How to Turn Your Grill Into a Smoker
Grilling is one of the simplest ways to cook meat. But if you’re looking for something different, consider the following recipe. It’ll turn your grill into a smoker in no time and it’s perfect for your next backyard barbecue!
GATHER SUPPLIES
You’ll need a grill. If you’re using a smoker box, you don’t have to worry about this step—just get up and go to the store! But if you’re going to be building your own smoker box, make sure that it will fit on top of your grill. Also, need wood pellets. These can be purchased at any hardware store that sells home improvement materials (Lowe’s/Home Depot). Be sure that the pellets are for smoldering (not for flaming up) or else they won’t work properly in your smoker box!
If you’re going with an improvised smoker box like I did, then some basic tools will help a grill grate (you can use any kind); a cooking thermometer; a meat thermometer.
PREPARE THE GRILL
First, you’ll want to clean the grill grates. You can do this with a wire brush or by scrubbing them with soap and water. Next, you should remove the grates from your grill and wipe down both sides of each grate. Oil them well to prevent rusting and make sure not to miss any areas where oil could drip through into your food.
After that, set up your charcoal or wood chips in a pile on one side of the grill.
IGNITE THE PELLETS
Once you’ve got the charcoal going, it’s time to add your wood pellets. Ignite them using a long-handled lighter (or make sure they’re pre-lit). Once the coals are lit and smoldering, place them on top of the grate. You want to keep the flames low enough so that they don’t flare up; if there are too many flames, move your grill away from any walls or other things that could catch on fire. Be sure not to let any ashes fall onto your cooking surface! If any ash does happen to drop down into the bottom of your grill, use a metal container (like an old pot) as a makeshift ash tray for easy removal later.
the next step is to pile the burning charcoal in a corner of the grill, here is where real magic happens, the trick to using your grill as a smoker is to keep the meat away from the direct fire, you must pay close attention, right to one side From the charcoal embers, you must place a tray with water, this is to keep the humidity inside the grill when closing the lid, then you have to take the previously clean and oiled grill grates, and close the smoker lid for a few 15 minutes, to preheat the grill grates, after this, we can optionally place another tray with water right on top of the grates over the grill grates and finally you can add some pieces of your favorite smoking wood, in my case is mezquite wood for a smoky flavor.
PLACE MEAT ON SMOKER BOX
A smoker box is a metal box that has holes in it to let smoke escape. The smoke wood chips are placed inside the box and the meat is placed directly above it on the grill. This way, all of your meat will be infused with delicious wood-fired flavor! If you don’t have a smoker box available at home, you can easily make one yourself with an aluminum tray or aluminum foil and some small holes punched into it with something like a toothpick or skewer.
When using a smoker box, you place the coals and wood pellets on one side of your grill. You want to keep your meat off the coals, so it doesn’t dry out or burn. You can place your meat on either side of the grill—in fact, many people prefer to cook their meat directly over the heat source and then move it over when it’s time for it to smoke. However, if you’re worried about burning yourself on hot surfaces (or if you have children), putting them in between will protect them from getting burned by direct contact with fire.
If you decide that this method is best for you and your family, all you need is an aluminum pan designed specifically for smoking—these are available at most home improvement stores and some grocery stores as well as online retailers like Amazon and Walmart—and some aluminum foil (if necessary). For smaller items like fish fillets or sausages, simply wrap them in tinfoil before putting them into the smoker box; larger cuts of meat such as whole chicken halves will require two sheets joined together first so they don’t fall through cracks between wire racks inside larger boxes too easily once they’re cut into smaller sections after cooking.”
SET THE TIMER FOR TWO HOURS
Now it’s time to cook your meat. Set your timer for two hours and check the temperature of the meat at the end of two hours. You should be aiming for an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). If it’s not done yet, put it back on the grill and check in another hour or so.
If you have a thermometer in your grill that shows you the temperature inside, use that instead. Otherwise, just eyeball it by looking at how much pink is left in your pork shoulder (it should be minimal). If any part of your pork shoulder looks raw or red, remove it from the smoker immediately and keep cooking until no more pink remains.
When there’s no more pink left, remove everything from the smoker and let it rest for a few minutes before serving. Brush with barbecue sauce if desired.
Next, remove your meat from the grill and check its temperature at its thickest point. This is the best way to determine whether or not you have reached your desired doneness (use a meat thermometer).
Once your meat has reached its target temperature, you can take it off of the smoker. It’s important to remember that different meats will cook at different rates depending on their size and shape as well as how they were prepared before they went into the smoker. As such, cooking times will vary widely between cuts of beef or pork.
BRUSH WITH BARBECUE SAUCE
Brush the meat with barbecue sauce and let rest briefly before serving. The sauce can be made ahead of time, which is convenient for busy summer weekends when you’re planning on smoking several cuts of meat at once.
