How To Give Your Grilled Sausages An Extra Hit Of Smoky Flavor

For food enthusiasts, smoking meat on an outdoor grill is something like the Mount Everest of home cooking: It's doable, but it requires forethought, proper technique, and the investment in the right kind of gear, like a pellet smoker. For these folks, it's all worth it for the rush of exhilaration they get when they reach the peak — the "peak" being, in this case, meltingly tender ribs, brisket with that telltale pink hue, and perfectly succulent, smoke-kissed sausages. If you're this kind of mountaineer, we've got you covered — just check out our easy tips on transforming your grill into a smoker.

If you're a more casual climber, though, don't fear — even if you've got a gas grill. There's a way to get that irresistible flavor on your sausages and other flame-cooked meats without delving too deeply into the details of two-zone grilling and purpose-built smokers: Just wrap up some wood chips in tin foil, poke holes in the pouch, and throw that on the grates along with your sausage links. When the flames hit that foil pouch, the wood smokes as you'd expect it to, filling the grill with its sweet-savory perfume and making you look like a bona fide pitmaster in the process.

The mechanics here are super straightforward. Get yourself a sheet of foil — preferably heavy-duty to reduce the risk of tearing. Toss a handful of wood chips or wood pellets onto that sheet, fold it over, and then fold or roll the edges to make a seal. Take a fork or a sharp knife and pierce holes on one side of the pouch — letting oxygen in enables the chips to smolder — and, of course, it lets the smoke escape. Then, throw that packet onto the grill as it preheats so it's already releasing plenty of smoke by the time you put your sausages on.

Some folks like to soak the wood chips in water for an hour beforehand, though there isn't universal agreement on this point — other pitmasters argue that it produces unnecessary steam, and that the chips will smoke just fine if they're dry. You can play around with this, just like you can play around with the kind of wood chips that you use. Each produces its own unique flavor. Wood from fruit trees, like apple and cherry, tends to be a little sweeter; in Texas, the classic is oak, specifically post oak. Just make sure it's a hardwood (oak, maple, pecan, hickory, etc.) rather than a softwood (like cedar or pine), which will burn easily.

If "How do I create a nice smoky flavor without special equipment?" is one big question of backyard grilling, another age-old conundrum is this: How do I cook a sausage that's not 1) raw in the middle and 2) so overcooked that it bursts all over the grill grates? A steady temp will help with this — sausages burst when they cook too quickly — but there's also a surefire way to make sure your links are perfectly done: Boil brats and other sausages to fully cook them before throwing them on the grill. Water will work just fine, though beer is another inspired idea, beloved especially in the Midwest. Either way, start by submerging your sausages in a cold liquid and slowly bringing them to a boil, then simmering them until they reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Now they're ready to go from the saucepan into the fire. At this point, you only need to grill them for a few minutes — just enough to imbue them with that smoky flavor and a bit of exterior char.

Of course, it's not just sausages that will benefit from the sweet aroma of wood chips: Virtually any food you cook on the grill could stand to take on a little extra smokiness, from chicken drumsticks to skewered shrimp to portobello mushrooms and other vegetables. Even slices of grilled watermelon or other fruit, smoked with cherry wood (and maybe served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream), can be an ideal end to a summer meal.