Smoking meat in a kettle grill    

By Bill wight, cbbqa member

Question:
I don't have a smoker.  Can I smoke some meat in my kettle grill?

Answer:
Yes, you can barbecue meat in a kettle grill and come out with spectacular results.  The secret is to use the Indirect method.

Question:
What is Indirect Cooking? How do I use this method on my kettle charcoal grill?

Answer:
First off, this method can only be done in a grill with a fairly tight-fitting lid.  Kettle grills like the Weber or Kingsford kettles are best for this, but other grills can be used.  The Indirect cooking method places the meat on the grill in a way that it does not get direct infrared heat from the fire.  The heat and smoke build up inside the covered grill and the meat is cooked by this convection heat and the smoke and not by the direct heat of the fire.  Indirect cooking is a "no-peek" method of cooking.  Every every time you lift the lid, you lose heat and prolong the cooking time.  The lid is lifted on a schedule to add fuel, to baste the meat, turn the meat and check its temperature.  This is the time to peek, not any other time.

What we have to do to make our kettle grill into a smoker is really simple.

Equipment

Kettle grill, cleaned with tight-fitting lid.
A meat grill that has two hanged sections on opposite sides that allow the edges of the grill to be lifted for the addition of charcoal.
A large bread loaf pan (the size for a two-pound loaf) or

Supplies

Aluminum pan with at least 2" high sides that is slightly bigger than meat to cook
Aluminum foil.
Charcoal briquettes
Smoking flavor wood chunks or chips

Method

You set up the grill depending on what meat you are cooking.  There are two arrangements that are used: 1) fire to one side; 2) fire on two sides.

What we need to do to smoke meat on a kettle grill is to use our equipment and techniques to arrange the meat and fire so that the meat is shielded from the direct heat of the flames.  We also do not want very much flame, so the charcoal needs to be burning nicely and not flaming.

Fire on one side:  here we place all the charcoal to one side of the fire grate and the pan filled with water next to the charcoal.  The meat is placed on the grill opposite from the fire.

Fire on two sides:  here, we place the charcoal in two piles on opposite sides of the fire grate and the pan filled with water in the center.  The meat is placed directly above the water pan.

The foil is used to shield the meat from the direct heat of the fire.  Several strips of foil can be placed on the meat grill if necessary to provide a heat barrier.

Photos coming

For a gas grill: you can do indirect cooking by using only the burners on one side of the grill and placing the meat on the other side.  A bread loaf pan can be placed on the meat grill next to the meat, between the meat and the burner that is on. The burner(s) should be adjusted to low or medium heat.