Smokin' in the kitchen

The stovetop smoker was a total revelation to me and the wife. It was not long after returning home from our week in Kansas City (we ate bbq every day and wondered, 'is this what heaven is like?') when we came across this device. Basically, it's a metal box that straddles the burners on your stove. Inside the box is a little sheet of metal that rests on the bottom, and a shelf that rests above it. The shelf looks like a small version of the racks that you have in your oven. Wood chips or sawdust go in the bottom, under the sheet of metal and smolder to produce the smoke. A lid slides in along grooves on the top lip of the box to seal it and form a 'box'. This picture might help you get a handle on the design.

They claim it doesn't smoke out the house, but we don't have range hood, so we hang a sheet in the kitchen doorway when we use it. The first time we used it we thought it smelled just like K.C. in the living room.

It's not large enough to fit big objects like pork shoulder all that easily, but with some creative use of aluminum foil, you can make it work. Getting a handle on how much wood to use and how long to smoke things takes some trial and error. We've oversmoked a few items and, well, not even the neighborhood dog would eat it.

One tip, consider smoking things for a while, then finishing them up in the oven. Hey, I think I've heard of other bbq folk doing that-- even with their big ol' stick burners. I doubt they'd admit it point blank, though.