let it run like an oven or a drum smoker. If you want to cook hot and fast or grill directly over coals, crank the charcoal up to right underneath the grates and you're ready to sear. 

With 523 square inches of cooking space, the Hasty Bake Legacy has ample room to smoke just about anything, even when using a 2 zone setup.

Starting and managing a fire in the Hasty Bake Legacy model 131 is about as easy as it can be. This unit offers an access door on the right side with a pull out ash pan and charcoal basket. We like to line our ash pan with heavy duty aluminum foil for easy cleanup later. Lighting some Hasty Bake fire starter gel and pushing the ash pan back in under the charcoal basket is a foolproof way to get the Hasty Bake Legacy started. I love having full access to the fire this way.

 There's a reason why the Hasty Bake Legacy is their most popular model. It's the perfect size for larger families and anyone who enjoys entertaining. This unit offers incredible versatility in the variety of ways you can cook, meaning it could very well be the only grill on your patio.