How To Effortlessly Turn Your Grill Into A Cold Smoker

If you're only using your grill during summer months, you're missing out on its full potential. With just a few items, you can turn it into a DIY cold smoker that will give you new ways of adding flavor to food.

You'll need your grill, smoking pellets, two aluminum trays, and ice cubes to set up a cold smoker. One aluminum tray is for the wood pellets that will create the smoke. If you decide to cold smoke regularly, you can upgrade to a smoking tube that ensures pellets burn evenly. Pellets are preferable to woodchips for cold smoking, as they burn more slowly and with greater temperature control. The second aluminum tray should be filled with ice cubes, which will help keep the temperature down during the smoking process.

Light the pellets then blow out any flames. They should be smoldering without catching alight. Place the tray on one side of the grill and close the lid, allowing the grill to fill with smoke for around 10 to 20 minutes. Next, place your food on the grill rack with the tray of ice cubes underneath. Ideally, you want it to be as far away from the pellets as possible to prevent overheating.

How long you leave your food to smoke will depend on the texture of the food and how smoky you want it to taste. Dense items like cheese might need two to three hours for the smoke to penetrate, while smoked olive oil will need less than a minute.

As you might expect, cold smoking is like hot smoking but done at low temperatures (usually between 65 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit). We're using the grill not for the heat, but because it operates as a chamber that will be filled with smoke. Your oven will work as a smoker for the same reason, but as the smell tends to linger, using an outdoor grill is a much better option.

The technique is used when you want to impart flavor without cooking the food. A good example of this is fish, where smoking maintains the delicate texture of the flesh. Cold-smoked vegetables like bell peppers will retain their crunch for use in salads, and tomatoes can be smoked without turning to mush.

For beginner home smokers, it's best to stick to smoking foods that can safely be eaten raw or that you plan to cook after smoking. If you do want to graduate to making your own cold smoked salmon or meats, you'll need to incorporate an additional curing or cooking step to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.

Cold smoking is also ideal for ingredients that will later be used in other recipes. Think smoked chickpeas as the base of an amazing hummus, smoked chocolate, and even water to make smoked ice cubes.