How to Use Barbecue Smokers

Cooking meat and fish with barbecue smokers is a fantastic way to imbue it with woody aromas and create flavors that regular barbecuing cannot replicate. Generally speaking, it will take longer to smoke meat than to cook it on a grill, but that is a small price to pay for the rich flavor smoking develops. As a guideline, smoke the meat 1 ½ to 2 hours for each pound. There are some specific tips when smoking certain meats.

Step 1: Prepare the Chips

There are a number of different ways to burn the wood chips to make the smoke. Homemade smokers often use an electric hotplate, while other types might call for charcoal to burn the chips. Either way, before you set the meat on the rack, soak the wood chips in water for 30 minutes. There are many different varieties of wood chips available. Hickory and apple wood are two such choices. Make sure you buy quality wood chips. You don’t want to ruin the flavor of the meat by using inappropriate wood.

Step 2: Plan for Refueling

Based on the cooking guidelines already mentioned, if you have 10 pounds of meat to smoke, you should plan on smoking it for 15 to 20 hours. You will have to refuel the smoker with fresh wood chips probably every 2 to 3 hours, meaning you will need 5 to 10 batches of wood chips. Determine the right amount of wood chips for the amount of meat you have beforehand so you won’t run out in the middle.

Step 3: Light the Coals or Hotplate

If you use charcoal to burn the chips, light it and let them burn for 30 to 45 minutes until they are covered in whitish ash. When they are ready, put the soaked wood chips over the coals and wait until the smoke starts to build up. Using a hotplate, you can get started a bit sooner, but still wait for the smoke to start rolling.

Step 4: Put on the Meat

When the smoke is built up adequately, put the meat on the grate and cover. It is best to forget about it until it is time to change the coals, the chips or adjust the meat. Start smoking the meat as early in the morning as you can. That way, depending on how many pounds you have to smoke, it may be done by late evening.

Step 5: Refuel

When the coals have burned out or the chips have turned to ash, it is time to replace one or both. An electric hotplate won’t need to be replaced. Before this happens, start soaking a second batch of wood chips in preparation for putting them on the coals. You won’t lose much time if you plan ahead. You can even start the new coals outside of the smoker ¾ of an hour before you need to replace them. When you are ready to switch them out, they are already white and ready to burn.

Using a barbecue smoker takes a little getting used to, for the time it takes is considerably longer than an outdoor grill. Once you become proficient in changing out the coals and the chips–timing it just right–you can set the smoker going in the morning and have flavorful smoked meat or fish by nightfall.