soaking wood in water to smoke with [Archive]

badger

10-02-2003, 05:25 PM

One of the first things I learned comming into the Bandera-Brethren was NOT to soak my wood in water, but rather pre-heating the wood is better.

So... Why does Steven Raichlen from BBQ University say to "soak for 1 hour in water and/or beer to cover, then drain" in his recipes?

I watched another episode of BBQ-U today and saw his soaked wood, and now I am wondering, which technique is better?

John

david

10-02-2003, 06:01 PM

Cause he's a moron!!! Plus, your not sucking on your wood, so soaking it in beer is alcohol abuse (unless it's schafer).

What's the point of soaking your wood, if you want to produce smoke? While the wood is wet, it just smolders (maybe you get some steam). There isn't much smoke produced until it dries out.

Oldtimer

10-02-2003, 06:26 PM

Using the great outdoors smokey mountain gas I have to soak or it would burn up to fast to do any good. For you all wood guys NO esprecially in beer, Geez. Not drinking tonight so I should make sense hell I might even venture to the empty chat room later.

badger

10-02-2003, 06:31 PM

So then you would soak to prolong the burn? Doesn't that give off a "bad" smoke though?

Rookie of the Year,
John

Oldtimer

10-02-2003, 06:41 PM

I have not notced it but I'm using chunks-chips. People told me when I bought it that meat would taste like gas, so far they be full of $hit. Only gas I notice is methane.

Still perfecting my wood smoke. Think I need a bigger wood box bean pot or something.

BBQchef33

10-02-2003, 07:32 PM

Phils $.02

Soaking prolongs the burn and causes it to smolder. We dont like smolder. We dont like white smoke. Its Ok if your using 1 chunk at a time. But we like sweet blue. Which is complete clean combustion. Our smoke is invisible. We're looking for long clean burns to produce the smoke ring and give us our smoky flavor, not a nasty layer of soot that tastes like smoke on our food.

Although we use the term, "smoking", technically, i dont thing we are smoking, we'r BBQ'in. Lower the temps 80 degrees <180 and use soggy wood.. Thats smoking.

IMO... $.02.

Oldtimer

10-02-2003, 08:43 PM

IMO...
It's burning to fast for me without soaking but I'm still experimenting. Going to have to slow it down someway. Now we have $.04 for the next bash kitty. Let it begin.

badger

10-02-2003, 08:47 PM

Phils $.02

bla...bla...bla... :lol:

IMO... $.02.

Phil,

I thought the limit is $.02 per message? ;)

Oldtimer

10-02-2003, 09:04 PM

Damn your right my math was off we have $.06 for B3 now. Glad I'm not in finance.

SoCalCraigster

10-03-2003, 12:50 AM

I've use lump charcoal, soaked chips or chunks and have had nice results. However, I would like to use only wood and get the coveted Blue Smoke.

gary

10-03-2003, 05:47 AM

My $.02
I started using wood chips on my weber gas grill 8/10 years ago. I would soak the chips 4/12 hours if possible than i would make a log by wrapping the chips in foil, and pokeing one small hole into to the foil on top..... this would make some excellent bbq, actually
some of the best I've had. I am not sure that the white smoke from chips is all smoke, maybe a mixture of smoke and steam?
Now I use a bandera and wsm and do not use chips but chunks and i do not soak them.
The main difference is with the chips in a gas fueled smoker you are using them for flavor only, and when using lump charcoal with chunks you are using them for fuel and flavor. So they need to burn differently.

Gary

Oldtimer

10-03-2003, 07:07 AM

Thanks Gary I feel resurected. Cause after thinking about it most of the night I don't see anyway in the world for thin blue when using gas for heat wood for flavor. Did the foil trick in my grill as well use a cast iron box now. Same effect as the foil I think ?

Now we up to $.08 for B3, who is going to make it $.10 ?

parrothead

10-03-2003, 07:56 AM

I'll make it .10

I used to soak when I first started smoking. I was trying to micro manage the temperature within a couple of degrees. I would have hunks to throw on if the temp was low, and have some chips soaking if there was no smoke and the temp was a little high. Learned a lot since my first couple of cooks.

I never soak, and preheat when possible. Have been toying with the idea of breburning, but don't see the need for it really.

Just my 2 cents worth.

chad

10-03-2003, 08:01 AM

I used to soak and foil pouch the chips/chunks in the gas grill but stopped when I realized they just dried out and burned anyway - after all that white smoke.

On the ECB I tried soaking chunks and didn't like the result -- then tried dry chunks (both hickory and local oak) and that was ok but still had some white smoke. So now I light off a couple of chunks with the charcoal and then add a couple of warmed chunks around the outside of the coals -- sometimes I'll put a handfull of oak "sawdust" (chainsaw chips) in with the "cold" charcoal, al a minion method.

