How to Smoke on a Charcoal Grill

One of the advantages of grilling is that it allows you to add the old-fashioned flavor of wood smoke. Throughout this book, for the most part, you’ll be instructed to use wood chips for smoking, but you could use chunks or even whole logs to generate wood smoke. Wood chips are available in an intriguing array of “flavors” (a basic “larder” would include hickory, oak, apple, cherry, and mesquite). To get good smoke flavor out of the chips, soak them in water to cover for an hour or so, then drain the chips well before placing them on the fire. I usually soak my chips in a disposable aluminum foil pan, adding cool water to cover. Sometimes, for extra flavor, I’ll soak the chips in beer, wine, or apple cider.