Smoking on gas grill?

[mrlederman]

First, I apologize if this is in the wrong spot, but I didn't see a forum for gas grills. However, I was wondering if anyone has tried smoking on their gas grill? My birthday is around the corner (2/22) and I want a gas grill because my smoker's grates are too close to the coals and for a 10 minute cook, I don't want to waste coal and time prepping my fuel.

I understand that if I use my chip box on the far left and place the meat on the far right, I will get some indirect heat going and some smoke. Though, I am worried about there being no vents and how to regulate temp. I will still use my charcoal smoker for smoking, but I thought it couldn't hurt to experiment on the gas grill, if possible, while I am still learning and to preserve some fuel on smaller cooks.

Thanks again for all the help here!

-Chad

 

[bbqbrett]

I am not sure what grill you will be getting but I have cooked that way on a gas grill before.  It came out pretty good and I did not have any complaints. Only done this a couple of times so I won't claim to be an expert.

The main way to regulate the temp (that I know of) if you smoke on a gas grill will just be how high (or low) you set your burners.  Also conisder how many burners and the space between the burners(s) you are using and the food on the grill.

Hopefully that helps you and hopefully someone else on here will have some good advice for you as well.

 

[Dutch]

Chad,you can use grills for smoking but like you mentioned, you have to set up for indirect cooking.

On my gas grill I light the burners on the right, place my AMSNPS under the left grates toward the front and the meat goes on the center/back area of the left grates.  My gas grill has vents in the back so the smoke from the pellets move from front to the back and then exits the grill through the rear vents.  Adjust the flame output for your lit burners by turning the control knobs on the grill and when you get the temperature where you want it (between 225° and 250°) leave them alone. If you temp gauge isn't accurate, an oven thermometer will work but remember that you will lose heat when you lift the cover to read the thermometer.  I use my chamber probe of my Maverick ET-72 to monitor the temps.

For charcoal grills, indirect works here too.  Get a pile of briquettes going on one side close the cover and watch the temps go up.  Once you hit the 300° make start removing briquettes until you stabilize at your target temp again usually between 225° and 250°, then add you meat to the other side. Keep in mind that you are going to need to replace those briquettes about every 45 minutes so you got to stick close to your grill.

Going back to by dutch oven cooking days, each briquette I added or remove changed the temp by 15°; so if I need to cook in my dutch oven at a temp of 350° I know that I would need approximately 24 briquettes.  This might not work for grill smoking, but it should give you a baseline to experiment with.

 

[skinnyb37]

Chad, before I got my BGE, I used my old gas grill (3 burner) for smoking all the time. I will admit it's easier to control the temp on the BGE, but I recently moved to VT and haven't yet set up the BGE, so I use my newer 5 burner gas grill to smoke butts and brisket. Follow Dutch's advice...that's pretty much what I do...light the 2 left burners, put the soaked wood chips in a foil pouch (I don't have a wood chip box) directly on the flame (or over the grill if running at high) and maintain around 225F. Try not to open the grill as much as you can...oh, and ALWAYS have a spare full tank (if using tanks)...nothing more frustrating than running out of propane when you're halfway done (not that I've done that, of course...OK maybe once...or twice...or more...)

 

[mrlederman]

Thanks again for the advice everyone. I did get my new grill for my birthday. It's a three burner with a side burner. I was seasoning it the other day, so I thought I would check out the internal temperatures on different spots. With one burner on high, the other side of the grill stayed about 225* to 235*, so I was pretty pumped. I think I will try a shorter smoke on it (not sure what smokes slow so I will have to do some digging) and see how things turn out.

 

[chiefmanywrenches]

pig.jpg

• chiefmanywrenches
• Sep 8, 2011

This is a small pig we did on my dad's propane grill. We just put the 2 outside burners on low and put the food in the middle. Wood chips go on the left also in the little box. It doesn't do quite as good as my UDS but in a pinch it does work. Certainly easier and faster to get going for sure.

 

[mrlederman]

Thanks for the picture! I know it won't be as good on the gas grill, but I am looking forward to being able to smoke more.

 

[id2nv2nj2ca]

I'm curious how long a full propane tank will stay burning with just one burner going in a gas grill, and the difference in burn time at high, medium, or low settings. I ask because it isn't cheap to fill a propane tank these days. Would the fact that a gas grill isn't nearly as air tight as a smoker affect how much the meat may or may not dry out?

 

[linguica]

I can't tell you how long a full propane tank will last, but i can tell you when it will go empty. At about 6:00 pm on a Saturday evening, about 2 minutes after you put the steaks on. And if you have guests over for dinner, you can count on it.  Murphy's Law.       

 

[skinnyb37]

I can't tell you how long a full propane tank will last, but i can tell you when it will go empty. At about 6:00 pm on a Saturday evening, about 2 minutes after you put the steaks on. And if you have guests over for dinner, you can count on it.  Murphy's Law.       

Ha! Yep...I have 3 tanks now, but still worry when I am down to 2 full ones...been "burned" too often :)

 

[chiefmanywrenches]

On dad's grill, the thing that holds the tank has a spring or whatever in it that tells you the level based on the weight of the tank and contents. Full will pull it to the bottom and it rises and shows a level as it gets used up.

 

[id2nv2nj2ca]

I can't tell you how long a full propane tank will last, but i can tell you when it will go empty. At about 6:00 pm on a Saturday evening, about 2 minutes after you put the steaks on. And if you have guests over for dinner, you can count on it.  Murphy's Law.       

Hahaha, good one. And so true.

 

[mrlederman]

I can't remember the temperature of the water, but I have read somewhere that if you pour hot (I think) water on your tank, where it goes cold is the level of gas in your tank. If I can find the link again I will post it.

I think the burn temperature, size of the grill, size of the tank, etc. would all affect how long you can cook for. However, as far as a gas grill drying out the meat because it isn't air tight, I am not sure I see the connection between being air tight and drying the food out. From the way I understand things, my smoker isn't air tight and uses air flow to cook the food so I don't know why the air in a gas grill would dry out the food.

 

[id2nv2nj2ca]

I can't remember the temperature of the water, but I have read somewhere that if you pour hot (I think) water on your tank, where it goes cold is the level of gas in your tank. If I can find the link again I will post it.

I think the burn temperature, size of the grill, size of the tank, etc. would all affect how long you can cook for. However, as far as a gas grill drying out the meat because it isn't air tight, I am not sure I see the connection between being air tight and drying the food out. From the way I understand things, my smoker isn't air tight and uses air flow to cook the food so I don't know why the air in a gas grill would dry out the food.

After I posted that question, I figured that would probably be the response.  My question came from knowing, at least for my smoker (a MES 40), it has a sealed door, and the only air coming in will come in through the chip loader if it's pulled out, or the exhaust high up on the side at the opposite end.  And a gas grill isn't that sealed with all the vents on the back of the lid or the hole on the sides where the rotisseire (sp?) motor rests.  I've just always equated more air with drying things out.  Must have come from my days when my mom would dry fruits like apples and bananas, etc. :)