Wet wood vs dry wood

[MrJaba]

Hey Guys,

I've always used soaked dry chips in my Weber one touch, and even with some firespice chunks I soaked those before putting them on the coals as I read from lots of sources this was the thing to do... until christmas and I got wicked good BBQ (ace book) but they say to use dry wood as it lets the wood properly combust and stops it giving off creosote onto the food.

So.. what do you guys do?

I've tried both now and didn't notice a difference.. except that using the dry wood my temperatures which are normally pretty stable were all over the shop.

[Eddie]

I think across the board it will be 50/50. I parterre wet wood and you don't have to stop at water, I've soaked mine in apple juice, different types of beer, coke and I've known of someone that uses food flavourings. I personally think it enhances the overall taste and gives you a deeper flavour profile.

Eddie

[MrJaba]

But no nasties from partially combusted wood? Cool.. that was all I was worried about really! Thanks.. love the idea of soaking it in apple juice, doing it in beer sounds like a bit of a waste of good beer hehe

[keith157]

I think a lot sepends on the size of the chunks. Chips I always soak and like Ed have used other liquids, chunks I've never bothered with and haven't had any noticeable problems.

[Eddie]

But no nasties from partially combusted wood? Cool.. that was all I was worried about really! Thanks.. love the idea of soaking it in apple juice, doing it in beer sounds like a bit of a waste of good beer hehe

I enjoy beer very much as well, but it also complements beef very well, as does apple juice or cider with pork. If you can infuse the flavour whilst cooking BBQ you can get some fantastic results from it.

Eddie

[derekmiller]

I am with Keith on this one.
Soak chips, leave chunks as they are.

[Tiny]

Soaking wood every time, the only thing I want going WOOF! around my bbq is Gunner, my faithful guide dog.


Didnt bother soaking once and it was infernotastic.........
Cheers
Tiny

[MrJaba]

So just out of interest, why would you soak chips but not chunks? Practicality reasons or something else?

[keith157]

Chips are by their nature very thin and will combust easily soaking them is the same as using green wood on a bonfire, more smoke then flame. Soak chips for as long as you can, the moister the better (flashback to Carry-On films sorry ). Chunks are a different matter they smoulder for ages producing the desired smoky flavour. There is an interesting video on Youtube with a guy showing the results of soaking chunks.

[derekmiller]

Personally I dont think chunks soak up any water anyway, unless you leave them submerged for months.
With chips I soak them for a good hour or so, even more if I have planned ahead . But even then they sometimes combust too quicly. If I have a high temperature running for a BCC for example.