Operating Your Outdoor Grill
Smoker Cooking
Use the smoker box to add a smoked flavor to grilled foods. You can also use the smoker box with the rotis- serie. Smoking is always performed with the canopy closed.
warning
•Smoker wood chips are soaked with liquids which create steam and smoke while grilling. This steam can be very hot and dangerous.
•Frequently, the smoker box will need to be refilled during cooking. Proceed with caution. The box will be extremely hot. Steam and hot metal surfaces can cause personal injury and possible fire.
•Using wood chips that have not been properly soaked will catch fire (small red embers will appear in the smoker box). If the wood chips begin to catch fire, add a small amount of water. Wear hot pads and keep body parts clear while adding the water to avoid steam burns.
Using the Smoker Box
1.While the outdoor grill is cool, remove one of the small grates and a small flame spreader from inside the grill compartment. Rearrange the existing grates and flame spreaders to leave an opening where you want to insert the smoker box. Dacor suggests using the far left side. NOTE: You can not put the smoker box over the top of the optional sear burner, which is located on the right side.
2.Before lighting the outdoor grill, soak about two to three generous handfuls of your choice of wood chips for at least 30 minutes. Refer to the chart, right, for wood types, characteristics and foods to smoke with each type of wood chip.
3.Pour off the water from the soaked chips and fill the smoker box about half way. Close the smoker box lid. Reserve some chips to add later.
4.After loading the smoker box with the soaked wood chips and while the outdoor grill is still cool, insert the box into the grill compartment in place of the grate removed in step 1.
5.With the canopy closed, preheat the outdoor grill to a temperature of 225 to 300ºF. Make sure the burner under the smoker box is lit. Once the outdoor grill reaches the above temperature range, allow an addi- tional 15 to 20 minutes for smoke to gather inside the grill compartment.
6.Open the canopy and place the food on the grates as close to the smoker box as possible. Doing so will allow the smoked flavor to penetrate the meat.
7.Close the canopy. During cooking, check the food periodically using the temperature information on the Safe Cooking Temperature Chart on page 16. Check the internal meat temperature with a meat thermom- eter to determine doneness.
Adding more wood chips:
•Wood chips should smoke for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Adjust the flame under the smoker box if the wood chips burn too quickly.
•Replace the chips frequently during the smoking pro- cess. Use hot pads and tongs because the smoker box will be very hot. Do not remove the hot smoker box.
Instead, have the chips drained and ready to go into the smoker box. NOTE: When you open the canopy, you extend cooking times due to escaping heat.
Smoker Wood Chip Types
Wood Type | Type of Smoke | Good for Cooking | |
|
| Various types of | |
|
| fish, especially | |
Alder | Light delicate smoke | salmon and sword- | |
|
| fish. Also good for | |
|
| chicken and pork. | |
Apple/ |
| Chicken, turkey, | |
Sweet fruity smoke | ham, pork and | ||
Cherry | |||
| game birds. | ||
|
| ||
|
|
| |
| Smoky, sharp flavor | Pork ribs and shoul- | |
Hickory | for true southern | der, chicken, beef, | |
wild game and | |||
| barbecue | ||
| cheeses. | ||
|
| ||
Maple | Sweet and mild | Poultry, vegetables, | |
smoke | ham and bacon | ||
| |||
| Sweet, burns hot, | Most meats (es- | |
| can be bitter if | ||
Mesquite | pecially beef) and | ||
burned for a long | |||
| most vegetables | ||
| time | ||
|
| ||
Oak | Distinctive and | Brisket, chicken | |
pleasant smoke | and pork | ||
| |||
| More subtle flavor |
| |
| than hickory | Pork, chicken, | |
Pecan | Burns easily, good | lamb, fish and | |
| for lower tempera- | cheeses. | |
| ture smoking |
|
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