The Genius Way Alton Brown Turns A Cardboard Box Into A Smoker

Smoking veggies, meat, or tofu feels like a gourmet cooking method at home. Often, this means spending hundreds of dollars on a fancy electric smoker. But if you don't have the budget or desire to add another gadget to your repertoire, know that there's a super cheap and easy alternative. As celebrity chef Alton Brown once creatively demonstrated, a sturdy cardboard box, a hot plate, wood, and a cast-iron skillet can be used to create a functional smoker.

At its core, a smoker is a simple cooking apparatus. Food is exposed to low heat and smoke while it cooks, resulting in a smoky flavor and aroma. Sure, metal smokers are more complicated because they are highly controllable environments with different settings and features, but the basic smoker design can be done at home. The cardboard box functions as the smoker chamber, so a medium to large-sized one is best.

Brown used an electric hot plate as the source of heat. This must be plugged into an outlet, so a hole should be made in the side of the box to fit the cord through. From there, small pieces of wood or wood pellets are placed in a durable skillet. Once the electric hot plate and skillet are inside the box, wooden dowels or skewers can be pierced through the box in order to support a metal rack — this will hold the food. And there you have it, the box traps the smoke, allowing it to infuse everything from meat to mushrooms with that irresistible umami-rich, smoky flavor.

Before you start turning your Amazon delivery boxes into backyard smokers, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, this is a bit obvious, but you're dealing with heat and cardboard, and fire risk is real. Keep a close eye on the smoker while it's going, and never leave it unattended. Alton Brown recommends using an electric hot plate because it's safer than any type of open flame and allows for low, steady heat; he also keeps a fire extinguisher on hand for this project. Never try to rush the smoking process by bumping up the heat. Placing the box on a fireproof surface, like concrete, reduces safety hazards.

Brown actually uses hardwood chunks for this DIY smoker, but there are other types of wood you can use for smoking. They should never be on fire, but gently smoldering. Brown also recommends that they cook for about 30 minutes before placing food on the rack to avoid volatile compounds that might be burning off.

This cardboard box smoker is obviously not as heavy-duty as an electric smoker, so avoid using oils or fats that may drip heavily. A drip pan is good to place at the bottom of the box, or foil can be used to line it. Thin pieces of fish and meat, cheese, and vegetables are all great options, as these often don't require hours of cook time. This is a low-cost, high-reward food project, but if using cardboard still freaks you out, you can turn a grill into a smoker, too.