Should i soak wood chunks for smoking

In many instances, wood chips that are soaked can impart off flavors and lead to disappointing results. Let's talk chemistry for a minute. When you add wood that has soaked in water, the maximum temperature it will reach is going to be just about degrees, the temperature that water becomes steam. Until the moisture has steamed off, the wood won't increase in temperature.

It can take 30 minutes to an hour for wet wood to dry enough to begin smoking. Before the wood is hot enough to smoke, it produces steam. Steaming your meat isn't what you are after, and in many instances, the steam action will draw moisture out of your meat, increasing the chance of overcooking.

While the wood is steaming, you will notice the temperature of your smoker fluctuating. That is because the evaporating water is absorbing heat and carrying it away much faster than if there was no water. One thing we all know about cooking meat on a smoker is you want consistent temperatures.

It doesn't make much sense to add wet wood only to see the temperature jump up and down erratically. When you put wet wood on your grill or smoker, it begins to steam, which can look like bright white smoke.

You will likely smell the flavor of the meat being carried off by the water vapor, but the "smoke" you see isn't adding anything. When you're smoking meat, you are actually looking for thin, bluish-hued smoke that is nearly invisible. Black, gray, and white smoke are all indications of something going wrong. In all but the luckiest of situations, smoking meat with billowing clouds rolling from the grill is going to result in some very weird flavors.

Remember, chips or chunks of soaked wood will take longer to smoke. Over at SmokingRibs. They even got a professor with degrees from MIT and Harvard to help solve the issue of why soaking wood doesn't accomplish much. The easy answer to why soaking wood chips or chunks doesn't accomplish anything is right there in front of us, even if we don't notice.

You see, the only woods you use for smoking are hardwoods like hickory or fruit wood like cherry and nut woods including pecan. These types have, by definition, a tight grain that doesn't absorb water. That's why boats are made of oak and teak, not pine. The test was to soak pieces of wood in blue-dyed water for 24 hours.

After the wood soaked, it was cut and examined for penetration. The results show that even after a 24 hour soak, the only places water penetrated the surface of the wood were cracks. It didn't matter if it was planks of wood, chunks of wood, or chips, the water simply doesn't penetrate. There aren't any real benefits for most people to soaking wood chips.

In fact, you may even lose some of the wood flavor by soaking. If you are worried the wood chips will burn in your gas grill or charcoal barbecue, you're better off learning to control temperatures rather than trying to prevent burning by soaking.

The smoke point of wood chips and chunks is lower than the combustion temperature. Try moving the wood chips farther from the heat, placing them in aluminum foil, or using a two-zone cooking method to prevent burning wood chips on your barbecue. Now, let's have some fun. Remember to never smoke indoors, or under a covered porch. Instead, use a folding windscreen and an umbrella as needed. On particularly windy days, close the bottom vents that are being hit by the wind, using the vents on the opposite side to control temperature.

You may be thinking that you will just bring all of the food up to room temperature beforehand. Unfortunately, it would take approximately 12 hours or longer to bring a thick-cut steak up to room temperature throughout. This means that you will more likely be growing bacteria and following unsafe food practices than getting the results you are looking for.

Again, in the long run, it is not a huge change in times, but you do need to be aware of it. You can easily add charcoal and wood chips through the easy access doors on the two tiers, however, if you need to move or check on the food on the top rack, you will be lifting the lid.

This will release a large amount of the heat right out the top of the smoker. This means that the grill will have to come all the way back up to temperature before cooking and smoking can continue.

This can take 20 to 30 additional minutes. 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. You may need to add more charcoal hours sooner than anticipated, further interrupting your cooking and adding to the length of time it takes to smoke.

Keep things simple, salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika for that dark bark color. If you opt for butcher paper for wrapping instead, remember to get unwaxed butcher paper. Smoking is a labor of love. It takes patience.