# Soaking wood



## squeezy (Jul 25, 2012)

Stop soaking woodchips for BBQ. This myth is busted. Revealing pictures. http://ow.ly/ctwIh


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## rbranstner (Jul 25, 2012)

I would have to agree. There's no point to soaking the wood in my book.


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## nivekd (Jul 25, 2012)

Always thought is was silly to soak wood. You let the wood dry for at least 6 months and then soak it again?...silly. The object is to have the wood as dry as possible in order to get smokin' as soon as possible. Thanks for the confirmation.


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## smokinhusker (Jul 25, 2012)

I don't soak it cause I use pellets in the MES. If I have to use chips, they get some spritzing and mixed with the pellets.


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## piaconis (Jul 27, 2012)

I agree.  The sudden bursts of steam actually risk kicking ash and other particulate into the smoke. causing creosote on the meat.


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## cabrego (Jul 27, 2012)

the heat sucks the moisture out of it anyway.


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## gnlsr (Aug 1, 2012)

soaked till the late 70's cause my dad taught me... discovered no soak when got in a bind for a "quick" turkey breast for a family friend... thought I got a deeper smoke than w/soaked...started playing and no soak since...


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## sqwib (Aug 1, 2012)

Yep


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## damon555 (Aug 1, 2012)

I never saw the logic in soaking the wood....What does it do?.......It just prolongs how much time it takes for the wood to start working its magic. Just cut to the chase...


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## onebadmofo (Aug 1, 2012)

Doesn't the wood start on fire if not soaked faster??  

Hence using more wood??


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## chef jimmyj (Aug 2, 2012)

onebadmofo said:


> Doesn't the wood start on fire if not soaked faster??
> 
> Hence using more wood??


 If using Chips it don't really matter they will burn in short order regardless. Wood Chunks work best near but not necessarily on the Fire. You get smoke but even they will burn eventually...I chuckle every time Bobby Flay throws a couple of handfuls of Soaking Wet Chips on his Egg or WSM and comments on all great Billowing White STEAM coming out...JJ


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## squeezy (Aug 2, 2012)

Seriously ... Flay does that? No wonder it is difficult to educate people!

Similar to videos on YouTube showing how to do BBQ ribs by first Crock potting and then slather with sauce prior to throwing them on a grill to finish .... LOL!


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## scarbelly (Aug 2, 2012)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> If using Chips it don't really matter they will burn in short order regardless. Wood Chunks work best near but not necessarily on the Fire. You get smoke but even they will burn eventually...I chuckle every time Bobby Flay throws a couple of handfuls of Soaking Wet Chips on his Egg or WSM and comments on all great Billowing White STEAM coming out...JJ


X2


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## bruno994 (Aug 2, 2012)

X3 to Chef Jimmy.

Do NOT soak your wood!  Enough said.


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## sqwib (Aug 2, 2012)

I hope this post doesnt seem like a hijack.

I have said this quite a few times, reduce the oxygen to the wood and reduce the heat to control your smoke.

If using chips wrap in a foil pouch, poke with a fork (Once) 

If using chunks *in a pan *control the burn by heat and stacking or setting the wood vertically.

I will get 3 hours from the stack shown below.

If I take the one piece and switch it vertically on a rough edge, that will slow down 

So you can place the wood flat for a heavier smoke, stack for a heavier longer smoke  you can stack vertically on a flat surface for a lighter longer smoke you can place vertically on a rougher surface and prolong the smoke even further.

You can place a chunk flat propped up with a pebble for a long burn. There are endless ways to control the burn, but Heat and oxygen are the 2 main things to remember.

If you need to reduce the heat to the wood and can not do it by controlling the smoker, adjust your pan or place heavier metal inside, there's also a million ways to achieve this.

If you are using charcoal as fuel, you will need to play around with chip placement, pouches chunks etc... I will let the charcoal Gurus add to this.

I have never noticed any difference in smoke flavor with longer smoke durations versus shorter smokes, but it does give you control over the burn times.













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The bottom is spent and the top is still going, I barely saw smoke on this burn but it smelled great the whole time.













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Picture below shows a piece of cherry spent completely, at this point I remove from the smoker, this can be used as fuel.













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Piece on the left could have went a little longer.













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For folks looking for TBS this is what you want, Wisps of smoke.

But some folks prefer a heavier smoke and that is fine to, just don't over do it.













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__ sqwib
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Just remember this is supposed to be fun, If you want to soak your chips in Rum, Beer Water Wine continue to do so. Don't let science ruin your FUN!

And Don't get hung up on TBS you just don't want white billowing or grayish smoke.

