How to Make a Charcoal Grill & Smoker Combo

Do-it-yourselfers can easily construct a charcoal grill and smoker.

Making a charcoal grill and smoker combination is actually an easy task almost anyone can do. The key thing to remember when grilling and/or smoking is that grilling uses direct heat at high temperatures, while smoking requires food to be cooked with indirect heat at low, controlled temperatures. A smoker and grill combination can be built quite easily out of an old charcoal grill, with minimum materials.

Things You'll Need

• Charcoal
• Lighter fluid
• Matches
• Flavored wood chips (one small bag)
• Small metal pan
• Cooking grate
• Grill lid

Instructions

1. Pour 1/2 lb. of charcoal into the grill. Place the charcoal to one side. This is necessary for smoking, since smoking is done with indirect heat. Pour lighter fluid over the charcoal, saturating it. Allow the lighter fluid to soak into the charcoal for roughly five minutes and then ignite the charcoal with a match. Let the coals burn uncovered for 20 minutes until red and hot.

2. Soak three handfuls of wood chips for roughly 20 minutes. Place the chips on top of the hot coals. Soaking will provide smoke rather than simple burning as dry wood will do.

3. Fill the small metal pan with water. Place the pan into the grill next to the hot coals.

4. Insert the cooking grate into the grill and place the food you want to smoke on top of the grate, above the water pan. The water from the pan will keep the internal environment moist while smoking the food or grilling. If you grill something at the same time as you're smoking, place the food directly on top of the hot coals. This will grill the food with direct heat.

5. Cover the grill with its lid. Grill or smoke the food until it's cooked through and tender. If you're smoking, expect to wait three to five hours until the food is done.

References

• Simply Recipes: How to Turn Your Kettle Grill Into a Smoker