Step-by-Step Procedure to Prepare the Grill:
Kettle smokers are quite simple to use, although they are not as beginner-friendly as other charcoal grills. To get the best results out of this grill, you’ll need to use lump charcoal as opposed to briquettes.
Rub the grates with soaked wood chips or pellets.
Pour water over the charcoal and place your wood in the heat source of the grill. (You can place the wood directly on the coals.)
Come back in 15 minutes and pour more water over the coals.
This will prevent any flare-up during the course of the smoke, and will give you a nice, consistent fire.
The Basics of Smoking on a Grill
Smoking meats involves applying smoke to foods at low temperatures. Without the right equipment and temperature control, you can’t achieve the right results.
Maintaining an even temperature in the grill is crucial to regulating the exposure of food to the smoke. Be it from a TVP (woodchips or chunks), or a charcoal and wood based fire.
It’s important to look for a grill that has a low temperature, and a side burner or smoker box that’s temperature-resistant.
Pulling steam from the grill in many ways is the same as using a water smoker. You need a charcoal or wood fire to generate the heat.
Start by creating a small fire using some charcoal briquettes. Using a gas grill or a charcoal chimney is definitely the easiest way to do that. Then place some wood chunks or briquettes on the fire. Keep the fire going for a few hours to give it time to burn down.
Once you see some smoke coming from the fire and the charcoal is covered with gray ash, build a cooking fire on it.
It’s important that the cooking fire is smaller than the fire that will be used for smoking. The fire should be large enough to hold your meat and maintain a temperature where you can still hold your hand just above the fire.
Step-by-Step Procedure to Prepare the Grill:
Kettle smokers are quite simple to use, although they are not as beginner-friendly as other charcoal grills. To get the best results out of this grill, you’ll need to use lump charcoal as opposed to briquettes.
Rub the grates with soaked wood chips or pellets.
Pour water over the charcoal and place your wood in the heat source of the grill. (You can place the wood directly on the coals.)
Come back in 15 minutes and pour more water over the coals.
This will prevent any flare-up during the course of the smoke, and will give you a nice, consistent fire.
2-Zone Method
Most kettle grills come with at least two burner plates. It is very simple to set it up in two zones. It also ensures that you won’t get the “hot and cold spots” in your grill.
Arrange the lit burner plates to form two zones.
The direct heat zone is on the left and right sides of the grill.
The indirect heat zone is in the middle of the grill.
As a general rule of thumb, try to keep the temperature in the indirect zone as low as possible. This will prevent your food from burning and will let you use a lower temperature. You can also divide your indirect zone into three areas for the best temperature control.
In the indirect zone, place your meat or the number 2 fuel source at the back of the grill.
If you’re using wood for smoking, place the wood chips in the middle of the indirect zone.
If you’re using charcoal briquettes for smoking, place them in the middle of the indirect zone.
Now place your meat at the front of the indirect zone as close to the lit burner plates as possible. This way, the grill will always try to hold the temperature at the same place.
Step-by-Step Procedure to Prepare the Grill:
Kettle smokers are quite simple to use, although they are not as beginner-friendly as other charcoal grills. To get the best results out of this grill, you’ll need to use lump charcoal as opposed to briquettes.
Rub the grates with soaked wood chips or pellets.
Pour water over the charcoal and place your wood in the heat source of the grill. (You can place the wood directly on the coals.)
Come back in 15 minutes and pour more water over the coals.
This will prevent any flare-up during the course of the smoke, and will give you a nice, consistent fire.
The Snake Method
If you’re a beginner, we highly recommend you purchase a charcoal grill that has a removable bottom. That way, you’ll have easy access to build a fire and to create a charcoal snake. You can see the full charcoal how-to here.
You’ll also want to pick up a chimney. If you end up with a grill that doesn’t have a removable grate, it’ll be difficult to get the charcoal into the grill.
The Snake Method is one of the easiest ways to evenly get the charcoal lit in a charcoal grill. It works best with briquettes.