Remember also If you can smell smoke, the food can absorb it as well.

Sorry for the ramble but figured a lot of curious folks reading this thread could benefit from it.

Thank you Squeezy for bringing this point up again.

Below pic is not smoke it is steam, this was a high heat rib cook *but I'll use this as an example for low and slow, since I do not have any white billowing smoke pics. *

If you get this much smoke it is not a good thing













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## sqwib (Aug 2, 2012)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> If using Chips it don't really matter they will burn in short order regardless. Wood Chunks work best near but not necessarily on the Fire. You get smoke but even they will burn eventually...I chuckle every time Bobby Flay throws a couple of handfuls of Soaking Wet Chips on his Egg or WSM and comments on all great Billowing White STEAM coming out...JJ





Scarbelly said:


> X2


Gotta Luv it

Steam...might as well throw veggies on there and have a side of steamed veggies.

Sorry Bobby


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## boykjo (Aug 2, 2012)

Sorry but (Silly me 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






) I soak my wood chunks for several days and get better results. I have been using store bought wood chunks that seem to be very dried out. When I first used them without soaking they bursted into flames and were gone in a short period of time and my heat rose fast. After soaking the chunks and still producing tbs along with steam at the beginning they lasted a lot longer slowing the burning process of the outer layer of the wood chunk with less of a spike in heat...... There are so many variables here.... I have to disagree for my application.....

Joe


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## piaconis (Aug 2, 2012)

My firebox has low enough oxygen that, even if my chunks burst into flames, they go out and smolder after I shut the lid.

I guess it's important to note that the type of smoker will potentially impact the methodology.


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## ski-freak (Aug 2, 2012)

Soon as I started watching grill temps over 10 years ago, I noticed a big drop in temp from adding the soaked wood chips - which were effectively putting out my fire for a while - and I learned to stop doing that. Instread of chips, I switched to bigger chunks so the dry wood lasts longer...


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## gnlsr (Aug 3, 2012)

this is one of the better explanations f the wet/dry question... I am going to really look into making charcoal!!!!!! love the explanation...really like the pics...


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## dr1nkbeer (Aug 13, 2012)

back in June... I cut down a peach tree for a family member who just couldnt stand the bugs around it.  I kept all the wood 1" and larger in diameter.  I have read that you can use green wood that burn longer and slower.  Well i just put on a two racks and a few shortribs today about 4 hours ago I used the semi dried out 1" branches to smoke i used about 5 or so at 14" each and got great TBS for the duration.  There foiled up now and will be ready for sauce in about 15 min.

I smoked for three hours at a steady 225 degrees.. then I foiled them up and kicked it up to 240 degrees.  I dont use a water pan (yet) but my last few smoke outs my ribs were a little drier than i expected.  I partially blamed the quality of the ribs themselves they werent fatty, i paid a little more for them too.  I used to soak my chips but found it wasnt worth the hassle I moved to hunks and leave them dry.  That is when i dont have a great pile of Fresh peach wood laying around.. sorry had to throw that in there.. :-)

Of course i took video instead pics... not of the phone yet.


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## thsmormonsmokes (Aug 13, 2012)

All I know is that you'd have to soak wood for an awful long time to get the water to penetrate too deep.  The thicker the pieces you're dealing with, the more true this is.  And if you put wet wood on a fire, it is going to burn.  Before it burns, it has to get rid of the water.  It requires energy -i.e., heat- to convert liquid water into water vapor.  So it's going to pull some amount of heat out of your fire, and isn't going to contribute any noticeable amount of steam in the chamber.  Maybe the heat drop is not enough to concern you, but it draws heat out.  No two ways around it.

So my $0.02 is that soaking really doesn't seem to do much of anything.  But if someone's got a system that's producing good results and soaking wood is part of the equation, you're obviously not doing anything horribly wrong.  

But the whole wood soaking thing seems more superstition to me than anything.

I am curious about burning green wood.  My experience with wood burning stoves is that you get more creosote build up if you burn green stuff, and that you get a cleaner burn if you get the wood good and cured first.  But I think I saw Myron Mixon use completely green peach wood in a competition I watched on Grill Masters a while back.  That got me curious because it seemed to go against what I learned as a kid with our wood burning stove. Seemed like that would give you lots of thick white stinky smoke.  But he knows this stuff a whole lot better than this dummy does, so there's obviously something to learn there.


