How to add the Delicious Flavor & Aroma of Smoke, to Your Outdoor BBQ Grilling This Summer

Adding the magical taste and aroma of natural wood smoke to your outdoor grilling is that “little extra touch” that can give your steaks, burgers and chops that professional, restaurant quality experience, that people pay top dollar for.

For those who already have a grill with a built-in “smoker box”, you already know it can be a “game changer” when it comes to grilling or barbecuing.

For the rest of us, the good news is, that it’s really not that hard, or expensive, to replicate this same technique at home, with nearly any outdoor grill you may already have, the only thing being that your grill needs to have a cover or lid.

We’ll offer a few suggestions, starting with the container that you’ll add your soaked wood chips to, before placing it onto your grill grates, nested next to one of your burners below the grill grates or, on to your hot coals.

Options:

1. Purchased a smoker box. This, you can find at any of the home improvement stores or, on Amazon, E bay or similar on-line retailers. It’s typically the size of a small shoe box, made of stainless steel, and has slots or holes in it to release the smoldering, wood chip’s smoke. Even the least expensive smoke boxes will generally last you a season. These 2. pictured here, are under $12.              
2. A slightly less expensive option is to purchase a disposable, loaf-size or half-pan size foil baking pan, with a lid. The lid, of which, you’ll poke a dozen or so, ¼” size holes in (you can use a sharp pencil for this). Add your soaked wood chips, place the lid on, crimp the lid around the sides of the pan, and you have a DIY smoker box.
3. The last and least expensive route is to tear off a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, approximately 12” x 18”, place it on the counter, pile your soaked chips up in a 3” x 9” rectangular shape about 3” in, from one of the 12” wide ends. Fold the 3” flap over the chips, roll forward 1 turn, then fold both opposite sides of the foil over your chips roll, and continue to roll forward to the opposite end to create a tubular shaped foil pipe, full of soaked wood chips. Poke a dozen or so holes in your creation and, like the other smoke boxes, place on a hot section of your grill. NOTE: This method doesn’t allow you to add more chips to your fabricated smoke box “roll” so having an additional one made in the event you want to extend your smoking time beyond what one roll will give you (which is approximately 30 minutes).
4. NOTE: Compressed wood pellets and pucks are another popular option for wood choices. Follow the packaged instructions for these products. Both work with these smoke box choices.

In all 3 cases, after adding your smoke box to your hot grill, you’ll need to immediately cover your grill to capture the smoke coming from your smoke box.

TIPS:

Depending on what you are grilling, you can experiment with a number of things.

1. Pre-heat your grill and brush off your grates well before adding your smoker box. A 20-to-30-minute pre-heat is usually sufficient.
2. Be sure to have a good pair of grill mitts and tongs to handle adding, and or possibly refilling your smoker box if needed.
3. Next, when to add your smoke box? (With thick steaks, you may want to add your smoke box half way through your grilling so as not to add too much smoke flavor). With pork ribs you may choose to add it from the moment you add your ribs. In any case, it placed over a medium hot burner, it will take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes for the smoke to appear, so adjust accordingly.
4. There are a number of woods you can choose from; most all are readily available. The most commonly used wood species is Hickory and Cherry, but Mesquite is also a popular choice.
5. Generally, while larger smokers, which can use the added wood both as a heat source AND as a smoke, soaking the wood in a liquid before is not always needed (or preferred). HOWEVER, with small wood chips, soaking is recommended. You can simply soak them for approximately 30 minutes in water, or, if you’re feeling particularly creative, you can use wine, apple juice/cider or even a low-proof whisky/Bourbon. Be sure to drain off all excess liquid before using them an any of the above smoker boxes.
6. Observe how much smoke is coming from your smoker box and how far it is extending throughout your covered grill area and adjust and or rotate your products accordingly to get an even distribution of smoke to all your foods.

Adding the delicious element of smoke to your summer grilling and barbecuing is something you might really get hooked on, not to mention the addictive aroma that will waft throughout your neighborhood, letting everyone know that you take your grilling seriously.