Why you should stop removing wood chips when grilling. Everything you need to know about water absorption, slow burn, heat up time and more.
Wood chips form the basis of any good smoked kitchen, but one debate that never seems to go away IS whether or not YOU remove the wood chips before smoking.
This debate between wet wood and dry wood has been going on for a long time. However, challenge the conventional wisdom that you should soak in water before grilling, this is nothing more than an outdated myth.
Whether you’re new to grilling or a seasoned grill master, it’s important to debunk this myth.
Unconvinced? Here are some reasons why YOU should ditch the water and use only dry wood chips.
Wood chips do not absorb much water.
Believe it or not, studies show that solid wood chips absorb very little water, even after soaking for hours.
Cross-sections of various hardwood species from wood chips show minimal field of view beyond the surface layer and only slightly more water uptake into cracks and crevices. Wood chips absorb more water due to their large surface.
Much of the evidence for this lies in how the fries are affected after soaking them in food coloring.
Amazing Ribs conducted a study to see how far different types of wood shavings penetrate when soaked in a mixture of water and blue food coloring for 24 hours.
This is much longer than conventional wisdom says, so any significant effects observed in the experiment should be greater than what we would normally see with water.
The study found that the water-colored mixture barely made it above the surface of each chunk, only getting where cracks or fissures had already appeared. All other areas of the wood were bone dry.
If this is the effect after a full 24 hours, what are you hoping to achieve from the 1-2 hours typically recommended in BBQ smoke books?
Water interferes with slow combustion
When you put wet wood in a grill or smoker, it doesn’t catch fire right away. What you are actually observing is water evaporating at 212ºF (boiling point) and turning into steam. Only when the moisture has completely evaporated is the piece of wood heated to such an extent that smoke is produced and the food is flavored.
This shatters the theory that wet wood will give you a longer roast. When the wood smokes, it doesn’t smoke.
Do you have an electric smoker? Find out if you need to remove wood chips for an electric smoker .
Soaked chips can interfere with charcoal smoking
That’s just common sense. If you put wet wood on the grill or in the smokehouse, excess water will cool the coals. BBQ smoking is all about precise temperature control, and you just can’t do it if your coals are bothering you. Dry wood helps us keep everything nice and stable.
If you’re using a charcoal stove, soggy wood can smother the fire and reduce the heat. Because temperature control is such an important part of grilling, you’re unlikely to want any glitches.
Soggy fries don’t heat up faster
Many pit masters remove wood chips because they tend to burn up in a flash. Experts suggest placing dry chips in a foil pack and then poking holes to release the smoke. This solution not only prevents the shavings from igniting, but also improves the smoke quality.
Are there any benefits to soaking woodchips?
If you like to cook with wood, whenever you stir the wood for a few hours before putting it on the fire. Although the board doesn’t absorb much water, the moisture prevents the wood from catching fire and burning your food. If you forget to soak, you could make a relatively expensive mistake and order takeout.
While the debate will likely always be ongoing, in the end we all want to create a clean burning fire that’s thin, blue, and quickly invisible.
To me, there just isn’t enough evidence to justify you stirring your fries for hours. It’s a necessary step that creates more work than it deserves.
The wood needs to be dry for it to produce smoke instead of steam, so you’re essentially wasting time and oxygen soaking.
Writer & content creator. BBQ fanatic!