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## cliffcarter (Aug 13, 2012)

ThsMormonSmokes said:


> I am curious about burning green wood.  My experience with wood burning stoves is that you get more creosote build up if you burn green stuff, and that you get a cleaner burn if you get the wood good and cured first.  But I think I saw Myron Mixon use completely green peach wood in a competition I watched on Grill Masters a while back.  That got me curious because it seemed to go against what I learned as a kid with our wood burning stove. Seemed like that would give you lots of thick white stinky smoke.  But he knows this stuff a whole lot better than this dummy does, so there's obviously something to learn there.


You can not use green(unseasoned) wood as a fuel source but you can use it as a smoke source. I use green apple wood all the time, it gives me thin blue when used with a charcoal based heat source. Myron Mixon uses fresh cut peach wood as a smoke source laid on a hot charcoal cooking fire.


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## dragonmaster194 (Aug 13, 2012)

I also used to soak chips for smoking, now I use chunks dry, and get much better results.  I agree with the no soak guys here.  Steve


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## thsmormonsmokes (Aug 14, 2012)

cliffcarter said:


> You can not use green(unseasoned) wood as a fuel source but you can use it as a smoke source. I use green apple wood all the time, it gives me thin blue when used with a charcoal based heat source. Myron Mixon uses fresh cut peach wood as a smoke source laid on a hot charcoal cooking fire.



Ah. I figured there must be something I didn't understand. Thanks for the info.


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## mnmulisha (Aug 14, 2012)

If you use well soaked wood chips, will the steam released from the boiling water help to keep the product in the smoker moist?  Would this benefit the product if it was say, ribs and they were going to be wrapped in foil for a few hours after the smoke?


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## dewetha (Aug 14, 2012)

MNmulisha said:


> If you use well soaked wood chips, will the steam released from the boiling water help to keep the product in the smoker moist?  Would this benefit the product if it was say, ribs and they were going to be wrapped in foil for a few hours after the smoke?


that would be a hell of a lot chips! if you want moister use a water pan.


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## gnlsr (Aug 14, 2012)

I have used green wood before and I don't get much satisfaction with it for my uneducated (in the finer arts of smokin) abilities...I have used well dried oak...orange, grapefruit...like them the best...want to get some maple next trip I make up north..my issue is too much smoke flavor...(wife likes the flavor of the smoke to be very slight...I will continue to experiment...and listen and learn from this learned group...thanks in advance...


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## dr1nkbeer (Aug 15, 2012)

GNLSR said:


> I have used green wood before and I don't get much satisfaction with it for my uneducated (in the finer arts of smokin) abilities...I have used well dried oak...orange, grapefruit...like them the best...want to get some maple next trip I make up north..my issue is too much smoke flavor...(wife likes the flavor of the smoke to be very slight...I will continue to experiment...and listen and learn from this learned group...thanks in advance...


yeah.. I was a littel weary of using green GREEN wood but these have dried out for two months (we had a HOT summer here)... Well first time for using Peach (Green) i used hardwood coals as heat source and used 5 Branches that were about 1" thick and about 14" long ( I cracked them in half before placing them right on top of fire).  The smoke was TB all the way through and that gave me plenty of smoke. My wife and family also like the smoke flavor to be there but not over powering.. i like it to be noticable.. more "front and center".  The peach gave it a real nice smoke (the way i like it) wife ate it as they were tender tender tender... but with a cringe.. she said it was sucking on wood... :-) (thats what she said). 

Wouldnt be fair to not post the pic!!  You can see the nice bundles i have from that fresh peach tree stashed under my grill... I also have plenty of trunk and large logs to let dry out sum.













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## bigdog7 (Mar 30, 2013)

Can anyone tell me how long to keep smoke during cooking process? Smoker manual says for ribs to use chips for the first two hours of cooking, then after three hours place in foil for another 1-1/2 hours. Does this sound about right?


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## chinavoodoo (Aug 6, 2013)

Here is a question for you. If you soaked wood chunks in something with lots of flavor, like mulled wine, letting capillary action pull the wine through the grain, then let it dry again, then smoked with it, would you get an interesting smoke?


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## chef jimmyj (Aug 6, 2013)

ChinaVoodoo said:


> Here is a question for you. If you soaked wood chunks in something with lots of flavor, like mulled wine, letting capillary action pull the wine through the grain, then let it dry again, then smoked with it, would you get an interesting smoke?


There are companies that sell Wine Barrel and Bourbon Barrel Oak in Chips, Chunks, Pellets and Pucks.*  *But remember dry wood resists liquid for a LONG time. Those barrels are in contact 1 to 25 years with the liquid. That is a lot of Mulled Wine for a long time to flavor a few wood chunks in your basement. I would drink the wine and buy what you want...JJ


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