How To Give Electric Grills Some Smoke Flavor?

How To Give Electric Grills Some Smoke Flavor
Written By: Kathy Jeffery
Date Published: February 9, 2022

You’ve got an electric grill at your home or apartment for quick and easy grilling but can’t get the same smoky flavor as traditional charcoal or gas grill? Or You cannot use charcoal or gas grill and still want the same smoky flavor through your electric grill? 

No problem, Here we have provided you the instructions on How To Give Electric Grills Some Smoke Flavor? 

Instructions To Get Smoky Flavor

How To Give Electric Grills Some Smoke Flavor
How To Give Electric Grills Some Smoke Flavor

We have provided you with many ways to get smoky flavor through your electric grill without any labor and creating mess. These are simple steps to create smoke within your electric grill using charcoal or wood chips. You may have the modern electric grill that already offers you a wood chip box or you might have the old electric grill that doesn’t offer this wood chip box. So these are the instructions to get a smoky flavor.

Use Charcoal:

You can use charcoal to create the same smoke as of your traditional grills. It is simple and easy to use charcoal in your electric grill. Just put the charcoal in aluminum foil and wrap the foil around charcoal as no charcoal remains visible. Now just punch a few holes in the foil with the help of some pointy material such as a toothpick. Now place this foil as close to the heat as possible to get maximum smoke but remember to do this with the help of some tongs as you might get burned if you try to do this directly through your hand. Now place your meat in the electric grill and watch the smoke giving your food the smoky flavor inside your electric grill.

Use Wood Chip:

Wood chips can also be used in electric grills through a little bit of effort. Use small pieces of wood chip inside your electric grill that has a wood chip box. If your electric grill doesn’t have a wood chip box use a tin can or you can use a separate wood chip box available at store put wood chips in your electric grill. Now cover the wood chip box but if you are using tin can then punch some holes in it. Just put the wood chips in the chip box or tin can and place this box on the heating plate with the help of the tong and place your meat in the above rack or above it. You can add some water in the wood chip box or tin can in order to produce more smoke. 

Use Built In Chip Box

We recommend you to use the built-in chip box that is present in most of the electric grills. But if your grill doesn’t have any built-in wood chip box check out our new article Best Electric Grills For Apartment Balcony that has details, features and expert reviews of different electric grills.

Tips Before Using Charcoal Or Chips:

Here we have provided you with the tips to get the same smoky flavor as you get on the traditional gas or charcoal grills. Try using our tips to get the best smoky flavor of your food.

Don’t Lift The Lid To Check The Smoke:

Don’t lift the lid of the electric grill to check the smoke as it may result in loss of smoke and your food may not be able to get the same smoky flavor. Lifting the lid of the grill while cooking also causes heat loss and slow cooking of your food. So avoid constantly checking for smoke to enjoy the best smoky taste and quick cooking.

Wait For The Chip To Start Smoke:

When you put the wood chip in an electric grill just make sure to give wood chips enough time to produce smoke. It may take upto 15 or 20 mins to produce smoke which is a long time to wait but when wood chips start producing smoke, place your food inside the grill and close the lid/door of the grill and wait for the cooking time. Once the food is cooked like this, it will have the same smoke flavor as cooked on traditional gas or charcoal grills.

Use Specific Wood Chips:

Use wood chips according to your flavor and food as different wood chips have different tastes. Keep in mind the strength of wood as well as how it burns up. For example Mesquite has a strong flavor and is not recommended for indoor smoking, Oak and Hickory are too strong for chicken but can be used with red meat.

Change The Wood Chip:

While heating the wood chip try checking for the wood chip if it has burned completely or not. If wood chips have burned completely, try changing them after fixed intervals of time. Most of the wood chips last longer than 30 minutes and after this time wood chips get burned completely. So try changning wood chips to get the best smoke flavor for your food.

Add Oil To Wood Chip:

During heating when the wood chip gets red hot, pour some olive oil in it so that its smoke smells great and it also helps in cooking the meat. When olive oil is poured on the red hot wood chips it emits smoke that is full of flavor and helps smoke to penetrate better in meat. Try pouring oil in the wooden chip every time it gets red hot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is there no smoke coming out of my electric smoker?

The reason for no smoke might be that you have not adjusted the chip try properly. Make sure that the chip tray is clean, chips in it are properly placed and the chip tray is touching or is near the heating element. OR it may be due to the reason that your heating element has not reached the ideal temperature for producing smoke. 

Can you use an electric smoker without wood chips?

Yes, you can use an electric smoker without wood chips. It is not compulsory to use an electric smoker with wood chips, It completely depends upon you whether you want to smoke your food or not. Using wood chips will produce smoke and you will get the smoky taste for your food. But if you don’t use wood chips, you can cook the food even then but it will not have the same smoky flavor.

How do you Preheat an electric grill?

Preheat your grill for about 15-20 minutes with a closed lid and let your grill heat until the red light of your grill turns off. Once the red light which is also called as preheating light goes off, your grill is ready to cook your food. While most of the grills take 15-20 minutes to heat up, other grills might take 20-25 minutes to heat up depending upon the power of the heating element they are using. 

Conclusion on How To Give Electric Grills Some Smoke Flavor

The answer to the question How To Give Electric Grills Some Smoke Flavor? Is much more simple as you can use charcoal or wood chips in a separate wood chip pan or the one which is already built-in in your electric grill. You can also use charcoal packed in a foil with several holes to get the charcoal smoke in your food. So now it is not a big deal to get the same smoke flavor in your food as provided by traditional gas or charcoal grills.
But we recommend you to use the electric grill that has a built-in wood chip box and if it is not available at your house or you cannot use traditional grills then above mentioned tricks would be best for you to get the same smoke flavor as traditional gas or charcoal grills.

Article written by Kathy Jeffery
Kathy learned to cook early on in life because she had to feed the ranch hands! Kathy is a mama of 2 boys and dreams of having a vegetable garden one day.

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