Smokers have become more popular as more and more folks smoke food at home.
However, a common question I hear is if you can cook in a smoker without smoke.
Most of the time, you’ll want smoke billowing out of your smoker when you smoke ribs or brisket ‘low and slow.’
But what if you want to cook some burgers or chicken on the smoker. Is it possible to cook on a smoker without smoke?
Any smoker can be used to cook food without smoke. Whether it’s a gas, electric, charcoal, stick, or pellet smoker, food can be cooked without smoke. However, smokers are designed to smoke food so the food may cook more slowly on a smoker versus a regular grill.
Now let’s look into the pros and cons of cooking on a smoker without smoke.
Why Even Use A Smoker Without Smoke?
Usually, whenever someone wants to cook something on a smoker without smoke, they want to grill some food and not have the food’s flavor be smoky.
Although I’m a smoke flavor fanatic, I can understand that there are some foods that you may want to have less or no smoke flavor, especially if you’re using a specific marinade.
So you can cook food on a smoker without smoke similar to using a gas or charcoal grill but the food may cook slower in the smoker.
Gas, electric, and charcoal smokers are easy to use without smoke. Simply don’t throw wood chips in these smokers and just turn the grills on so they create heat to cook the food.
For pellet and stick smokers, you will need to use higher cooking temperatures such as 450°F in order to have the wood burn quickly and cleanly. As long as the wood doesn’t smolder at low temperatures, the wood smoker will not produce that much smoke.
Wood smokers and pellet grills at high temperatures act as wood fire ovens similar to pizza ovens.
Benefits of Cooking Food in Smokers Without Smoke
There are some benefits to cooking food inside a smoker without smoke.
1. BBQ/Grill Flavor
Cooking food on a regular bbq grill would be better than cooking food in a smoker without smoke. However, if you do not own a grill and own a smoker then a smoker is a great option for grilling food.
Depending on where the heat source from your smoker is, you might be able to cook your food directly over a fire which creates that unique BBQ taste. Not to mention, grilling over a fire will also create grill marks on the food.
2. Large Amount Of Food
Generally, smokers will have larger capacities compared to most other grills and cooking devices.
So a smoker can usually fit more food on it which means you can cook more food at the same time on a smoker.
Cooking more food at the same time is a huge benefit when you’re cooking for a large party so you don’t have to cook all of your food in batches.
Disadvantages of Cooking On A Smoker Without Smoke
There are some drawbacks when cooking on a smoker without smoke.
1. Lower Cooking Temperatures
Generally, smokers are intended to maintain low cooking temperatures such as 225°F. Although you can cook food at 225°F without smoke, most of the time there isn’t really a benefit to doing that if you’re not also using smoke.
Cooking chicken or burgers usually calls for higher temperatures such as 350°F which some smokers may not be able to reach.
So if your smoker has a low-temperature limit then it may take a long time to cook food on a smoker without smoke.
Not to mention it might be impossible to sear food on a smoker if the smoker cannot get hot enough. So you might be limited to what you can cook when cooking on a smoker without smoke.
2. Smoker May Still Create Small Amount of Smoke
Even if you do not include wood chips on electric, gas, and charcoal smokers, they still may create a smoky taste on the food.
If you have used your smoker multiple times before for smoking food, you may notice that your smoker smells like… well smoke. Smoking food can even create creosote in your smoker which can be seen on the walls and exhaust vents as that solid black residue.
So if you do not want to have any smoke flavor on your food then do not cook your food inside of a smoker.
Final Thoughts
Although you can cook food on a smoker without smoke, you should question why you want to cook food on your smoker without smoke.
If you have a grill or oven then those are likely better options for cooking food without smoke.
Although it is possible to cook food on a smoker without smoke, ovens and grills are better alternatives for cooking food without smoke. Cooking food on a smoker without smoke is possible as long as wood chips are not used on electric, gas, or charcoal smokers.
For pellet and wood smokers, make sure to keep the cooking temperature as high as possible so that the wood burns quickly and cleanly. Wood that is allowed to smolder will create wood smoke.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use a smoker without the smoke?
You can use a smoker without smoke if you do not include wood chips on an electric, gas, or charcoal smoker. For pellet and wood smokers, make sure to keep the cooking temperature as high as possible so that the wood burns quickly and cleanly.
However, you should use an oven or grill if you want to cook food without the smoke. There are better alternatives than a smoker to cook food without smoke.
Can you cook meat in a smoker without smoke?
You can cook meat in a smoker without smoke if you do not include wood chips on an electric, gas, or charcoal smoker. For pellet and wood smokers, make sure to keep the cooking temperature as high as possible so that the wood burns quickly and cleanly.
However, you should use an oven or grill if you want to cook meat without the smoke. There are better alternatives than a smoker to cook meat without smoke.
Can you cook in an electric smoker without smoke?
You can cook food in an electric smoker without smoke if you do not include wood chips. Electric smokers will act as a regular oven and cook the food using indirect heat from the heating coils.
You can also use a regular kitchen oven or grill if you want to cook food without smoke.
Do I have to use wood chips in my electric smoker?
Wood chips do not have to be used in an electric smoker. However, wood chips are what produce smoke in an electric smoker. So make sure to use wood chips if you want your electric smoker to create smoke.
So effectively, an electric smoker that does not produce any smoke is essentially a regular kitchen oven. The wood chips are what create the smoke in an electric smoker in order to create the smoke flavor and bark on food.
Do you have to add wood chips to smoker?
Wood chips do not have to be added to a smoker in order to cook food. However, wood chips or pellets should be added to a smoker if you want to create a smoky flavor on your food.
Stick and pellet smokers do not need wood chips to be added in order to create a smoke flavor since these smokers are already burning wood. Wood smoke is what creates smoke rings on meat and is what is needed in order to create that BBQ smoke flavor we all know and love.
