How to turn your grill into a smoker

You don’t need a fancy, expensive smoker to create delicious meats. The bells and whistles on pellet smokers and other types of smokers take some of the guesswork out of the process, but they aren’t necessary. Basically, to smoke, you need time and an indirect heat cooking method. You will probably need a temperature gauge to monitor the temperature inside the unit, and when buying meat, be aware that your space is limited — so don’t get a massive brisket.

If you have a charcoal grill: Pile the charcoal on one side of the grill and place a drip pan on the other side. Light the charcoal and get the temperature of the grill to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C), no hotter. Fill the drip pan with ½ inch (1 cm) of liquid and place a layer of wood chips on the hot coals. Place your prepared meat over the drip pan and close the lid. If your grill has vents, keep them open; if it doesn’t, leave a gap at the bottom of the lid for ventilation. Then, monitor the temperature in the grill, the temperature of the meat, and the smoke volume, adding charcoal and wood as needed.

If you have a gas grill: Preheat the grill with all the burners on for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, turn off the burners on one half of the grill and lower the burners on the other side until you create a grill temperature of 250 degrees. This might take some tweaking. Because you can’t place wood chips directly onto the burners of a gas grill, put them in a metal pan and place the pan on the grill, above the lit burners. Also, place a pan filled with ½ inch (1 cm) of liquid in the middle of the grill. Place the prepared meat on the empty side of the grill and close the lid, allowing a gap for ventilation, or open the vents. Monitor the temperatures of the grill and meat as well as the smoke volume; adjust the heat with the burner dials and add more wood chips as needed.