Seems to work and I'm a lot happier with the lighter smoke flavor - especially with the hickory.

willkat98

10-03-2003, 08:05 AM

I love this debate.

Personal preference for me is to never soak wood. When I first started 4 years ago on the ECB, my wife made a comment like "boy, this stuff really tastes like smoke" She was right, but it was probably more sooty cuz I would soak mesquite chips for 24 hours and keep throwing the stuff on all through the smoke. If I stopped seeing white clouds come out of the Brinkman, I would throw another handfull on.

But now, with the preheating, the spraying, the foiling, the instant combustion of the wood, and the sweet blue and no white smoke, my wife made a comment 3 days ago like "this stuff tastes great. Your Q no longer tastes like a chunk of wood. It has BBQ flavor, not wood flavor. I would bet that if someone tried this today, they would not even know you smoked it, just that it tastes great."

I was beaming.

So IMO, if it tastes like your chewing on bark, that's not Q, thats wood.

parrothead

10-03-2003, 08:19 AM

How about an electric wok mod? plug it in near your cooking area and place your next bunch of wood in it. Or an electric skillet? I have preheated on top of the fire box, but worry about premature combustalation.

Oldtimer

10-03-2003, 08:24 AM

I see two thoughts here but only one direction I think. All wood- charcoal fire no soak or gas assisited soak ? Trying to get up to $.50 today. Weekend coming up and I don't want to fark up my brisket. Then again if wife will not keep son a bitch out of frig will not matter cause it's not going to thaw till spring.

chad

10-03-2003, 08:33 AM

Bill;

It's a great feeling when the spouse says, after eating out somewhere, "That was good but your ribs (pork, chicken, whatever) is better" -- that just makes my day!!

I still love to eat 'Q out but I find myself thinking either "mines just as good" or and absolutely humble (yeah right!) "mines better". :D

And the debates are good -- soak/don't soak; foil/don't foil; etc.

rbinms33

10-03-2003, 02:42 PM

I used to soak wood chips as well but this was when I would buy the small bags of chips. If you didn't soak them, they'd be gone before you know it. Now I just throw on a preheated chunk of wood roughly the size of a beer can. No soaking necessary cause it'll burn for a while. As far as preburning, is that something you'd do with "green" wood? Preburn so none of the acidity will affect the meat?

Richie

parrothead

10-04-2003, 07:14 AM

As far as preburning, is that something you'd do with "green" wood? Preburn so none of the acidity will affect the meat?

I would never use green wood even if it is burned. preburn would be having a fire going next to the smoker with your wood and shoveling in coals as needed.

rbinms33

10-05-2003, 09:20 AM

BBQchef33

10-05-2003, 10:00 AM

That just goes to show....you learn something new each day. I'm not even going to show my ignorance at what I thought preburning was. What you're talking about doing is building a fire and shoveling the coals into the smoker, right? Kinda like you do charcoal with the charcoal chimney. But would you still need to put wood (or preheated wood) on top of that to get the smoke effect?

MY philosphy here, and it may be wrong, buts its mine...:)

Preburned wood, either down to coals, or throughly burning logs is all ya need. Although some of us use "smoking" and "BBQ'ing" interchangably, I consider smoke cooking something different from what we do. We're not looking for smoke, we're looking for clear, clean sweet blue, which ya get from coals and burning logs. So adding wood for smoke is unnecessary. You'll get smoke flavor from using plain lump or kingsford without even adding chunks, it just not so dominant. What I found with doing the 2 fire/preburn approach besides it being alot of extra work, for minimal return is that the smoke flavor is more dominent. Most likly because its a 100% wood cook as opposed to my normal way of mixing some lump in occasionally to keep a good coalbed going. I guess my equivalent version of the preburn wood is the occasionaly chimney of fully lit lump I throw in, but its alot easier to fire that up with trhe turkey fryer burner than keep 2 fires going.

.02 for the day.

willkat98

05-13-2004, 07:37 AM

I'll pull this one back up to the top of the pile for anyone of the more recent brothers to add their $.02.

This is a great serious discussion on soaking versus non soaking.

PS, where the hell is John?

Solidkick

05-13-2004, 09:13 AM

I might as well chime in...........

If I'm using chunks in the Bandera, I do not soak the chunks.

If I'm using chips in the Bandera, which is very rarely, but I'm using direct heat for grilling, I do soak the chips.

If I'm using chunks or chips in the Meco Electric, I soak the chunks or chips to avoid from immediate ignition. There is no way to preheat the wood when using the electric smoker. The Meco turns out damn fine Q, it just takes longer.

