Grilling meat on your backyard barbecue is a healthy and flavorful way to prepare your meals, but over time the same grilled chicken and steaks become tedious. Try smoking your meat for a flavorful change. The addition of savory wood such as hickory, mesquite, apple or cherry lends the meat an additional layer of flavor that the grill can't match. The temperature of the smoker is lower than the grill, enabling even delicate fish and thin chicken cutlets to be slowly smoked to tender perfection.
Step 1
Start the charcoal in the firebox. The smoker is ready when the temperature reaches 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2
Add 2 oz. of the soaked wood chips to the firebox and allow the wood to heat for five minutes. Choose a flavor of wood chips that complements your meal, such as hickory or mesquite for beef, ribs or for a robust smoked chicken, or choose a fruit wood such as apple or cherry for a sweeter finish to ribs, chicken or fish.
Step 3
Place the meat directly on the grill grate inside the smoker. If you are cooking ribs or a halved chicken, place the meat on the grate with the bones pointing down.
Step 4
Cook the meat for the appropriate amount of time for the quantity and type of meat you are smoking. The best way to tell when your meat is finished is to estimate the amount of time your meat would need to cook in a conventional oven. For example, give a whole chicken three hours in the smoker because it would take approximately three hours to cook in a conventional oven at 225 degrees. Add charcoal and wood chips every 30 minutes, or if the fire begins to die down or the temperature starts to drop in the smoker.
Step 5
Take the meat out of the smoker and insert a meat thermometer into a meaty section, avoiding bone. Chicken and pork should cook to 160 degrees Fahrenheit; whole poultry, sausage, seafood and wild game should cook to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook beef to your desired degree of doneness: Rare beef should measure 120 degrees Fahrenheit, medium-rare 130 degrees, medium 140 degrees, medium-well 150 degrees and well-done beef should be 160 degrees or more.
Step 6
Allow the meat to rest for five to 20 minutes after you take it out of the smoker. Small pieces of meat such as chicken cutlets or sausages need only five minutes, whereas turkeys and large roasts need 20 minutes. The resting time allows to meat to reabsorb the hot juices, making the meat more tender and juicy.
Things You'll Need
- 1 lb. soaked wood chips
- 3 to 10 lbs. meat of your choice
- Meat spatula
- Serving platter
- Meat thermometer
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