Knowing How to Set Up a Grill or smoker is the secret to great outdoor cooking, and it all comes down to temperature control. For grills, that almost always means using a 2-zone setup, with a hot side for searing and a cooler side for gentle indirect cooking. The principle is the same whether you’re setting up a charcoal grill or a gas grill.
For smokers, the secret is to get a small hot fire that makes clean “blue” smoke rather than billowy white smoke. On charcoal and wood burners, that means learning to use the vents to control temperature and keep the fire burning efficiently. And yes, you can use a plain old grill, gas or charcoal, as a smoker.
