There is nothing better than the taste of smoked meat. Smoked chicken, pork, beef, lamb, and even salmon tastes amazing. If you choose the right cut of meat and the right wood chips, the final product will be amazing. If you want to smoke meat but you don’t own a smoker, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on one. You can actually smoke meats on your gas grill. As long as you know how to smoke on a gas grill, you meats will taste just like they would if you had used a traditional smoker.
A Gas Grill Built For Smoking
Some of the gas grills on the market today come with a metal smoker box that sits on top of a burner dedicated to smoking. These types of grills are simple to use. If your dedicated smoker box has just one compartment for wood chips, you would need to soak your chips in water before smoking your meat.
It is best to soak the chips for about 30 minutes. After soaking, the wood chips would go in the box for smoking. There are some dedicated smoking boxes that have one compartment for wood chips and one compartment for water. If yours has two compartments, you won’t need to soak the chips.
Simply fill each compartment and you can start smoking. This type of smoking box is great because it will steam the food while it smokes.
A Gas Grill Not Built For Smoking: Buying a Dedicated Smoker Box
If you plan to smoke meat on your grill often, you should invest in a stainless steel smoker box. This box would sit right on the cooking grate. When you fill the box with soaked wood chips, the metal will conduct the heat from the grill. These smoker boxes have a cover that contains holes. The smoke will come out of the holes so your meat will be smoked evenly.
A Gas Grill Not Built For Smoking: Making Your Own Smoker Box
If you are only going to be smoking meat on your gas grill occasionally and you don’t want to invest in a smoker box, you can make your own. All you would need is a disposable aluminum pan and aluminum foil. Start by soaking the wood chips in water for 30 minutes and place them in the foil pan. Next, cover the pan with aluminum foil and poke several holes in the top for the smoke to escape. You should place the pan in the back corner of the grill and don’t light that section.
A Gas Grill Not Built For Smoking: The Tin Foil Smoke Bomb Pouch
This is a great method if you don’t have a smoke box and if you don’t have an aluminum pan to make your own. For this method, all you will need is a thick durable piece of tin foil and dry wood chips in the flavor of your choice.
Start by folding the aluminum foil so that it makes a bag. You should make sure that the sides are secured tightly so that the wood chips don’t fall out.
Next, pour the wood chips into the aluminum foil bag. Make sure that you don’t fill the bag too much. If you do, you won’t be able to close it up securely. Make a small hole in the upper part of the foil bag. This is where the smoke will escape during cooking.
The foil bag is going to need to heat up a lot to get the chips to start smoking, therefore, the bag should be placed right over the burner. You should turn the grill to the highest setting until the bag starts smoking. When that happens, you can turn the grill down to the optimal temperature based on the cut of meat that you are going to be smoking.
Smoking Your Meat
Now that you have your smoker box set up, it is time to smoke your meat. This process will be the same regardless of the type of smoker that you use.
1. Start by arranging your meat evenly on the grill’s grates.
2. Next, turn the flame on. The higher the flame, the more smoke you will get which will give the meat a more smoky flavor.
3. If you are soaking your wood chips, you should start soaking a second batch after you use your first. There is a good chance that you are going to need to add more wood chips as you smoke.
4. When your meat and smoke box are set up, close the cover of the grill. It will need to stay closed as much as possible. The more often you open the cover, the lower the grill temperature will go. Also, you will lose a lot of your smoke. If possible, you should only open your grill cover every 30 minutes when it is time to check the wood chips. During this time, you should also check the temperature of your meat.
5. When your meat has reached the desired temperature, do not cut and serve yet. When the meat has been smoked, it will continue cooking for up to 30 minutes. After removing your meat, you should set it on the counter to rest for 30 minutes. If you were smoking ribs or potatoes and you wrapped them in foil, you should leave it on the meat. When the 30 minutes is up and it is time to cut and serve, you can remove the aluminum foil.
6. If possible, serve the meat right away. If you wait and you are forced to reheat the meat, the process can dry out the meat and it can also remove some of the smoky flavors from the meat.
If you love the taste of smoked, juicy meat, you don’t need to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a dedicated smoker grill​. While a dedicated smoker does make the smoking process a bit easier, it isn’t necessary. As long as you have a good gas grill even under $500 with a functioning cover, you can smoke meat that will taste just like it came out of a dedicated smoker. As long as you have a smoker box and a secure cover for your grill, your meat will taste amazing.
