Soaking Wood

Former Member

Just got my Smokette Elite today and did the break-in. Plan to smoke some brats tomorrow. Should I soak the wood before placing it in the woodbox or just put it in dry as it comes out of the box. Thanks for answering. Totally new at this, but anxious to get started. However, I want to do it right.

Jerry M

4/3/109:33 PM

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nmaggie69Member

Use it dry. Wet wood will smolder and give a bitter taste. Go light on the wood at first. Also play around with search function there are not to many questions that don't have pretty extensive threads.

4/4/1012:29 AM

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cal 2Member

Congrats on the new smoker, enjoy your results of the hard labor involved.(LOL) It is going to give you time to have a few more ice teas.

The first search is on me and this is where you probably should start. Don't be afraid to ask questions or simply find your own answers.

The burning of soaked wood may warp element, besides it won't taste as good as stated above.

I'm not a brat smoker, so I can't help there, but check out the sausage section and see whats there.

Have a nice Easter and your gonna love that new smoker!

4/4/107:41 AM

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Former Member

Hi Jerry,

Welcome to the forum.

Love brats in the smoker. Heating them up that way does work well. Just take one or two chunks, put them into the smoker, say at 200/225 and let them go. If they're fresh, take them to 160, if they're already cooked, take them to 140 because you just want to reheat them, not cook them.

A digital thermometer may not be something you have, but most stores carry them, say $20. Test it in boiling water to make sure it's accurate.

Pretty common question about wood. A lot of us through the years always hear "soak the wood".

We actually had this same question this week, it's posted down in the Wood forum, but I've copied the reply here because I think it will answer your questions.

quote:
Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
Feel free to try it, but here are my thoughts.

1. Soaking is not good. I know, I know we were all told to soak the wood. Here's why I think it's not good.

Look at the smoke from soaked wood vs not soaked wood. You get a LOT of gray/ugly smoke when soaking. The reason is that soaking wood creates wet wood which smolders not burns. Now to the novice, "seeing" smoke sounds like a good thing, but what you're actually seeing is impurities in the wood because it wasn't able to completely burn... just smolder.

The current thinking is that you don't want dirty/white smoke with the impurities, you want the clear/blue smoke of wood that's actually burning clean.

Not sure how vinegar would help/hurt, but I've seen a few people on food network mention it. I think it "smells" good, but not sure how much, if any flavor it adds.

Just my thoughts, what do I know... you individual result may be exactly what you want.

Good luck, if you try it let us know.

Smokin'

Hope that helps, if you have any specific questions about this or other new guy stuff, just ask. We'll help.

Smokin'

4/4/108:29 AM

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pagsMember

That's a great thread Cal. I'll reread it in my spare time to see if I know most of this stuff.

4/4/109:41 AM

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Former Member

Thanks to all of you for the replies to my query. Thanks for the reminder. I'll do a search first, next time. I am looking forward to getting those brats in the smoker today, and testing the results. I'll let you know how they turn out. Also bought some ribs which I'll try later. Figured I'd start with something a little easier for my first try. I know I am going to gain a lot from being on this forum, and I look forward to checking out prior posts. Thanks again for the help.

Phestus

4/4/1010:26 AM

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cal 2Member

Pags,

I bet I read it 3 times or more this winter. I was out of work because of weather, just read a lot(10 weeks). Wish I had gotten my smoker after reading, but I needed the practice.

I would have used KISS method done BIG pork butt for my 1st smoke, but hey I did ribs useing KISS and BEST ribs I had ate in long time.

Phestus, give that PB a try sometime and see what you think!

4/4/1012:58 PM

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