burning wood chips

I have a grill that does not have a smoker box built in, but I do have a separate box that is metal with holes in it. Every time I use it, no matter how long I soak the chips, they set on fire, the box chars, and I have a mess on my hands. I have a two-burner grill, so I am trying to set the box of to the side of the burner instead of directly over it. What can I do to still get smoke but not have my chips burn? Any help some of you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I would highly recommend the stuffed pork loin recipe from the How to Grill book, but we stuffed it with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese before we wrapped it in bacon . . . delicious!

First off the smartass in me will tell you that the wood is supposed to burn...ence the smoke.
But seriously I've found that when I use my gas grill for smoking I must use the larger size wood (chunks) vs. the chips. The chips just burn out way to fast. Then I must add more on top of hot ash creating a stick foul smelling mess. Try this: line the smoker box with tinfoil, this will help you with cleanup and if you need to reload you can quickly clearout the charred wood. Then use larger bits of woods I like the chunk size but not the charcoals size. That should help. It will also let you use a bit higher heat if you want/need.

Good Luck and Enjoy!

The main suggestion that I can offer is to remove the smoker box from the direct flame - I use mine either in the back of the grill or on the grate that is attached to the lid . I do line the box with foil for easy cleanup but this way you get a low smoke instead of flames

Also make sure that you are soaking the wood chips for at least one hour before you use them this will help as well.

Use the bigger chunks as mentioned earlier. Also, put the chunks next to or over the flame UNTIL a good amount of smoke develops. At this point you can move the smoke box to a cooler location in the grill and it should still continue to produce smoke without causing a mess.