With the aroma of wood smoke billowing through your backyard, there’s something irresistible about the perfume of smoked meat. Fortunately, you don’t need an expensive smoker to accomplish this.
Although charcoal grills and dedicated smokers are the preferred options for smoking meat at home, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy the exquisite flavor of fresh-smoked meat if you have a gas grill. While the spaces around the cover and burners of a gas grill allow heat and smoke to escape more easily, smoking meat on a gas grill is achievable with a few modest tweaks.
The secret to smoking meat on a gas barbecue is to keep the temperature stable over long periods of time. You do not want your temperature to rise above 300 degrees Fahrenheit at any point throughout the cooking procedure, nor do you want to expose your meat to direct heat. It may appear simple, but perfecting your setup might take some effort.
Smoking Meat on a Gas Grill
Create your heat zones.
When smoking meat or anything else over a gas barbecue, setting up a two-zone indirect heat setup is the trick to keeping the temperature stable. If you’re unfamiliar with two-zone heat configurations, some burners will be turned on while others will be turned off. Even when placed over unheated burners, the heat from the active burners will produce smoke, fill the grill body with heat, and convection-cook your meat.
The number of burners you have will determine how many heat zones you create for smoking meat. Turn one burner on and leave the other off on a two-burner barbecue.
This method of grilling creates a hot zone and a cold zone. Your wood chips or chunks will go over the hot zone, while your meat will go over the cold zone. Be patient here—determining the ideal burner setup can take some time, and you may need to experiment to find the best technique to keep the grill temperature between 225 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to Keep an Eye on the Internal Grill Temperature
Maintaining the proper temperature might be challenging while cooking at low temperatures. Keeping the lid as close as possible can assist you in maintaining the proper interior temperature. You can also use a water pan—an aluminum drip pan filled with water—to assist in keeping the barbecue temperature stable. A water pan will add humidity and act as a heat sink, but it will not heat up sufficiently to boil and steam your meat.
While most grills feature a hood-mounted thermometer, they are not usually as accurate as you need for smoking. Suppose you intend to smoke on your gas grill. In that case, you should invest in a digital grill thermometer, preferably a dual-probe thermometer, that will allow you to monitor both your grill’s temperature and your meat’s temperature while it cooks.
PROBE THERMOMETERS:
On larger grills, set the probe no more than 1 inch from the surface of the meat to correctly measure the temperature as close to the grilling surface as feasible. On smaller grills, place the probe at least an inch away from the wall of the smoker box or grill body to prevent surface heat from these areas from influencing it.
Include the Smoke
Now that your grill has two heat zones, it’s time to deal with the smoke.
To generate smoke, wood must be burned. This indicates chips, chunks, or pellets for grillers. Once your grill is hot, place your preferred wood in the hot zone. Wait until you see wisps of smoke before adding your meat to the cool zone.
On a gas grill, how do you utilize wood chips?
A smoker box is required to use wood chips on a gas grill. Once you have a smoker box, fill it with your preferred wood chips and place it in the hot zone.
Grill tip: Keep extra chips on hand to replenish your smoker box every 30–60 minutes. You can also buy a second smoker box to remove burned chips and quickly replace them.
SMOKER BOXES:
If you still need a smoker box, you may make one out of heavy-strength aluminum foil or a foil pan with a tin foil lid. Insert some chips in the center of a piece of foil, seal it, and then poke a few holes to allow oxygen to enter and escape the pack. This is a terrific way to explore smoking, but remember that wood chips burn faster with foil packs. Investing in a smoker box or two is well worth it if you want to smoke more frequently.
Soak your wood chips for 30 minutes before putting them on the smoker to prevent them from catching fire. You may not need to do this with a smoker box because it has a firmer bottom, but soaking your chips can help lengthen their smoking duration and spare you from having to replace them as frequently.
How to Cook with Wood Chunks on a Gas Grill
Wood chunks can be placed directly on the heat plates of your grill. Remove the grill grates and insert your wood chunks—make sure they don’t come into direct contact with the flame, or they’ll burn. You can also cover them in foil to keep flare-ups at bay.
Tips for Smoking Meat on a Gas Grill
A pellet tube is required to use pellets on a gas barbecue. Fill the tube with water, ignite one end using a lighter or blowtorch, and place it on the grill. It has a burn time of up to 4 hours.
Begin smoking!
If you’re new to smoking meat on a gas grill, we recommend starting with something basic like chicken wings, ribs, or pulled pork to give yourself a chance to perfect your smoking setup.
When you notice wisps of smoke coming from your wood chips, chunks, or pellet tube, it’s time to place your meat on the unheated section of the grill. Close the lid and resist the impulse to open it to check on your food to keep it at the proper internal temperature. Instead, wait until you’ve added more wood before checking your food, or invest in a probe thermometer to monitor your meat.
Grill tip: Before cooking, ensure you have an excellent propane supply. The key to smoking is to go low and slow, so ensure you have enough gas to last the entire procedure. A propane gauge can be extremely useful in this situation. Longer cooking (6+ hours) requires a full tank and, ideally, a backup tank. You’ll need at least half a tank for cooking times less than 6 hours.
All you have to do now is wait for your meat to reach the proper internal temperature. Depending on your preparation, this could take all day, but we promise it’ll be worth it.
Use the following strategies to improve your gas grill smoking experience:
More wood is only sometimes the most incredible option. Over-smoking your meat with less wood might result in an undesirable flavor. For your first attempt, aim for half a cup of chips or pellets or a single chunk of hardwood, then add more the next time if you want a smoky taste.
Be bold and try out different sorts of wood! Diverse woods offer diverse flavors that can complement or enhance the distinct flavors of various marinades or meats. Get our guidance on selecting the best wood.
If it is chilly or windy outside, your meat will take longer to cook. It would be best if you counted on using at least 25% more fuel and cooking time and changing the chips more frequently on cooler or windier days.
A high-heat-resistant glove will allow you to easily remove your smoker box from the grill, allowing you to refill it or replace it with fresh chips. Heat-resistant gloves will keep your hands safe by preventing burns, and they will also provide a more outstanding grip, allowing you to optimize your talent while adjusting your smoke or flipping and turning items.
Finishing Up
Though gas grills aren’t built explicitly for smoking meat, you can use your gas grill as a smoker. To smoke meat on a gas barbecue, you need a two-zone heat setup and an internal grill temperature of 225–250 degrees Fahrenheit. You may experience the wonderful aroma of wood smoke and the moist, succulent taste of smoked meat from your gas barbecue with the appropriate tools and patience.