# How important is soaking wood (chips)?



## webpoppy8 (May 18, 2017)

I have an MES 30", so I'm not really "burning" my wood (chips) per se.  Is soaking wood important, and how long, how much?  I'm aware of some who say soaking wood is pointless, but it seems the majority soak wood before using it for smoking.

Opinions?


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## pc farmer (May 18, 2017)

I dont have a answer.  Never used chips.

http://www.amazenproducts.com/

The trays work great in the MES


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## lancep (May 18, 2017)

Soaking is not important or needed. Whatever water your chips absorb will have to be evaporated (steam) before they actually start to smoke. So basically soaking does nothing but postpone actual smoking. So don't bother. 

Lance


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## chef jimmyj (May 18, 2017)

Soaking chips is a hold over from days past. Dad wanted to get smoke from burning charcoal. He added wet chips because it cooled the fire and gave time to get them smolderring rather than just burst into flame. Fast forward 40 years and these new fangled Electric Smokers come out. Junior  wants to make smoke so he soaks his chips. Why? That's the way Dad did it. But now, instead of a 1600°F bed of burning charcoal, there is a little metal tray over an 800W coil. Juniors chips don't don't begin to smoke or burst into flames, they don't do anything. They are soaking wet. Once the chips dry, the low temp in the tray gets them smoldering and they start making that Thin Blue Smoke. So, yes, soaking chips to use in a MES is pointless... Unless you want extra time at the smoker to enjoy a cold beverage and wait for the smoke to start rolling.[emoji]128526[/emoji]...JJ


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## chinanick (May 19, 2017)

I have a offset smoker and used to soak chips then realized there wasn't much of a difference. Now ok use chunks but like stated I use a offset


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## SmokinAl (May 19, 2017)

No don't soak your chips, and as Adam said, do yourself a favor & get an Amazen tray.

You get nice smoke for hours without refilling it.

Al


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## GaryHibbert (May 19, 2017)

Yep.  What they said!!!!

I have a MES 30 and switched from chips to the Amazen tray--AMNPS.  WORKS PERFECTLY.  It's the best money you can spend.  You won't have to refill it for most smokes, unlike adding chips every 20 minutes.

Then I added the Mailbox mod and its even better--great for cold smoking as well.  You'll never regret buying one.

Just do a search for Mailbox mod.

Gary


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## gary s (May 19, 2017)

A Bunch of Good advice

Gary


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## sky monkey (May 19, 2017)

Wow, I had no idea. I was still soaking my chips...


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## siege (May 19, 2017)

When I asked an old pro, years ago, he said what you are trying so do is smoke, not steam the meat. Made sense to me. I haven't soaked chips since then.


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## biaviian (May 20, 2017)

Here is a great thread on the mailbox mod that GaryHibbert mentioned.  

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/127770/mes-mailbox-mod-for-use-with-amnps


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## daricksta (May 22, 2017)

webpoppy8 said:


> I have an MES 30", so I'm not really "burning" my wood (chips) per se.  Is soaking wood important, and how long, how much?  I'm aware of some who say soaking wood is pointless, but it seems the majority soak wood before using it for smoking.
> 
> Opinions?


I've used wood chips for both grilling and smoking. I learned years ago that soaking wood chips does nothing to extend their smoke production time/ Dry wood chips smoked for a few minutes and soaked wood chips produced smoke for about the same amount of time. In fact, early on with with my MES 30 Gen 1 I tried soaking the wood chips for a couple of different smokes.The wet chips were harder to drop from the wood chip loader than dry chips. I had to carefully and manually loosen the more recalcitrant wet chips with my fingers and then mix them with dry chips before putting them back in the chip loader to dump them onto the wood chip burner. 

Many grilling/smoking cookbook writers and bloggers no longer recommend soaking wood chips. I just looked at a guy who is considered one of the top, or perhaps the best self-promoted grillers/smokers in the country and he sells not only a single but also a double wood chip soaker set. In my opinion, you don't need it. 

Even though I still have bags of wood chips I bought years ago, for smoking I only use wood pellets and burn them in a tray called the A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker. I also have a tube smoker that I won in a drawing. This year for cold smoking I'm going to experiment with Dust, which I've read works better at low temperatures. I still throw wood chips on top of charcoal when grilling certain meats if I want to add an extra bit of smoke flavor, but for my tastes I need to keep throwing new chips on ever 10-15 minutes because by that time the chips have been burned to ash. I plan to do more experimenting with wood pellets in that tube smoker to get longer-lasting smoke for both direct and indirect heat grilling. Last year, I had a problem with the wood pellets going out so I need to find a spot under the cooking grate where there's a constant abundance of airflow.


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## Bearcarver (May 22, 2017)

webpoppy8 said:


> I have an MES 30", so I'm not really "burning" my wood (chips) per se.  Is soaking wood important, and how long, how much?  I'm aware of some who say soaking wood is pointless, but it seems the majority soak wood before using it for smoking.
> 
> Opinions?


Hi Poppy!!

I've used 3 different MES units, and they all work great.

I can't tell you for sure if it helps to soak chips for other smokers, but I doubt it does anything good.

As for the MES, it does no good to Soak Chips, or to add water to the Water Pan. IMHO

I also agree with the others (above) that the best thing to do with an MES is to get an AMNPS.

I haven't used a Chip in my MES in 7 years, since the AMNS & the AMNPS have been invented.

An MES and an AMNPS is truly a Match made in Smoker's Heaven!!!

Bear


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