I've been use gas grill for 3 years. Just cook some steak and chicken thighs for my wife and me on the weekend. I like grilling them by the smoker box, used some apple wood chips in the box, and the chicken came out sooo good!
Last month, I tried some chicken wings at the Jack Daniel's Invitational BBQ Contest. I can still remember the charcoal flavor of it. But I saw them cooking them by a gas grill as well, just wondering how I can make it at home. I wanna try something new for my wife and myself.
Can anyone recommend some accessories for my grill?
Thank you in advance!
by Mysterious_Guide_795
26 Comments
Charcoal pellets in a smoke tube maybe.
Nice try Hank Hill
I recommend getting a charcoal bbq. Not a weber before someone jumps in
Get a slow and sear charcoal grill, they are amazing and affordable and charcoal grills are the easiest to keep clean over a long stretch of time imo. Nothing like have ash ready to mop of grease from fatty meats
My gas grill has a charcoal plate, you just light a few coals, slots in just above the burners. Other than that, maybe a smoker box on the grates or would have to mod somehow
Charcoal has no flavor, since it’s just straight carbon burning. Vaporized fat has flavor which you can get from anything. There is no reason you can’t get “charcoal flavor” ie crispy burnt bits and vaporized fat from a gas grill.
Just run to Home Depot and pick up a basic 22” kettle. It won’t run you that much and it’s a ton of fun. I got one for free when my brother moved. I had a gas grill at the time for weeknight meals and did the kettle on a weekend with more time.
Now, I don’t even use the gas grill. Charcoal is the only way I’ll do it. The ritual of lighting it and getting it right is part of the experience.
Back in my gas grill days I would make foil packets of water soaked wood chips, poke holes in the top and set them on the grill with the meat. Did a surprisingly good job of having a little bit of real smoke flavor to the meat.
My neighbors and I tend to grill every other weekend. I use charcoal with various wood chips, one family uses natural gas, and another uses propane.
We sometimes rotate hosting but usually it’s me hosting because everyone prefers the charcoal grill’s smokey flavor.
The others have tried smoker boxes, but the effect seems minimal (at least in direct comparison).
Nonetheless, my recommendation is to try the smoker boxes, as they might come close enough for you in isolation (without the direct comparison). But failing that, charcoal grills can be pretty cheap, so it might be worthwhile to get a simple one to use once in a while.
If you want to get a charcoal or smoky flavour in your gas grill, get a pellet tray or a smoker tube. Smoker tube probably will be best as you put wood chips into the tube, light both ends and then grill away. They are relatively in-expensive and you can try out different woods by getting small bags of chips. You don’t want chunks for smoker tubes. You can use pellets as well, but I can’t find super small bags of pellets.
I saw this in a YT short last night I thought it was interesting https://www.bbqguys.com/i/2932135/coyote/charcoal-tray-for-28-and-42-inch-gas-grills-cchtray15
When im in a rush and only using my gas then i make a foil pouch and use wood chips inside or pellets and place farthest away from where it vents out so it circulates
To get the BBQ-style flavour: make sure the grease drips over the ‘flavor bars’, the V-shaped metal bars over the burners. This is what gives most of the BBQ flavor actually.
To get a smoky flavor: there’s plenty of methods for using wood chips to add some smoke. However: it’s a bit finicky to get right with a gas grill and every grill is different. You can buy a smoker box, or make one out of tinfoil. The trick is to avoid the wood chips burning out too quickly, which can happen quite easily. Not enough heat for the chips to stay smouldering also happens often. Finding the right position takes a bit of trial and error.
I just take some wood chips or 2×2 blocks, put em in an aluminum foil “bowl” of sorts with holes in it, light em till smoking with a blow torch, & set it inside the grill. The holes in aluminum & heat from the grill keep the smoking going then when I close the grill it keeps a lot of it in there. You can get a similar metal box from home improvement stores specifically made for this in the grilling section but I’ve never found the need to spend the money.
A long time ago, the flame sat in the bottom of the grill, beneath lava rocks. Fat and juices would drip down on the hot rocks giving good flavor, similar to a charcoal grill. Wish they still made them like that.
Just close the lid and let her rip, the dripping fat wil create a lot of flame and smoke
Char-Wood smoking pellets.
Smoke tube with charcoal pellets and voila!
Check this out. https://youtu.be/LBdAmFAPLeU?si=HZJu7RRZZjjtcFsU
Push the abomination out to the alley and let the pickers have it. Buy a proper charcoal grill and enjoy.
They just came out with a charcoal basket for this model. I purchased one for my Eminence 605, but I haven’t used it yet since it comes in today.
https://share.google/OmZI7uSGgmUJg2tx7
Just go buy a Weber kettle. I got the 26” MT. There’s smaller versions that you can get way cheaper. IMO there is no reason for a man to not have multiple ways to cook meat in the backyard. I’m definitely a charcoal snob but I’m not going to turn my nose up to propane. I got a couple. But really get a kettle. Early Christmas present.
I actually “smoked” a pork butt on a gas grill about a month ago. I turned on the burners on the left hand side of the grill, put the meat on the right hand side (no burners on) and put a chunk of pecan wood on the right hand side (right on the grill grates). It came out pretty good.
i got bourbon barrel staves from midwest barrel. cut them into length to lay perpendicular to the gas jets. use water/soaking to raise ignition temp. works okay for me. I smoked with lump charcoal 20+ years until i moved to locale that bans open flame outdoor cooking.
What’s next, veggies that taste like meat.
QwikChar charcoal trays. Here is a video link on using one
https://youtu.be/zjxxPU4RQ_c?feature=shared