Everything You Need to Know About a Gas Grill Smoker Box

Soak Your Wood Chips in WaterInitially you might not have a clear idea about what variety of wood chip to use. You'll find that many BBQ recipes make suggestions about this, but we recommend experimenting with a range of different types of wood chips to find the ones you really like. Someone else's ideas about a good flavor might not be the same as yours.Soak your wood chips in water (some people use a combination of water and beer or spirits to achieve different flavors) - for up to two hours if you can. This soaking produces chips which will smolder rather than burst into flames, and as they smolder they produce smoke. Any wood ash produced by the smoldering wood will stay in the Smoker Box. It won't fall on the burners of your grill.Drain the wood chips before putting them in the Box, and if you have chosen a recipe with a really long cooking time make sure that you soak enough wood chips to replenish your Smoker Box during barbecuing.2. Get the Gas Grill to the Required TemperatureAs mentioned above, for your BBQ recipe, you'll be cooking at a lower temperature than you use for grilling, and cooking for longer. Typical temperatures are around 225 to 250 degrees F and this temperature range should be maintained during the period of cooking (which might last several hours). It's best to use a thermometer to keep a check on temperature, but if you haven't got one on your gas grill you can test the temperature by holding your hand about 4 inches above the burner. You'll only be able to keep it there for 10 to 15 seconds. Compare this with a typical grilling temperature of 450 to 650 degrees F. If you use the same test you'll only be able to stand the heat for a couple of seconds.3. Put Your Smoker Box and Food onto the BBQ GrillOnce your grill is up to temperature you're ready to start. First put your Smoker Box on one side of the cooking grate of your grill. Some people put the Box between the burner and the grate, but if you do this you won't be able to top-up the wood chips later on.Most wood chips take 10 to 20 minutes to start smoking. This time will vary depending on whether the wood chips were soaked, and on how hot the Smoker Box gets.

4. Monitor the Progress of cookingWhen you are using your BBQ grill for cooking steaks, hamburgers and other thin cuts of meat and fish there are some very simple techniques for checking whether your food is cooked (the most simple being using a sharp knife to cut, part and then "peak at" the meat. For the larger joints of meat that you'll be using when barbecuing we recommend using a meat thermometer. Use established temperature guide-lines when using a meat thermometer to test whether your food has been cooked sufficiently (120 F for rare and 160 for well-done).Keep the lid of your grill closed when you're cooking to ensure that the smoke accumulates under the lid and has plenty of opportunity to permeate your food.If you are cooking for a long period of time (e.g.