liquid smoke and indoor grilling

Being a loft-dwelling stovetop grillpan griller, I'm always up for suggestions on how to make my grilled meats taste a bit more authentic. I suppose someone out there may be willing to let me use their grill in exchange for some buffalo ribs, but for everyday use, I was recently advised to check out adding a touch of liquid smoke to my dishes. Of course, my immediate response was "YUCK!" Why would I want to add artificial flavoring to something that I'm preparing myself? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of making sauces from scratch?

But liquid smoke is actually completely natural and made through a pretty interesting process. It is exactly what it sounds like - distilled smoke (usually from mesquite or hickory wood) - and is often aged in oak barrels like wine or beer. Sounds fun!




(source)

Thanks for the heads-up.