How to Make Liquid Smoke

Setting up Your Fire Source

Start up a gas grill for an easy liquid smoke. You can also use a gas grill to make liquid smoke. Push in the knob, turn it to ignite, and press the starter. When the flame is lit, set the temperature to high and let the barbecue preheat to about 500 °F (260 °C).

Preheat a smoker for a basic and tasty smoke flavor. You can also use a dedicated meat smoker to generate the smoke for this project. Get a chimney starter full of charcoal burning. When the charcoal has burned and the coals are red hot, transfer the coals to the smoker. Spread out the coals on the charcoal pan and let the smoker heat up to high heat, or about 300 °F (149 °C). Smokers typically cook foods at a lower temperature than grills, because they are designed to cook through smoking rather than direct heat.

Fire up a charcoal grill for an extra smoky liquid smoke. Place a piece of newspaper in the bottom of a chimney starter, which is a metal container used to start charcoal fires. Stuff the rest of the starter with charcoal. Light the newspaper in the bottom and wait for the charcoal to ignite, burn, and turn gray. Pick up the chimney starter with tongs, pour the hot coals into the bowl, and spread them out under the center of the grill. Leave the grill to preheat for about 20 minutes, until it reaches about 500 °F (260 °C).

Make a fire in a chimenea for a woody smoke flavor. Remove the lid from the top of the chimenea, which is a freestanding fireplace you can use outdoors. Place crumpled newspaper in the bottom of the chimenea. Crisscross a handful of dry twigs on top of the newspaper. Ignite the newspaper in multiple places. When the twigs are burning, add one or two small logs. When the fire is established, add a couple of larger logs to get the chimenea nice and hot. Wood fires typically reach temperatures around 500 and 600 °F (260 and 316 °C). Let those burn down so you're left with a bed of hot, glowing coals.

Smoking the Wood Chips

Choose your wood chips. You can use just about any wood you like for smoking and making liquid smoke. Some of the most popular woods include apple, cherry, peach, birch, hickory, oak, pecan, maple, and mesquite. Mesquite and hickory woods will have the smokiest taste of all the wood types, while the fruit woods will impart a slightly sweet and fruity aroma. Oak is a very popular choice for many professional and amateur home cooks. It offers a much more uniform flavor.

Soak the wood chips for 30 minutes. Wood chips are small and can ignite easily, so it’s important to soak them before smoking. Transfer about 2 cups (180 g) of chips to a large bowl and cover the chips with water. Let the chips soak for half an hour. Larger wood chunks don’t have to be soaked prior to smoking.

Drain the wood chips. Transfer the chips to a colander. Leave them in the colander for about five minutes to allow excess water to drain out. This will help the wood heat up faster.

Wrap the chips in foil. Transfer the drained chips or chunks into the center of a large piece of aluminum foil, and fold up the sides of the foil to make an open pouch to hold the chips. You can use a wood chip smoker box instead of the foil if you have one. Place the chips in the box and put on the lid.

Place the chips on the grill or coals. Use a pair of barbecue tongs to pick up the package of wood chips, making sure the foil doesn’t open up. On a charcoal or gas barbecue, place the pack of chips directly on the grill, to the side of the charcoal or flame. In a smoker, place the chips on the grill above the charcoal. In a chimenea, place the foil directly on the hot embers.

Cook food on the smoker as you smoke the wood. You can cook meat, vegetables, or other food on the smoker while you're capturing the liquid smoke. Not only will this make the most of the hot smoker, but it will also impart a unique flavor to your liquid smoke. Cooking and making liquid smoke at the same time works best with a smoker, because you don’t have to disturb the smoke-catching assembly to flip or test the food until the end. You can cook food on a grill when you're making liquid smoke, but you'll have to carefully remove the Bundt pan, mixing bowl, and ice from the chimney to flip or check the food. Protect your hands with oven mitts or silicone gloves before touching the Bundt pan.

Capturing the Smoke

Place a Bundt pan on top of the chimney. Close the lid on the smoker or grill. Slide the Bundt pan over the top of the chimney, so the chimney is venting through the hole in the middle of the pan. On a chimenea, place the pan on the grate at the top of the chimney. A Bundt pan is ideal for this job because the hole in the center of the pan will allow heat and moisture to rise through the middle.

Cover the Bundt pan with a mixing bowl. Find a heat-proof metal bowl that’s the same diameter as the Bundt pan. Turn the bowl over and use it as a lid to cover the pan below. Now the heat, smoke, and moisture that rise through the center of the Bundt pan will be trapped by the bowl and collect in the pan below.

Cover the bowl with ice. Place a few frozen ice packs on top of the upside-down metal bowl. The difference in temperature between the hot smoke and the cold bowl will cause a smoky condensation to form on the top of the bowl. This will then drip down into the Bundt pan as liquid smoke that you can collect. Instead of ice packs, you can also use a bag of ice or a freezer bag filled with ice.

Allow the wood chips to smoke for an hour. You'll know they're done when the food is cooked, or when the coals burn out. An hour will give the bowl and Bundt pan setup enough time to collect at least a few teaspoons (several milliliters) of liquid.

Collect the liquid from the Bundt pan. When the coals have burned out and the wood chips have released all of their smoke, carefully remove the bowl and Bundt pan from the chimney. Protect your hands with gloves, as the metal may still be very hot.

Bottle the liquid smoke. Remove the bowl from the top of the Bundt pan. Place a funnel into a small glass jar and pour the contents of the Bundt pan into the jar. Remove the funnel and seal the jar with an airtight lid. Store the liquid smoke at room temperature until you're ready to use it. Liquid smoke can be used to flavor barbecue sauces, marinades, beans, and other foods. For the best results, use the liquid smoke within 6 months.