Smoking's Not Bad For You

Smoking is my new hobby, and it's been fun experimenting with different smoking chips and different meats. I chose the smoker box for gas grills since we already had the classic gas grill setup, and it made it very quick and affordable to try smoking. I had used an actual charcoal smoker that I got free through work but all of my meats tasted somewhat like campfires, so I moved on to a new strategy for the time being. What to do: 1. Buy a smoker box: https://www.amazon.com/Weber-7576-Universal-Stainless-Smoker/dp/B005LRKF7U/ 2. Buy smoking wood chips: I got some at Home Depot because it was there and convenient. Here's an example from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Western-Smoking-Variety-Mesquite-Hickory/dp/B00T40SN9W 3. Already own a gas grill! 4. Get the grill ready and heated What I do is put dry smoking chips in the Weber smoker box (about 3 or 4 handfuls) and start the gas grill on full heat. For a few minutes, I burn off all of the grease from the last time grilling. I open the lid and let the grease smoke clear out so that the grill is fresh and no leftover sauce or grease smoke invade our meats. Then I turn the heat OFF for 2 of the 3 burners, so only the burner below the smoker box is on. And I turn that burner to medium heat. This keeps the grill at about 350 degrees pretty consistent so far (We will see how that temperature holds up as I start trying to smoke long into the Fall and Winter months, because I am a chain meat smoker now). 5. Put the meat on the side of the grill that the burners are off. Smoking meat involves "indirect heat" with smoke, so you can slow down and smoke. 6. Keep an eye on the grill for when it starts smoking. For me, it does not start smoking right away. Once it starts smoking, it should last about 20 or so minutes. Then I often throw some more smoker chips into the box. Be careful and lift the lid with some tongs. Do NOT use regular oven mitts like I did. I burnt those bad boys. Get some grilling gloves I suppose. 7. Monitor meat temperature with a meat thermometer. 8. Take the meats off and enjoy! So far we've tried: Steaks - 160 degrees is well done Chicken - 165 degrees Bratwursts - 160 degrees Pork Chops - 160 degrees Beef Ribs - 160 degrees Overview of wood vs. meat that we've tried so far: Cherry wood: Use it for a sweet flavor. Tried it with steaks. Mesquite wood: Use it for an intense flavor. Tried it with beef ribs. Apple: Use it for a mild flavor. Tried it with bratwursts and chicken and pork chops. Let me know how your smoking goes, or what smoker you own!