Rigging a charcoal grill

Using a charcoal grill as a smoker is a good way to test the barbecue waters. If you find you enjoy smoking, you’re likely to want to upgrade, but a large kettle grill with a lid is a reasonable starting point.
The main difference between grilling and barbecue is that when you grill, you cook directly over the heat source. Barbecue cooking uses indirect heat. To make that happen in a grill, do the following:

1. Prepare your heat source. Use a chimney starter to light your charcoal.
2. Place the charcoal. When it’s ready, heap the hot charcoal onto only one side of the kettle’s bottom grate, leaving the other side free for the meat.
3. Add wood. Put soaked wood chunks or an aluminum-foil packet of wood chips directly onto the coals
4. Get ready to cook. Place the top grate onto the kettle and give it a few minutes to heat up.
5. Throw your meat on the grate, carefully. Place your meat on the side of the grill opposite the charcoal.
6. Close the lid to smoke the meat. Leave the vents or intake partially open to keep oxygen moving over the charcoal and to encourage good circulation of the heat throughout the grill. Adjust the upper vent or exhaust above the meat and opposite the fire to draw heat and smoke toward the meat.

Check the temperature intermittently by inserting a candy thermometer into the vent on the grill’s lid. (Make sure the vent is positioned over the food that you’re cooking so you know you’re reading the temperature where you’re most concerned about it.) Open the vents farther to increase heat, and narrow them to decrease it. Add more charcoal if you need to increase the heat by several degrees. Because the heat is on only one side of the grill, you need to move your meat regularly so that each piece gets roughly the same amount of time next to the charcoal. Doing so helps you cook your food evenly.