How to Set up the Snake Method
Remove the bottom grill rack.
Pile the charcoal up on one side of the grill. Along with the charcoal, you’ll also want to include a few small pieces of split wood.
Leave a piece of split wood.
Using long kitchen tongs, light the two pieces of wood on fire.
Let the wood burn for a bit. The wood will smolder and burn and the charcoal should light shortly after.
Before the charcoals burn out (they will glow red), you will want to spread them evenly in the bottom of the grill.
Accessories for turning your grill into a smoker
To turn your regular kettle charcoal grill into a smoker, your first step is to select the type of smoker box to buy. Some of the most popular ones are the type that sits below the grill and the ones that go over it. A good one should be made of ceramic material and can be used over indirect heat.
Next step is to get a charcoal light and injector. This will allow you to light a charcoal grill easily and quickly while also ensuring that the temperature remains constant. You can also go for a charcoal grill with an automatic lighting and temperature controller box.
The last step is to get a cheap tent, place your grill at one end and add the meat on the other end. Close the tent and let the smoker work.
Apart from that, you need to have a smoke wood slab and soak it with your favorite smoke wood conditioner. This will ensure that the wood burns slowly and gives off that delicious smoke.
So, simply put, if you want to turn your charcoal kettle grill into a smoker, you need something to help you light the charcoal without using lighter fluid and something to regulate the temperature.
Controlling your grill temperature
The Kettle grill has several vents that can be used for controlling temperature on different fuel types. Here are the vent positions and what they do for temperature:
Most Direct = More Heat. This is the largest vent closest to the charcoal. This will supply the most air to the fire and results in a quicker heat-up time and a hotter cooking surface. This is typically the vent you want to be using with the charcoal grill or the Charcoal KettlePellet Grill.
Most Closed = Less Heat. This is limited to the KettlePellet Grill. This will limit the air flow, and allows the pellets to burn hotter, resulting in more consistent temperature as the pellets are consumed. Since the pellets are turned into heat energy instead of being charred, the black pellets disappear faster, and you get a more controlled temperature overall once you reach it. This can burn your food, so it is usually recommended to leave the lid open a bit to vent the flame. This is the vent you will want to be using with your KettlePellet Grill.
How Long to Smoke Your Food
Smoke cooking is a great way to add flavour to your food, especially meat. The size of the chunk of charcoal you use in your grill will determine how long the coals will last. The bigger the size of the chunk, the longer the coals will last.
Ideally, you want to use coals that lasts for an hour before they start to die off. The easiest way to tell if the coals are ready to be used is to hold your hand about 14 inches away from the coals. If you can tolerate the heat, the coals are ready for use.
To start the smoking process, you should place a small amount of wood chips (about half a cup) on top of the coals and cover the grill. This will help to get the desired smoke for smoking.
Let the grill heat up for about 30 minutes. You’ll know that the grill has reached the right temperature if it produces smoke. Remember to control the heat by adjusting the grill lid.
BBQ Ribs the Johnny Trigg Way
For good BBQ ribs, you need to start off with good ribs. I only use free-range, self-cured or wagyu beef ribs. Much better than pork ribs.
Season the ribs with salt and some water in a container, leave for a few hours or overnight. I love Australian beef but it needs a good hit of salt to bring out the flavours.
I use mesquite wood and can get excellent results from it. Pine wood is also very good and is the most common wood used in Australian BBQ – I have tried every wood available and am no connoisseur like Johnny Trigg.
Chop the wood into small pieces – once complete blow the dust off the chips – it can be more than a day since burning the wood in the sawmill.
Mix the wood with a little vegetable oil and light the charcoal with a chiminea or blow torch (not lighters, it takes too long). Place the wood on the coals and then light the charcoal. No starter bag and no quick lighting charcoal fluid. Use the best BBQ charcoal you can afford. You will taste the difference. The best is Brazilla Rosewood.
Get the BBQ up to 300 degrees and get the ribs cooking. Once you have the BBQ up to temperature you can throw on some extra wood and get the smoke going and add the meat.