Charcoal or Gas BBQ Grill

[SkiDog]

They do work fine right on the grates. The directions say to place it on the inverted V shaped metal under the grate. But if you need to add more wood you need to remove the grate etc. etc. It works just fine on the grate.

The good/bad thing about experimenting with a smoker box is that you can really get hooked on smoking as opposed to grilling. I would love to invest in a nice smoker but that would require an additional backyard cooking apparatus on top of the gas and charcoal grill I currently have.

I don't know if you noticed, but I just recieved as a gift a 50 gallon drum cut in half lengthwise and converted into a grill/smoker....I CANT WAIT FOR IT TO BE DELIVERED..

I currently use a grill pictured earlier in this thread.....Andy's 3rd post....I have the additional smoker box that attaches to the side of it...its a nice grill, but i've already outgrown it...too much upkeep when doing long smokes...like 12-15 hour briskets and whatnot...so its to the new one..

I think in going to paint it the colors of the Jamaican flag...

M

 

[Greg]

My wife gave me a smoker box as a birthday gift this weekend. Our Weber Genesis Silver-B also got an upgrade: new stainless steel flavorizer bars to compliment the stainless grates. The old porcelain-enabled ones finally rusted through, after 4 years. I also power-washed the grates, catch basin, and the under side of the lid. Vacuumed out the rest of the crud (lots of rust chunks from the old flavorizer bars, actually) in the the grill body, and gave the outside a thorough Formula 409 cleaning. The grill is like new again and looking great, even after being outside for 4 years, 24/7. I expect with the all-stainless compenents now I should get another 10+ years out of it. The first meal on the cleaned grill was boneless pork chops. I just did a simple dry rub of garlic powder, black pepper, celery salt and sugar. I used the Weber mesquite "FireSpice" chips in the smoker box and they were the best tasting pork chops I've ever grilled! Plus the smoke smells great while cooking. A comment about slow cooking on a gas grill - I usually keep the front and back burners on low or medium-low and the center burner off. Cook on the center of the grill - works well for me.

 

[SkiDog]

I usually keep the front and back burners on low or medium-low and the center burner off. Cook on the center of the grill - works well for me.

Sweet welcome to the world of smoked meats...

By the way..the is exactly how its supposed to be done for the "slow cook" on propane..least so i've been told...

I'm a charcoal man myself.. and I too had boneless prokchops last night....however mine were hickory smoked...

M

 

[ALLSKIING]

My wife gave me a smoker box as a birthday gift this weekend. Our Weber Genesis Silver-B also got an upgrade: new stainless steel flavorizer bars to compliment the stainless grates. The old porcelain-enabled ones finally rusted through, after 4 years. I also power-washed the grates, catch basin, and the under side of the lid. Vacuumed out the rest of the crud (lots of rust chunks from the old flavorizer bars, actually) in the the grill body, and gave the outside a thorough Formula 409 cleaning. The grill is like new again and looking great, even after being outside for 4 years, 24/7. I expect with the all-stainless compenents now I should get another 10+ years out of it. The first meal on the cleaned grill was boneless pork chops. I just did a simple dry rub of garlic powder, black pepper, celery salt and sugar. I used the Weber mesquite "FireSpice" chips in the smoker box and they were the best tasting pork chops I've ever grilled! Plus the smoke smells great while cooking. A comment about slow cooking on a gas grill - I usually keep the front and back burners on low or medium-low and the center burner off. Cook on the center of the grill - works well for me.

Happy B-day Greg...I love smoked foods as well. Try a nice flank steak one of these days with the smoker box.

 

[Greg]

The nice thing about the smoker box is you can control the level of smoke flavor by altering the number of chips.

 

[skibum1321]

Has anyone seen or heard anything about this woodflame grill? It seems like a pretty novel idea but is also pretty rare in the US.

http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/woodflame_grill_highly_recommended.php

 

[ALLSKIING]

I really like that grill. A link for the US.

http://www.bar-b-que.com/

 

[kickstand]

By the way..the is exactly how its supposed to be done for the "slow cook" on propane..least so i've been told...

this is true. I slow-cooked/smoked up some ribs yesterday and this is how I did it. Took about 3 hours for a 2.6 pound rack of pork ribs. I have a 4-burner Vermont Castings. Two outside ones on as low as possible, two middle ones off, smoker box on the left (although I only did one round of chips).

