Smokin' with a 3-Burner

Moved up to a Charbroil Commercial model gas unit. Has (3) burners - left, center, right - (2) cast iron cooking grates, and multiple (forgot how many) flavorizer bars. I can't afford to get a true smoker yet (too early to face the wrath of SWMBO). MY THOUGHTS - remove (1) cooking grate and center the remaining grate over center burner (with drip pan underneath) and put a smoker box or pouch over each of the (2) remaining burners. Light up the (2) outside burners, let the smoke begin, throttle down on the gas, put the meat on cooking grate, and smoke away. Would this be similar to smoking? Figure this way I can control the heat to be 200-250, and still have a source of smoke. Anything wrong with this setup or assumption? Any input greatly appreciated.

I think that this setup would be more along the lines of indirect grilling in which one would stack charcoal on both sides of the meat in question. A lot of it would depend on if you can maintain the 200-250 temp with 2 burners going. It might be easier with one outside burner going and the meat positioned on the far opposite side of the grill, keeping in mind that you would want to rotate the meat one or more times throughout the process to get even results. Once again, it would all depend on the temperature control. Also, with true smoking, much smoke is created- this may be just initially, or throughout the process, you will not achieve the level of smoke required with just one or two foil pouches- you will have to use several. Remember that you are to be cooking from a few to several or many hours in this temp range, pouches or boxes will have to be replenished often.
-Do try to minimize the time that you are opening the lid, with temps that low, it will all be lost if in a cold climate and it will take quite some time to get the meat going again. This will throw off your expected time of doneness or etd, so get yourself an instant read thermometer if you don't already have one to make sure it is ready. That is all the expertice that I have on the topic, I will let the true smokers contibute with additional info. Cheers.

Sorry, that was me again, having a little bit of trouble staying connected)

My first smoker only cost $100 from Lowes - it is the Chargriller Pro. It is simple a cheap it still works great however i have invested in a new smoker rig so I do not use it any more.

It will work if you think it through, which it sounds like you have. It's not the purest way, but I can't tell you how much I've done in a very similar fashion.
I use a Weber Summit D. It has it's own burner for a smoker box, you can use 1 of your burners for this with either a pouch or buy a box , they're available after market. You don't even need to put it under the grates, this will make it easier to refil. Which you will need to do!. I find that in good weather it only takes 1 burner to hit 225. Two if its really cold, play with it, you'll get it. It doesn't really matter if you choose left right of center. I've never bothered with the drip pan, I just make sure my grease pan is empty and let the flavorized bars do their thing.As long as your flame is to the side you'll be fine.
It will work...play with it and see what works best for your grill. You sound like you've got the concept down.
Good Luck and Enjoy!

Dave,

I am curious. What smoker rig do you have? I am looking into investing in one as well. The wife is all for it too! She loves the meat that I cook and the fact that she doesn’t have to!!!

GBitto,

I concur with chagan and Grand Scale. It seems like a good course for the grill you've purchased. Start out small with a few trial runs and let us know how it turns out. Cheers!

Thanks for the input, everybody. The grill is an Christmas gift that I bought early, but won't even be able to assemble until the weekend after (don't know if I can wait that long!). I'll let everyone know how things turn out. I'm also hoping to get Steve's book as a gift, looking forward to getting more information. By the way, Steve, if you're out there, got hooked on your show on my local PBS station (WEAO/WNEO 45/49 Akron/Alliance Ohio). Look forward to it every week

If your still watching Steven on PBS you seem to be one of the lucky few. Most of us lost his show a few months ago as our stations determined it to be a seasonal show and dropped it from their programming.

Tape it and email it to the rest of us!

I might have been premature about future broadcasts - PBS is on it's membership drive kick right now, so programming is messed up. I'll just have to wait and pray!

Bob -

I am happy to say that I am the happy owner of a Klose rig. The model that I have is The Ultimate Competition and Catering Rig http://www.bbqpits.com/mobile30x30.htm - this thing is huge and simply the best thing to smoke on. I can not say enough about the quality of this rig - the best thing is the temperature "tuning", there is only a 2 degree temperature difference between each ends of the pit. I did not get to have the direct buying experience with Dave Klose as many describe as I purchased mine from a catering company that never got started and the pit was only "tested" and never actually had any meat prepared on it, just a test fire! If you have any specific questions let me know I will be happy to answer.

Dave,

Could you be my long lost brother!

That is an awesome rig. I love it. An 8 foot main barrel . It's a little bigger that what I need. I am looking for something similar to his Back Yard Chef model. I would like 24 to 30 inch chambers and I haven't decided if I want it on wheels or not. I would really like to trek down to Houston some weekend and see his work. But...I have to sell 20 acres out west before I can get serious.

Again, that is one impressive pit!

Thanks Bob - Klose pits are simply amazing. I had the opportunity to use a Backyard Chef that a friend of mine owns, which is why I was looking for a Klose pit. They are a little pricey, but well worth it!

Dkirn, Your Klose rig is really something. I'll bet that when you fire that one up it draws quite a crowd of hungry people. This stuff really is an "obsession" isn't it?

I looked at a few pits of his myself- while his work is first rate, can someone please help him put together a website! All of the pictures are really grainy and makes it hard to get a real good loook. Hey Bob, if you can build him a website, maybe he'll......?
B.T.W. I was seriously looking at his 36" smoker@ $1300+ (without the lid-ouch.) But I do hear that his work is exceptional- hey dkirn, did you ever see Paul Kirk's little rig?

http://www.bbqpits.com/kirk.htm

I would give my left pinky finger for that smoker of yours dkirn.