Do You Need to Soak Wood Chips? Tips to Get the Ideal Smoke
Amidst the vast sea of information available for crafting culinary masterpieces with a charcoal barbecue or smoker, this article stands out by dispelling common myths, including whether you need to soak wood chips before grilling, understanding the optimal amount of smoke required, and offering exceptional insights tailored to using a charcoal smoker type barbecue.
You Do Not Need to Soak Wood Chips
The most popular, and most argued about, tip when it comes to smoking is soaking your wood chips and chunks for at least an hour before smoking. The thought is, that doing this will slow combustion and create a better flavored smoke than dry wood can.
In truth, soaking your wood chips and chunks isn’t necessary, and here’s why:
- It takes more than 24 hours for a significant amount of moisture to penetrate the wood
- Soaked wood chips produce steam until all the water is evaporated
- Soaked wood will lower the smoker or charcoal grill's temperature
Wood chips and chunks that have been soaked have to get rid of all moisture before they can produce smoke. The water on the wood will have to heat to 212°F/100°C (the boiling point of water) and will stall there until the water has been evaporated. Only then will the wood begin to smoke.
Soaking wood chips or chunks can be used to your advantage in some situations. Using a tray with soaked wood and another with dry, you can create a time release for your smoke as the dry chips/chunks will smoke while the wet ones will dry from the heat and begin to smoke later.
Always Soak Your Planks
Soaking your planks ensures that there is enough surface moisture to prevent combustion while you are cooking. There is not enough moisture to produce significant steam or smoke, however, it does produce delightful flavors in your food.
Chips, Chunks, Planks, When to Use Each
Chips
The most versatile when it comes to getting that smoky flavor in your food. They are the perfect size to use in any of our smoker accessories, to fold into a foil pouch, or just toss onto charcoal. Wood chips are consumed quickly and will need to be replenished more often. You have the option of soaking these and this can provide a time release as the water evaporates and the wood begins to combust.
Chunks
Wood chunks are bits of wood around the size of a stack of business cards up to the size of your fist. They can be directly from trees or even staves from old whisky, wine, and bourbon barrels. They do not get soaked. These provide longer-lasting smoke when you are using low and slow methods of cooking. They are not ideal for use in your gas BBQ, however, are perfect for charcoal cooking. Place a wood chunk or three into unlit charcoal every 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm). Pour lit charcoal overtop. As the unlit charcoal ignites, it will also ignite the wood chunks and produce smoke.
Planks
Wood planks are great for use on gas and charcoal grills. They must be soaked. This provides a barrier between the heat and the plank itself while producing delicious flavors in your meal. You can use them to roast, cook fish, and even make nachos. While they can be reused, they need to be well-cleaned. You should never use a plank that is 50% consumed by char. Keep a bucket of water or a spray bottle on hand in case of combustion. Break apart a plank that is too charred to reuse and use it as wood chunks for your next low and slow cook.
Tips for an Ideal Smoke
A Smoker / Accessory Full of Wood Chips Brings Big Smoke Flavor
It takes at least 20 minutes before any significant smoke flavoring will develop. That is why we recommend using BBQ techniques that take longer. This allows the time for smoke to penetrate your food. Roasting, the reverse sear, and using the rotisserie are perfect when you want to include smoky flavors in your dish.
More Smoke = Better Smoke?
Great billowing clouds of smoke emanating from your smoker or charcoal BBQ mean you’re doing it right, right? Actually, the best smoke is almost invisible, a thin wisp of light smoke white-ish-blue. Anything grey, black, or bright white, can range from bitter and not as tasty to downright disastrous.
Weather or Not to Smoke
The weather will make a huge impact on your smoke. When smoking, humidity, sunlight, and especially the wind can influence the temperature inside your smoker or charcoal BBQ and change the burn rate of your charcoal. Ensuring that your unit is sheltered from the wind and the sun is the easiest way to make sure you are getting the most from the BBQ. Remember to never smoke indoors, or under a covered porch. Instead, use a folding windscreen and an umbrella as needed.
Things are Heating Up
If you’re like me, and when you do a long smoke, you make sure to get as much out of it as you can, remember that - the more cold meat that you put on the smoker or charcoal BBQ, the longer it will take to get back up to smoking temperature. This also means that the smoke will take longer as well. If this is the case, you may be considering letting food come up to room temperature. Unfortunately, it would take approximately 12 hours, or longer, to bring a thick-cut steak up to room temperature throughout. This means that you are only following unsafe food practices rather than getting the results you are looking for. Again, in the long run, it is not a huge change in time, but you do need to be aware of it.
Whether you just lifted the lid, or you hit the stall and are having a bit of a panic, you may be considering playing with vents or adding charcoal to ensure that the temperature goes up. Remember that adding charcoal or opening vents will cause your charcoal to burn hotter and faster. This can lead to adding more charcoal to your cook sooner than anticipated, further interrupting your cooking and adding to the length of time it takes to smoke.
More PRO Tips:
- Keep things simple when it comes to rubs, salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika for that dark bark color.
- Remember not to crowd the cooking grids either. Ensuring that there is enough room for the food to circulate is paramount to getting that delicious flavor throughout.
- Pull your brisket, ribs, and pork shoulder at around 160°F to 170°F (71°C to 77°C) and wrap tightly in foil with a splash of liquid and butter for the remainder of the cook.
- Remember that there should be no gaps in your wrap job when using foil.
- If you opt for butcher paper to wrap your meats, remember to get unwaxed paper.
People Also Asked:
What Happens If You Don't Soak Wood Chips?
If you do not soak your wood chips, you will get smoke faster. There are pros and cons to this. Pros include smoke beginning as soon as heat is applied, and no reduction of BBQ temperature. Cons include more frequent replenishment of chips and overpowering smoke if the temperature is not managed correctly.
Do You Soak Wood Chips Before Grilling?
It is common practice to soak wood chips before grilling. However, this means that the heat from the barbecue needs to evaporate any moisture from the wood before smoke can happen. Depending on the circumstances, this can delay the achievement of smoky flavors. Soaking can be used to your advantage when using smoker accessories, especially in gas grills. If you are using a gas BBQ to smoke something that takes longer, set up two smoker accessories with chips. One with unsoaked that will begin smoking almost immediately, and one with soaked chips that will take time to release the smoke. This allows less opening of the lid and shuffling of the barbecue to change out chips during a longer cook.
Can You BBQ With Just Wood Chips
Wood chips are literally just small chips or shards of wood from hard and softwood trees. They are not ideal for creating an environment to cook in. You require a small heat source at least. Chips are ideal for use in BBQ accessories like smoker tubes, pipes, and boxes. They combust quickly and produce little to no heat. You would be better served using hardwood logs or charcoal with wood chunks if you wish to BBQ with just wood.
How Do You Use Wood Chips on a BBQ?
Using wood chips on your BBQ or in a smoker is easy. You can choose to soak or not. Then, fill your smoker pipe or box and place them directly on or over the sear plates of your BBQ, fill the integrated tube on your gas BBQ, or toss a handful directly onto lit charcoal. Alternatively, you can layer a pile of chips onto a piece of aluminum foil. Fold the foil into a packet or envelope and poke some holes into it. Place the packet over lit burners on your barbecue and they will eventually ignite.
Smoke Responsibly this Season
Smoking is a labor of love. It takes patience. Hopefully, the tips and tricks in this article have helped you to become a better smoker. What is your favorite smoking tip? Share yours on your favorite social platforms, like Facebook or TikTok using the hashtags #NapoleonSmokerTip and #NapoleonGrills.
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