How to Add Grilled Flavor Indoors: Liquid Smoke, Smoking Tools and Searing Torches

Indoor electric grilling gives you browning and grill marks, but not the same wood-and-charcoal aroma as an outdoor fire. A few finishing tools can close part of that flavor gap without pretending an indoor grill is a smoker.

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Liquid smoke is concentrated, so think in drops and teaspoons rather than pours. Add a small amount to marinades, burger mixtures, barbecue sauce or a finishing glaze, taste, then build slowly. Hickory is assertive, while applewood is usually gentler.

Good starting point: use enough to support browned meat, not enough to make the dish taste like smoke extract.

A handheld smoke infuser burns a very small amount of wood chips and directs smoke into a covered container. It works best as a short finishing technique for cooked meat, cheese or sauces rather than as a replacement for hours in a smoker.

Use one only according to its manual and with ventilation. Even a small amount of real smoke can set off alarms or linger in a small apartment.

A culinary torch can add surface browning after sous vide or gentle indoor cooking. The Iwatani PRO2 is a purpose-built butane culinary torch with adjustable flame control.

But this is an open flame. Do not use a torch where your lease, building rules or local regulations prohibit open flame. Keep it away from grease pools, alcohol, paper, curtains and other combustibles, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

For most apartment cooks, the simplest combination is an indoor electric grill for browning plus a restrained amount of liquid smoke in the seasoning or sauce. Torches and smoke infusers are optional finishing tools, not necessities.

Start with our See Our Best Indoor Electric Grills →.