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grilling SMOKING IN A GAS GRILL

cheezydemon

cheezydemon

I think outside the box. I'm not claiming to be a genius or anything, I just like to think my way around problems.

I now smoke foods to competition quality in my GAS GRILL.

It is a no frills 2 burner (left and right) grill.

I place wood chunks (charcoal could be used) on the far left side of the grill. I place much smaller chips in a bowl of water to soak.

I light that left burner to get the wood going.

Once it is seriously on fire by itself (with the gas OFF), I put the grate on and sprinkle enough wet chips onto the burning wood to put out any flames.
I place the food to be smoked (usually in a foil pan with a little beer or water) on the far right side.

If you don't mind standing by the smoker for 3-12 hours (depending on what is being smoked) you can watch for flame ups.

I prefer to put the probe of my DIGITAL THERMOMETER (I couldn't live without it) in a hole in my grill lid, over the food.

I set it to 230F. It goes off if the temp gets that high, usually because of a flare up.

(a flare up is when the chips have lost most of their moisture, and catch on fire. This is bad because a fire shoots the temps up fast, unwatched, it can get too high and spoil your slow and low smoking.)

The drawback is obviously that the small space is less forgiving of temp fluctuations. That is why I use the digital.

I do Pork Butts, ribs, peppers, briskets, etc.

Only a whole pig (or camel for that matter :() is out of the question.
 
I used my grill for smoking for a few years successfully but now I have 3 smokers, and each one has its own advantages/disadvantages.
 
I built a great ceramic smoker at my last house, but it was partially in-ground and therefore immoveable.

Some day I will have a designated smoker, but until then this has worked great.
 
You can always wrap the woodchips in foil and set them on the burner too no worry of ashes and flaring -- it can be done no doubt but Im a die hard and grill, BBQ and smoke on charcoal even in the winter!! just quirky that way. I have found smoke boxes at Mexican Macy's that are full of chips already also Reichlin has a line that sells them with different woods like apple, hickory etc...
 
That's how I used to do it, with the woodchips in the foil pouch. I would mix wet and dry chips and poke a few holes in the foil and this worked pretty good
 
The wet chips put out the flames on the wood. I occasionally turn the right burner on really low if the temp drops too low, but smoking over gas just doesn't appeal to me much!

The ashes haven't been a problem, but I do think it wears the element out a little sooner. It cost me $11 dollars to replace that last year. Small price to pay.
 
ok - here's your chance to have a shot at a n00b question

can someone please tell me why you can't use smoke powder or smoke (water) essence or smoke oil to flavour foods and just cook them the regular way. I know it's not authentic smoking but isn't the smoke powder (or whatever) made from real wood anyway.

feel free to attack at will! told you it was a n00b question
 
A lot of sausage makers cheat by using liquid smoke, but its just not the same taste. There are even casings that are smoke colored and flavored.
As for my third smoker, its still being built and modified. Its made out of cinder blocks and is big enough to hang and cold smoke a lot of sausages.
 
chilliman64 said:
ok - here's your chance to have a shot at a n00b question

can someone please tell me why you can't use smoke powder or smoke (water) essence or smoke oil to flavour foods and just cook them the regular way. I know it's not authentic smoking but isn't the smoke powder (or whatever) made from real wood anyway.

feel free to attack at will! told you it was a n00b question
Click to expand...

Because it tastes like shit compared to genuine smoked food?
 
It just isn't the same.

With actual smoking, there are even subtle differences to the flavor depending on which type of wood is used.

Good GOD!

I just smoked a hodge podge of year end peppers, dried and powdered them. The powder is out of this world! Nice heat and nice smoke flavor.

I use that on foods that I would like a little smoke in, but that aren't practical to actually smoke.

Smoked paprika, adn smoked jalapeno powders are great as well.
 
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