Summer might officially be over, but that doesn’t mean you have to put your grill away and say goodbye to smoked and barbecued food. Grilling is exceptionally versatile and can bring your taste buds flavors they never knew existed! And with that in mind, it’s always a good idea to keep your grill open year-round so you can keep experimenting with food during your healthy grilling efforts.
There are tons of ways to smoke meat, depending what kind of machine you have. But considering that 80% of U.S. households own an outdoor grill or smoker, this shouldn’t be a problem for anyone. It just boils down to using the right method, so here we describe some of the most common smoking techniques that will make any BBQ that much better.
Smoking on a charcoal grill
Using charcoal to smoke your meat is great because the indirect heat really brings out the meat’s complex flavors. Charcoal grilling is also relatively easy to do:
- Fill your grill’s chimney starter one-third of the way with briquettes.
- Once they are lit, pour all of your charcoal on one side.
- Place a foil pan on the opposite side and fill with two to three cups of water. The water is to help maintain the low cooking temperature while adding more moisture to the food.
- Once the coals are thoroughly heated, put damp wood chunks onto the coals, and then add the food.
- Add more coals every hour to maintain the heat, and then remove the food once it has reached the proper temperature.
Smoking on a kettle
There is a lot of flexibility that comes when using a smoking kettle, like being able to both grill and BBQ. Grilling is when the heat comes directly from the meat like grilling steaks. barbecuing is when the kettle uses indirect heat, like in an oven. To do either in a kettle, you just need briquettes, a chimney starter, and smoking woods.
Smoking on a gas grill
Think you cant smoke meats on your gas grill? Think again! Some gas grills already come with a metal smoker box that sits on top of a burner — all it needs in some damp wood chips and you’re good to go. So it’s perfect for grilling steaks but smoking pulled pork at the same time.
You can learn all about these different techniques in our cooking classes, so visit our website to learn more about how you can expand your grilling horizons.