 

[ctenidae]

Has anyone seen or heard anything about this woodflame grill? It seems like a pretty novel idea but is also pretty rare in the US.

http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/woodflame_grill_highly_recommended.php

Interesting. I would never have thought of putting a Zip Stove in a grill.

http://www.monmouth.com/~johno/8ozZIP.htm

 

[Greg]

this is true. I slow-cooked/smoked up some ribs yesterday and this is how I did it. Took about 3 hours for a 2.6 pound rack of pork ribs. I have a 4-burner Vermont Castings. Two outside ones on as low as possible, two middle ones off, smoker box on the left (although I only did one round of chips).

The instructions on the Weber FireSpice bag say to put the smoker box under the grates on the lower left (front/left, I guess?). Is there any specific reason for this? Others in this thread indicate it's fine to just put the box directly on top of the grates. Does it really even matter?

 

[SkiDog]

The instructions on the Weber FireSpice bag say to put the smoker box under the grates on the lower left (front/left, I guess?). Is there any specific reason for this? Others in this thread indicate it's fine to just put the box directly on top of the grates. Does it really even matter?

I personally believe it is NOT IMPORTANT...since you arent actually "burning" the chips and just "heating" them to smoke point they don't need to be that close to the flame..however if you do put them that close you'll get the "smoke point" much quicker...

M

 

[Greg]

I personally believe it is NOT IMPORTANT...since you arent actually "burning" the chips and just "heating" them to smoke point they don't need to be that close to the flame..however if you do put them that close you'll get the "smoke point" much quicker...

M

Makes sense. I did notice it takes a few minutes for the chips to start to smoke, but not that long. I'll try it on top next to see if the extra time is worth the ease of keeping it on top...

 

[Marc]

I personally believe it is NOT IMPORTANT...since you arent actually "burning" the chips and just "heating" them to smoke point they don't need to be that close to the flame..however if you do put them that close you'll get the "smoke point" much quicker...

M

No, you're still burning them. It is a fuel controlled burn instead of an oxygen controlled burn. It's the difference between smoldering combustion and flaming combustion. There isn't enough radiative feedback to pyrolize fuel fast enough to create a diffusion flame mixing with oxygen. Instead combustion only occurs at the oxygen - fuel interface. Of course because you soak the chips a lot of the "smoke" is just steam.


Aren't you glad you have a fire protection engineer around the boards so you know these things?

 

[ctenidae]

Aren't you glad you have a fire protection engineer around the boards so you know these things?

Dork.

 

[SkiDog]

No, you're still burning them. It is a fuel controlled burn instead of an oxygen controlled burn. It's the difference between smoldering combustion and flaming combustion. There isn't enough radiative feedback to pyrolize fuel fast enough to create a diffusion flame mixing with oxygen. Instead combustion only occurs at the oxygen - fuel interface. Of course because you soak the chips a lot of the "smoke" is just steam.


Aren't you glad you have a fire protection engineer around the boards so you know these things?

Hmmm seems like it would take QUITE SOME TIME then to actually "burn" those chips up....ive used them on my old propane grill and they stay in the box and never go away until I empty them.......

I am a charcoal guy..so I KNOW my chips are "burning" cause they're ash when im done cooking..

M

 

[SkiDog]

Dork.

Pot calling the kettle??? ;-)

M

 

[ctenidae]

Pot calling the kettle??? ;-)

M

yup. Couldn't help it, though. When a chance like that comes along, you can't just pass it up. It'd be un-American.

 

[SkiDog]

yup. Couldn't help it, though. When a chance like that comes along, you can't just pass it up. It'd be un-American.

Whew glad you took it that way...I figured that could've gone either way....

thought it was funny though... ;-)

M

 

[kickstand]

The instructions on the Weber FireSpice bag say to put the smoker box under the grates on the lower left (front/left, I guess?). Is there any specific reason for this? Others in this thread indicate it's fine to just put the box directly on top of the grates. Does it really even matter?

as long as they are soaked in water (I do a minimum of 30 minutes) and placed over the heat source, that's fine. I like to put my smoker box under the grates on top of the heat plate (the bent metal piece that sits directly above the flame). I just find the wet wood smokes faster the closer to the heat it is. I could have put them on the right or up on the grates, if I chose to do so.