How to Use a Side Fire Box

Using the Char-Griller Side Fire Box

Did you know that the Char-Griller Side Fire Box Fits on all the Char-Griller charcoal grills? Yes, even the Dual Fuels. This makes it easy to turn any Char-Griller grill into an offset smoker. You can also make the Side Fire Box the ultimate, portable grill by detaching it and using the included legs.

Never used the Side Fire Box or Offset Smoker before? We’ve got you. To become a true pitmaster and elevate your smoking game, you'll need to acquaint yourself with the art of using a side fire box. Here’s our quick start guide to using the side fire box.

Easy installation and great fit. I've had one of these as a table top travel grill, and using this for a side burner/smoker. Works great and very versatile. - Review from John H of SC.

1. How to Attach the Side Fire Box to a Grill

If your Char-Griller charcoal grill doesn’t have a Side Fire Box yet, you can add one easily. Here’s a quick video to help! We made it simple to turn any Char-Griller charcoal grill into an offset smoker.

2. Season Your Grill and Site Fire Box

If you haven’t seasoned your grill and Side Fire Box yet, do that before you start smoking. Wipe down the entire grill with warm water and then completely dry it. Coat the whole grill with oil. We recommend using a spray bottle full of vegetable oil.

After the whole grill is coated inside and out, open all the vents and light a small fire in the Side Fire Box. Burn it for 30 minutes. Let the fire gradually die out and you’re ready to smoke!

Offset smoking is one of the most popular ways to cook really delicious BBQ and with the side fire box, we've made it very easy to turn any of our charcoal barrel or dual fuel grills into a Texas-style offset smoker.

3. Light a Chimney of Charcoal

Fill a Charcoal Chimney and light it. Let it burn until the briquettes or lumps begin to glow and ash over. This should take about 15 minutes.

4. Dump the Coals into the Side Fire Box

When the coals are ready, dump them into the Side Fire Box. Ensure the vent on the right side of the Side Fire Box and the chimney vent on the left of the barrel are at least halfway open.

This is the step where you would add wood chips or wood chunks to flavor your food.

A note on wood: While you can make a fire of wood in your Side Fire Box, we do not recommend it because it is difficult to maintain the temperature of a completely wood burning fire.

5. Bring Smoker Up to Temperature

The ideal smoking temperature is between 225 and 275 degrees Fahrenheit. We like to stay right around 250. Make sure that you keep the lid to both the barrel and the Side Fire Box closed when you are preheating the grill.

6. Add Food

Now the fun part: adding the food. Once you add the food you want to cook, you might have to adjust the vents to ensure everything is at the proper temperature. A pit thermometer can help you know when you need to go check on the smoker without having to babysit it all day.

7. Add More Fuel As Needed

It is a common misconception that you can simply add charcoal to the Side Fire Box whenever you want to raise or maintain the temperature. We recommend starting a new chimney of charcoal each time as adding the already burning coals will help maintain the temperature better than adding unlit charcoal.

8. Rotate the Food

To ensure that everything cooks and smoked evenly, you will want to rotate the food once every 2 to 3 hours. Move the pieces of food that have been closest to the smoke further away so that you can move the food that has been farther closer.

With big pieces of meat, rotate them in a circle to ensure even smoking.

9. Keep Your Food Moist

If you are worried about your food drying out, you can add a pan of water under the food to both catch the drips and keep water circulating in the chamber. Another option is to mist the food with apple juice, water or beer every hour or so.