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Smoking on a grill or smoker

Intermediate Heat and cooking methods

Smoking on a grill or smoker is cooking food slowly with low, indirect heat while wood smoulders nearby to flavor it.

By , founder of Pantry to Pan · Published · Updated

Written with AI help from the sources listed, and published by Cory. Sources: USDA safe minimum internal temperatures, USDA on the danger zone (40-140°F). Spot a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.

How do you do it?

  1. Set up for indirect heat and hold the cooking area at 225-275°F, with the food away from the coals or burners.
  2. Add a few wood chunks or a foil packet of soaked chips; aim for thin, bluish smoke, not thick white billows.
  3. Cook to internal temperature, not time: 165°F for poultry, 145°F for whole pork cuts, about 195-205°F for pulled pork or brisket.
  4. If the temperature stalls for hours around 150-170°F, wait it out or wrap the meat in foil or butcher paper.

Why does it work?

Smoke flavor comes from compounds released as wood breaks down; they stick best to a cool, moist surface, so most flavor lands in the first hours. The dark bark is the rub, dried surface and Maillard browning. The stall is evaporative cooling: moisture leaving the surface cancels the heat. Long, low cooking melts tough collagen into gelatin, which is why brisket goes past 'done'.

What are the common mistakes?

Still stuck? Watch someone do it on YouTube.

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