How to Smoke on an Infrared Grill

After the grill has come up to the right temperature, add wood packets. You can make wood packets by cutting a large piece of heavy-duty aluminium foil, adding three handfuls of wood chips of your choice to the foil, and tightly sealing the packet. Then poke a few small holes in the top of the packet with a sharp fork so the smoke can escape. An easier way is to use any of the disposable wood packets and wood chip smoker boxes.

Choose a wood flavour that complements what you’re smoking. Light woods such as alder, fruitwoods and pecan lend a mild smoky sweetness to foods, and are best used with delicate items like fish and chicken. Medium woods include oak and hickory. They impart a stronger smoke flavour and work well with sturdier cuts of meat such as a pork butt or ribs. The strongest smoking wood is mesquite. It overpowers most foods, but it’s ideal for smoking a beef brisket.

Some tips to remember when smoking food:

• Try varieties of wood to achieve the flavours you like.
• Replace the wood packets every hour for larger cuts of meat.
• You can combine two flavours together to make your own combination – hickory and apple, for example.
• Vegetables also benefit from smoke flavour. The more moisture in a vegetable – say a tomato or onion – the more smoke it will accept. If you’re smoking vegetables put them in a tray so any juices remain with the vegetables.