How to add smoke to my Q cooks?


 

W_Stewart

TVWBB Fan
Hello friends! I recently bought a stainless steel sheetmetal tray designed to hold wood chips and give off smoke. I assume it was meant to sit directly on the grate, which is what I did. I put some chips in it and grilled a steak.

I did not get any smoke from those chips while in the tray. I dumped them onto the grate and eventually they produce a little smoke. It wasn't much and the steak didn't pick up any of the flavor. What should I do different to get some smoke flavor using the Q?

A few years back a friend grilled me a steak and he had some smokewood added and it really worked. I'm trying to achieve the same. I salivate just thinking about it!
 
John,

I tried letting the chips sit for 15 minutes before cooking and was still disappointed by the small amount of smoke that was produced.

I have the Q200 (I think) with the single circular burner. Do you think the location of the wood chips matters? I had them towards the back where the grate is open to the burner flame. I'm wondering if this model has a hotter spot somewhere else? Or maybe I need to take a propane torch to the chips first to get them up to burning temps?
 
I'm not trying to be negative, but I doubt you will be successful in getting much smoke flavor in a steak on the Q. I cook my steaks after the Q is hot and I only have to leave them on there about 10-15 minutes and flip it and do the same on the other side. I usually cook 1 1/2 inch steaks and I'm really pessimistic if you can get much, if any smoke flavor in the time it takes to cook a steak. Good luck however.
 
Originally posted by George David:
I'm not trying to be negative, but I doubt you will be successful in getting much smoke flavor in a steak on the Q. I cook my steaks after the Q is hot and I only have to leave them on there about 10-15 minutes and flip it and do the same on the other side. I usually cook 1 1/2 inch steaks and I'm really pessimistic if you can get much, if any smoke flavor in the time it takes to cook a steak. Good luck however.

I agree with George. While the Q200 is a versitile little gasser, it's not the best to achieve significant smoke output.

Conversely, a Weber kettle will do a great job adding smoke to your grilling. If you're really into BBQ, a charcoal grill will be a nice addition to your backyard.

I personally recommend the Weber Performer with the rotisserie option. You can do a lot of serious grilling and BBQ with that setup. If you get even more serious about smoking, the WSM "Bullet" may be your next step. I have all of the above.

The Q is a great grill and a tailgate superstar. If smoking meat is important to you, move ahead.

Remember one thing . . . Quality remains long after price is forgotten.
 
Originally posted by Milt DuCharme:
I just add a small chunk of wood to the charcoal in my CharQ.

I do the same exact thing on my q200. small piece and it smolders after the grill is preheated. does it do anything? probably not, but it smells good when i'm grillin.
 
One thing is smoke flavour and another is real smoking in Q gas grills. Yesterday I did a little test with smoking chicken breasts in Q320. I used a smoke box underneath the left grate. It was leaned on the outer heater so it had flame from the central burner below it. Kinda tilted but worked well if I leave aside I should really soak the wood before. It gave me a good smoke for half an hour before it burned down completely. I was thinking of how to limit the draft of air through the Q grill big air holes left and right. I used foil on the right hole making a lifted barier from the piece of foil I used underneath the meat as heat deflector. On the left side I placed the water pan so there was a barrier of steam hot air. Sorry I have no pictures but will take some next time.
And now to the results. Temperature was held easily at 250 with just a center burner. When my chunks burned down I added a pouch of fresh chunks on top and used only the outer burner on minimum. This also held at 250 but the weather was at 18 degrees C and a little wind. Overal the chicken was good with nice red edge and not dry - but it was skinless so I will use skin on next time. I will develop this method further since looks it will really work well. Q300/320 has plenty of space so ribs, brisket or whole chicken should all pass. Taste is debatable since it is not charcoal fire but hey if you need to use the Q it works.

For just smoke flavour it is the best to use either chunks or biger piece of soaked wood as others said. Soaked cube of smoke ood works really well becouse you can flip the sides, it burns longer and will make as much smoke as it size allows. Think 2” or 3" cubes soaked wood.


Peter
 
I've installed a smoker box underneath the grate on the 220. There were quite a bit of smoke coming out of it. Will post pics of my version of how i use it after this Canadian Long weekend.

Brian
 

 

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