Offset smoking is not difficult. I don’t know how that rumor got started, but it has been the preferred choice of smoking meat, poultry, fish, and game for centuries. Offset smoking is simply allowing heat and smoke to flow from an indirect heat source over the meat for a long period of time. Granted, it takes practice and time to learn how to properly control and coordinate the heat and smoke, but it is NOT difficult. And the reward of tasting the product of your dedication and work makes it all worthwhile. The list I have compiled for you here is intended to help build your confidence as you grow and progress as a capable and accomplished offset smoker.
1. What kind of meat am I going to smoke?
As you start to learn and master offset smoking, set attainable goals. Don’t take on an 18 hour smoked brisket at first. Start with something easier to manage but delicious. Try our smoked jalapeno popper recipe (30 minutes), chipotle glazed chicken quarters (1 hour) or smoked salmon (2 hours).
In doing this, you can learn how to manage your fire and smoke for a shorter period of time. Plus, the reward of eating your delicious smoked effort comes quicker.
2. Organization is the first key
There are really not that many moving parts or complicated instructions to offset smoking. Still, organizing is important for maximum efficiency (read: lack of chaos and confusion). T
ry to set your smoker in the shade or have an umbrella, and have a table to work on near your smoker. Then, gather all your tools and necessities and place them on your work table.
The list should include your chimney, tongs, spatula, grill brush, spray bottle, aluminum drip pan, meat thermometer, bowl for soaking your wood chunks, lump charcoal, wood chunks for smoking, and anything else you would like to add to make your smoking life easier. Don’t forget to have a hose nearby to douse any unexpected mishaps.
3. Have a game plan and stick to it
Much like being organized, having a game plan will help you stay under control and frustration free. Know when you are going to put your meat on and when it will be time to pull it off.
Put your meat on at either the top of the hour or the bottom of the hour so you will easily remember what time you started smoking your meats. If you are smoking more than one item and you want them all to come off the smoker at roughly the same time, figure out how long each one will take to smoke and adjust when you place them on the smoker.
Plan ahead, think about the smoking process, and you will find that offset smoking will become second nature to you in no time.
4. It’s all about the charcoal and wood
This seems like it would be the greatest challenge when learning how to use your offset smoker to smoke your meats.
Granted, there is much to learn about which type of wood to smoke with, and the flavor each type of wood imparts into your meat, but that lesson is for another day.
So, to start with, let’s keep it simple. Use lump charcoal and either mesquite or hickory chunk wood.
5. Let’s fire that Baby up!
As we have discussed in other blogs, use lump charcoal in a chimney fire starter to make a base for your offset smoker firebox.
Take your chimney fire starter and carefully empty it into the firebox. Place the charcoal in the middle of the firebox grate, in line with the damper on the outside of the firebox and the large opening leading into the body of the smoker.
Place two or three chunks of smoking wood on top of the charcoal and close the lid to the firebox. Open the damper on the firebox and the smoker chimney all the way.
Watch the temperature gauge on your offset smoker; it should rise rapidly. Most meats are smoked between 200 and 300 degrees.
6. Managing the firebox
Fire, smoke, temperature, meat, chimney, dampers. Once you understand how and why the offset smoking process happens, keeping your offset smoker at the temperature you desire becomes much easier.
Once your fire has become charcoal coals and you’ve placed your wood on the pile and brought your offset smoker up to 200 degrees, place your meat in the middle of the grill grates and shut the lid. The smoke will travel from the firebox, over your meat, and out the chimney. Both the firebox and the chimney have dampers.
Remember: MORE AIR = MORE HEAT – LESS AIR = LESS HEAT.
You control the rising and falling of the internal temperature of the offset smoker by opening or closing the dampers on the firebox and the chimney. Open the dampers, more heat and smoke flow over the meat.
Close down the dampers, less heat and smoke flow. Your job is to find a happy medium between the air flow and the amount of smoke flowing around and over your meat. And adding wood chunks soaked in water will increase the amount of smoke available.
7. Maintaining the temperature and timing
As we have discussed before, the dampers are the key to controlling the amount of smoke and the length of time the smoke moves over your meat.
You want the smoke to move slowly with less heat, so both dampers should be almost closed. You will notice that the temperature will start to drop. If it drops below 200 degrees, it’s time to add another piece of wood to the fire and open up the dampers a bit more.
Now, you have learned the secret of controlling the amount of smoke flowing over your meat by adding wood to your fire and adjusting the dampers to control the airflow. You want to maintain an internal temperature between 200 and 300 degrees.
I’ve discovered over many years of smoking with my offset smoker that if you can maintain the temperature between 225 and 250 degrees, most meats will acquire the perfect amount of smoke.
8. How do you know when the meat is done?
Smoking meat is different from grilling meat as it completely changes the texture of the outside of the meat. So, the grilling technique of pushing on the meat to check for doneness just flies out the window.
The only real way to know when your meat is ready to come out of the smoker is to take the internal temperature of the meat with a meat thermometer. A regular meat thermometer will do just fine for quick smoking jobs, and a wireless probe meat thermometer will do the job for longer smoking periods.
Also, a reliable temperature chart is always a great item to have on hand for a quick reference guide
9. Patience is the second key
Unlike grilling, you can’t hurry up the smoking process. With smoking, you can’t turn up the gas on the grill or throw more charcoal on the fire.
The secret to great tasting smoked meats is allowing the time for the offset smoke to gradually flow over the meat. If the recipe says it will take 4 hours to smoke that 7 pound, 2 bone-in prime rib, then it will take 4 hours.
You can’t change that. So settle in, have a cold beverage, enjoy the smoking process, and be patient.
10. The learning curve and enjoying yourself
Offset smoking is a task of dedication. As I’ve discussed in other blogs, wood smoking takes time, patience, and skill. So the learning curve is long and flat at first, then sharply rises after only a few times smoking.
The frustrating part only lasts for a short period, and then you say to yourself, “Oh, I get it now!” As mentioned, it’s the coordination between fire, smoke, temperature, and time that makes offset smoking feel challenging and demanding yet so thoroughly enjoyable.
Setting the goal to master offset smoking and sticking to it is a rewarding, satisfying, and gratifying experience.
Once you’ve learned it, you never forget it, and now you are addicted to offset smoking. You’re past the hardest part of the learning curve. So, are you ready to graduate and move on to what true and traditionally proven smoking is? It’s smoking with wood with indirect heat over a period of time.
Anybody can throw a steak on the grill and call themselves a BBQer. (I do that!) But throw a few pellets onto a mechanical contraption and call yourself a smoker? Doubtful. Welcome to the brotherhood of offset smoking. We welcome you with tongs in our hands, ash in our hair, and smoke in our clothes. Welcome to the Dark Side.
