Question: I am looking to smoke some meat for my chili, but the problem is, I have no smoker. I understand there are products like liquid smoke, however, this didn't create the taste I wanted or really much of one for that matter (I used a good 1/4 of the bottle too). Is there a way to get your own wood chips and smoke something in a propane grill or even an outdoor firepit? Are there wood solutions or chips you can throw into a crock for chili to provide a smoked flavor? Any help would be appreciated!

EDIT: Found a link that mentions the possibility of [using real wood chips in a crockpot to smoke the meat](http://www.ayearofslowcooking.com/2008/08/you-can-use-your-crockpot-as-smoker.html). I am a little skeptical of this. Would this be a possible method?

Answer: 
I would use smoked salt. Since I saw this video 
[Justin Wilson Oysters and Crabs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTRwdzZA05o&t=504s)  I'm using it. And man this is the thing. 

I was using different "smoked sauces", the thing with smoking the meat in an oven with some wood (similar to the method in your link), liquid smoke. 

Nothing can beat the salt trick. It's cheap, easy, you don't add additional taste (it's not salty from this salt) and you can use it to enrich the sauce if you make one from the meat. 

So you mix it with meat the put in the chili and if you think it could be more "smoky" you can add a little bit more. Something that is hard to do with other methods.
There are several ways to smoke your meat without a dedicated smoker.

1. **Buy a wood chips box**. This is a cast iron box, where you place on top of your ordinary grill, and place smoking chips inside.
2. Some **electric turkey roasters** have integrated smoking chip compartments. I once owned one by Oster.
3. Use a **charcoal grill**. Setting up the coals in a snake formation, can effectively smoke delicious meat.
4. If used in moderation, **liquid smoke** can do the job when none of these other methods are available.