The Easy Method To Achieve Smoky Barbecue Flavors On A Gas Grill

Barbecue can sometimes feel like it's an exclusive club, complete with its own lingo, expensive equipment, regional variations, and lore. And sure, setting an alarm to put a pork shoulder on the smoker in the middle of the night can have amazingly delicious results. But you don't have to be a pit boss to turn out barbecue that's flavorful, tender, and infused with the distinctive flavor of smoke. All you need is your basic gas grill and a little ingenuity in the form of our simple tip.

The smoke flavor in barbecue comes from wood that's heated until it releases that flavorful smoke, but that doesn't mean the wood has to be the heat source for cooking your 3-2-1 pork ribs. In fact, you can get low-and-slow results, complete with smoky flavor simply by using wood chips or even wood pellets on your gas grill. Since barbecue often relies on indirect heat — or placing the meat away from the flame on your gas grill — you're perfectly set up to create some smoke over that flame.

Once you have that all-important dry rub on your meat, whether it's a brisket, ribs, or pork shoulder, if you're doing real-deal barbecue, it shouldn't go directly over the heat on your gas grill. And that leaves a big open space on your grill that's begging to make some smoke. Simply take your wood chips or wood pellets and place them in a smoker box or tube designed to sit right on the grill grates, or fold up a DIY smoking pouch from aluminum foil to hold the wood chips.

There's no need to soak the chips or pellets; just get them over the heat and let the smoking commence. Your smoking implement or aluminum foil pouch — complete with a few holes poked in it to let the fragrant smoke escape — will keep the wood chips from falling through the grates while they impart the flavor only real wood smoke can. It's true that you won't attain as deep a smoky flavor as barbecue cooked exclusively over wood, but using wood chips on your gas grill makes both temperature regulation and cleanup much easier. There's no fire to tend, but there is authentic smoke on your barbecue.