How To Use a Charcoal Smoker

With hunting season nearing an end in many areas, its time to get those grills and smokers ready for some fresh game meat. If you haven’t used a smoker before, getting started can be a little overwhelming. There are four main types of smokers in popular use: charcoal, propane, electricity and off-set. For the purposes of this article we’ll review how to use a charcoal smoker to get that perfect smoky taste.

Getting Your Smoker and Charcoal Ready

In addition to the taste, smoking meat is a great way to preserve food off the grid. You can smoke all sorts of meat, and also use your smoker for making dried fish or pemmican.

When using a charcoal smoker, you will want to have a constant supply of charcoal lumps hot and ready to go to so you can regulate the temperature easily in the smoker. To create a stockpile of hot charcoal, use a chimney starter. 

The chimney starter allows you to get charcoal lit before adding it to the smoker. Do not use lighter fluid soaked charcoal, as it will add a bad taste to your meat. I suggest using lighter cubes or newspaper to get the charcoal going on your charcoal smoker. Once the charcoal is all lit, transfer it from the chimney into the bottom of your smoker.

How to Use a Charcoal Smoker: Placing The Coals

When placing the coals in your smoker, there are a few different ways to position them.

Remember, when smoking something you want to avoid cooking with direct heat. Instead, pile the coals up under one side of your cooking grate, opposite the side with your meat. You can also create a ring of charcoal around the bottom, placing the meat on the inside. Whatever your preference, try not to have the meat directly above the coals.

Adding The Wood Chips to Your Smoker

Adding wood chips to the charcoal is what adds the smoky flavor to your meal. Select your type of wood depending on what flavor profile you want to add. Common types of smoking woods include Hickory, Pecan, Maple, Cherry and Mesquite. Do a bit of research before selecting your wood, as certain flavors pair better with different meats.

Best Types of Wood Chips for Smokers

Keep in mind that not all woods are ideal for smoking. For example, woods with a high content of sap like Pine will ruin your food. Also, you can get different sizes of wood chips, the larger the pieces the longer they will smoke before needing to be replenished. I suggest using larger wood chunks since this will minimize the number of times you need to open the smoker.

You can soak the wood chips for 30 minutes prior to smoking, but you don’t have to. Some people believe that doing so adds extra smoke when the chips burn, but this has been debunked as a myth. Soaking the chips merely adds a “delay” before they start to smoke since they now have to dry out before they ignite. Regardless, soaking the chips will help add a little moisture into the process, so it can’t hurt.

Now, you will add the wood chunks directly onto the lit charcoal in the smoker. Replace your grate, and get cooking.

Managing The Temperature in Your Smoker

The ideal smoking temperature ranges between 220 F and 250 F. For the most part, you never want your temperature to surpass 250F. If you don’t have a built-in thermometer, get a wireless thermometer to monitor the internal temperature. To regulate your temperature, use the dampeners on the smoker. Most models have a dampener at the top and bottoms. Opening the top dampener allows air to escape and this can be left a bit open through most of the smoking process. The bottom or side dampeners allow more oxygen to feed the charcoal, increasing the temperature. Use these to keep the temperature as consistent as possible — between 220F and 250F.

Depending on the size and model of your smoker, you will need to add more charcoal and wood chunks throughout the process. This is why you have extra charcoal ready to go in your chimney. As needed, add more lit charcoal and soaked wood chunks into the smoker.

How Do I Know When My Smoked Meat is Done?

Smoking isn’t an exact science, and cooking times vary depending on the type of meat, size, cut, temperature, etc. The easiest way to know when it’s done is to have a meat thermometer in the center of your cut of meat as you smoke. This will allow you to know when you have reached the ideal internal temperature as desired (or required) for that cut of meat.

Smoking meat is one of the best and easiest ways to prepare your meat. The process has a bit of cooking forgiveness, so learning how to use a charcoal smoker is great for beginners. As long as you keep an eye on your temperature, both inside the meat and the smoker, you will be fine. Don’t get overwhelmed by all of the variables, just find a recipe you like and get started.

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