I just "discovered" this site. What a resource! Hopefully my first thread won't bore you with my questions.
I'm new to "smoking" and so far unsuccessful. I've tried using mesquite & hickory chips in a cast iron chip box in both my kettle and gas grills. I soak the chips for 30+ minutes, dump them in the chip box, and place it in the grills ahead of time to get the smoking going (???). The chip box is placed over the coals or over a burner (high heat). So far I haven't seen much (hardly anything at all) in the way of smoking, the chips just seem to dry out and do a slow burn. I generally use the indirect method for cooking anything over 15 minutes and would like to add some smoke flavor to ribs, etc.
Am I soaking the chips enough? Should I place the chip box in an indirect location from the coals or burner? What temperature is best to get the smoke effect from these chips? Is there a good reference on how to properly use a chip box in a grill? Every time I see a reference to chips wrapped in perforated foil, I think it can't be any different than using a chip box, but (???). Does the chip box approach really work, or is it a mickey mouse approach to the real thing?
I enjoy BBQing/Grilling and want to get into some smoking, just as another way of cooking. Would I be better off with a smoker, or can I expect reasonable smoking if I do the chip box right?
Also, with the indirect method in the gas grill (center burner off) I can't get the temperature lower than 300°F. Consequently, it only takes about 1 1/4 hr to do ribs. I'd like to do ribs with the smoke at a lower temperature. Would I get uniform indirect cooking if I had the rear burner on, and the front & middle burners off as a way to get down to lower cooking temperatures?
Sorry for all the questions and thanks for any suggestions.
I'm new to "smoking" and so far unsuccessful. I've tried using mesquite & hickory chips in a cast iron chip box in both my kettle and gas grills. I soak the chips for 30+ minutes, dump them in the chip box, and place it in the grills ahead of time to get the smoking going (???). The chip box is placed over the coals or over a burner (high heat). So far I haven't seen much (hardly anything at all) in the way of smoking, the chips just seem to dry out and do a slow burn. I generally use the indirect method for cooking anything over 15 minutes and would like to add some smoke flavor to ribs, etc.
Am I soaking the chips enough? Should I place the chip box in an indirect location from the coals or burner? What temperature is best to get the smoke effect from these chips? Is there a good reference on how to properly use a chip box in a grill? Every time I see a reference to chips wrapped in perforated foil, I think it can't be any different than using a chip box, but (???). Does the chip box approach really work, or is it a mickey mouse approach to the real thing?
I enjoy BBQing/Grilling and want to get into some smoking, just as another way of cooking. Would I be better off with a smoker, or can I expect reasonable smoking if I do the chip box right?
Also, with the indirect method in the gas grill (center burner off) I can't get the temperature lower than 300°F. Consequently, it only takes about 1 1/4 hr to do ribs. I'd like to do ribs with the smoke at a lower temperature. Would I get uniform indirect cooking if I had the rear burner on, and the front & middle burners off as a way to get down to lower cooking temperatures?
Sorry for all the questions and thanks for any suggestions.