Using Wood to Smoke Meat on the BBQ....To Soak or Not to Soak your Wood First?

Ah..SUMMER...All across the neighborhood, just about 5:00 pm, you can smell all the various BBQ's grilling up supper. The aromas linger in the air from house to house. You can smell the houses that smoke their meals with wood and the inexperienced.

Grilling with wood is one of the greatest advantages to cooking food over a fire. It is conventional wisdom that you should soak wood chips and chunks for a few hours before using them in a charcoal or gas grill. But is that necessarily true. This post will discuss types of wood to smoke and if soaking your wood prior to cooking is required. Come learn with me about the BBQ.

What happens to wet wood on a grill
If you toss dripping wet wood on hot coals, the water will cool off the coals. But the key to good cooking is to controlling your temperature. You might think you see smoke when you toss on wet wood, but it is really steam.

Not all smoke is the same. The best tasting smoke is practically invisible, thin, and pale blue. Blue smoke is better than white, gray, or black, by far. You always want a hardwood. Softwoods like pine and cedar create a nasty, sooty smoke. You can use Cedar if it is in plank form. Chips placed directly on charcoal should be fine for smoking without soaking.

Woodchips vs Chunks
Wood Chips short burn time, which uses less time and fuel. Using woodchips to smoke with steaks and meats that have a shorter cooking time. Wood Chunks are better when cooking hams and other meats.

Use a stainless steel smoke box for your wood chips. You don't need to soak them and they will smoulder rather than burn and last a lot longer.

The Chart Below is a helpful Guide that I stumbled upon, while researching smoking your meats on the BBQ. Link can be found below in the sources, to read more.

If you are going to soak your wood why not be BOLD and soak it in your favorite beer or wine?
I hope you have learned something, as I did and will be preparing a smoke Pecan Ham tonight for supper. If you have any ideas or tips that you swear by when BBQ with smoking and wood, please do share with us all. Many Thanks

Happy Trails

Sources:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/cooking-out-how-to-grill-barbecue-or-smoke-meat-with-wood-chips-chunks-and-logs.html
http://www.planetbarbecue.co.uk/smoking1.htm
http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/04/guide-to-grilling-planking.html
https://www.weber.com/US/en/blog/smoking-woods-strike-while-the-grill-is-hot