Using Gas BBQ for Smoking

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markuk

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
May 9, 2013
316
16
Suffolk
hope this is right place to post this - have also posted in our UK Group

Been thinking over the winter about switching to Gas for smoking/BBQ something like this


Which are normally available through our eqivalent of Walmart  in the summer..... The main reason is the "messing about" and time required using Charcoal - I've got plenty of Oak now thanks to the storm round here back in the Autumn and I think I read somewhere you can smoke the wood using one of these bad boys ?? Any pros or cons etc Thanks everyone Mark
 
I'm not a "seasoned" smoker, having just bought my first actual smoker, a Smoke Vault 24, but I have tried my hand at smoking over the years with a gas grill and have had some great food from it.  Guys here will tell you, one of the keys is to maintain a good steady temperature.  I started out with wood chips wrapped in tin foil with a few holes poked in it.  Get the grill to about 225 degrees and make sure it's holding pretty steady. Add the wood chip package near the heat deflectors and they will soon start to smoke.  You don't want too much smoke, just so you can smell it.  After that it's just time and making sure your temps hold.  As I did more, I bought a stainless steel smoker box for my chips from a place called barbecuewood.com, I think they are out of business now, but many places sell something similar, basically a steel box with holes in it.  I used that thing for probably ten years and have just moved up to having a dedicated smoker, so yes, you can get a descent smoke from a gas grill.  My primary reason to go to a dedicated smoker is the room to smoke much more at one time, my grill was pretty much limited to one item at a time, maybe two, but I preferred to keep my meat on one side, my fire and smoker box on the other to maintain indirect heat.
 
As Frog said,  TBS and indirect, low, steady heat are key.  Anyway you want to achieve it is fine and works for me!  
 
Great advice so far.

depending on your grill, you an put the food at the other end of the chips, and use foil to baffle the grill so the smoke is pulled towards the food, this can be a bit tricky.

Or just roll with it and see how it turns out,
 
Would add that for the indirect heat that you want for smoking, it helps to have a grill that has burners that go front to back, versus side to side (like the one in your picture).   Put the meat on one side, fire up however many burners you need on the other to maintain your temp, and off you go.
 
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