I would soak mesquite chips for 24 hours and keep throwing the stuff on all through the smoke.

And that's why I do not use mesquite, to me it tastes like soot.

Anyone got a quarter?

parrothead

05-13-2004, 09:17 AM

Anyone got a quarter?

2 fingers?

brdbbq

05-13-2004, 09:27 AM

If I'm using chunks or chips in the Meco Electric, I soak the chunks or chips to avoid from immediate ignition. There is no way to preheat the wood when using the electric smoker. The Meco turns out damn fine Q, it just takes longer

Same for my gas unit but it's quicker not longer

BigAl

05-13-2004, 10:15 AM

I might as well chime in...........

If I'm using chunks in the Bandera, I do not soak the chunks.

If I'm using chips in the Bandera, which is very rarely, but I'm using direct heat for grilling, I do soak the chips.

Same here, Solid.

25-30 years of soaking Hickory chips and small limbs trimed from yard trees(used some green, if out of dry) in MO on my old Charboril with Kingsford. Many great meals with no complaints. Direct heat for grilling and off set heat over water pan for big turkeys on rotissery.

skolek

05-13-2004, 04:11 PM

Well let me throw something into the mix... ;)

When using whole logs or splits, do you wash them? For example I've used logs/splits that are plain outright dirty, with dirt, or fungus, or mold, etc... i usually soak the whole logs or splits for a few hours, i.e. 4 hours at least, then use a grill brush to clean them up real good, rinse, then throw them on the fire.

I could not see using some of the logs I have seen, without washing them first.

In all actuality, I don't think you could soak whole logs or even splits for that matter long enough for them to really pick up too much moisture. After all we are working with mostly hardwoods here, right? So how much water can they really soak up?

Now here's another question: What about the bark? I've heard in some places that the bark should be removed, some say don't bother, what about the groups opinion?

Thanks,
Scott

P.S. If I can talk the wife into it, I think I'll be heading to the BBQ contest in Cambridge, MN.

BigAl

05-13-2004, 04:37 PM

MUD on your log? Wash sounds like a good idea. Bark, if it comes off easy, take it off, if not, preheat log with bark closest to heat source, grab your favorite beverage, after log is heated, put it in with the bark down on the hottest part of the fire and get another beverage, enjoy your day and the q when it's done.

Good luck with the wife! :wink: :roll:

Jorge

05-13-2004, 04:50 PM

P.S. If I can talk the wife into it, I think I'll be heading to the BBQ contest in Cambridge, MN.

Any chance they have a craft fair in conjunction? Or one within driving distance the same day? Craft fairs are a salvation my brothers! Encourage your better halves! A craft fair is good for 18 holes, a football game, a hand wash and wax of your vehicle (beverages included), and so much more. Can I get an Amen?!

kcquer

05-13-2004, 06:46 PM

2 fingers?

Rarely anymore, it generally comes compacted.

And that's why I do not use mesquite, to me it tastes like soot.

Couldn't agree more, but I've been wrong about woods before so now that I know a bit better how to burn the stuff than I used too, I have been planning to give it another try, probably for a brisket cook. Texas Mod

we are working with mostly hardwoods here, right? So how much water can they really soak up?

If properly seasoned, a lot of water. That said wet wood is different than green wood. Green wood is seasoned over a period of time, wet wood will dry out in a day or two. Mark in St Louis seems to be quite knowledgeable about the particulars on wood. Hopefully he'll weigh in and clear up my mud. If you want to know exactly how much water it'll soak up, weigh a stick dry, soak it and weigh it again. Water weighs about 8 1/3 lbs per gallon, a little math and you'll know exactly. The amount will vary with the desity of the wood. Red oak is quite porous and will suck up a lot, an extremely dense wood like sugar maple probably not as much.

brdbbq

05-14-2004, 06:58 AM

hand wash

What about a hand job :?: Amen

ckkphoto

05-14-2004, 08:01 AM

I'll make it .10

Have been toying with the idea of breburning, but don't see the need for it really.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Preburning is a technique that I reserve for cooking brisket over mesquite. Mesquite can taste nasty if the burn isn't clean, and pre-burning and tranferring hot coals to the firebox results in extremely even temps and clean smoke. It is also a HELL of a lot of work. Tastes wonderful to do a brisket this way, but frankly I don't usually want to work that hard. Occaisionally one of my freinds with dump a pickup load of mesquite on me, and I just have to make do.

racer_81

05-14-2004, 09:02 AM

hand wash

What about a hand job :?: Amen

Amen.

Bigdog

05-14-2004, 11:19 AM