I know that pretty soon, it's going to be time to put the grills away again after the long summer cooking season that we had, so I hope that everyone got at least a little use out of the grill this year. I would like to discuss something that is not dependent on the grill, but using the grill is the easiest and most convenient way of doing this procedure.
Smoking food always seems like a long, drawn out, messy, and expensive cooking process, but there are easy ways to do it at home. The reason that I mention the grill is that using the grill is the best way to smoke a food at home, if for no other reason than the fact that it is outside, and all the smoke that you generate will not fill your house and set off your alarms.
I suppose that I should start with the wood chips at this point. Any recipe that you see may call for any number of different types of wood chips, but I suggest that you can use any type that you want. Unless you plan on smoking food every couple of weeks or so, I would suggest that you buy one type of chip and just use those for every recipe.
First, I will talk about the messier way which requires more equipment. Actually, I have never used a home smoker, so that is probably the easiest and cleanest method of all the methods, but I would not suggest buying one if you don't plan on using it more that once a week (which is doubtful).
Inside on the stove: This method requires more equipment than just a grill, so I will try not to spend too much time on it. You have to have 2 pans and some aluminum foil to cover them. One pan should fit in the other, and that inside pan must have holes in it. A good example of a set up for this could be a pasta combination pan, which is a large pot that comes with a metal strainer that fits right into the water pot. These also come with a lid, which is convenient. Line the bottom of the pan with some wood chips, and sprinkle them with a little water. You don't want to use too much water, just enough to slightly dampen the chips. This enables them to put out more smoke. On medium heat, set the pan with the chips on the heat, and insert the pan with the holes with the food you want to smoke in the top pan. Cover with the foil, and smoke as long as you think is prudent. It may take a few minutes for the smoke to get going, but once the pan fills with smoke, it won't take too long. As long as your not heating the pan over extra-high heat, you should not have to worry about burning the chips too much. A word of warning though, any pan that you use will probably be ruined for anything but smoking food from that point forward.
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