First time smoking question

[Tim in PA]

I have a whole chicken on my performer right now. I'm following a recipe in Weber's charcoal grilling book. It said to soak a handful of chips in water for at least 30 minutes. The smoke only last about 10-15 minutes at most. Is that normal or should I have soaked the chips longer?

[Hogsy]

Yep that's normal and depending on the type of chips it should be enough smoke to flavour the bird
I prefer to use chunks as you get more smoke for longer
Poultry tends to take smoke in pretty quickly
Just gotta be careful not to add to much but that's all up to personal preference
Let us know how it tastes

[jperry1907]

I agree, that should be enough. Even if you can't see the smoke, you probably still getting some smoke in there. Post some pics when it's done

[1buckie]

I'm a big believer in not soaking anything over the size of shread ( large sawdust ) as the fire has to work harder to exit the moisture, then still burn the wood.....
If overdone, it CAN lead to incomplete combustion of the wood, nasty white smoke & a bitter taste in the food......

As you're already into it, just take care to shake out excess water, drop onto a good clean burning set of coals & it should be fine......

I did hickory smoked turkey meatloafs a bit ago & only used 6 small handfuls of dry chips & it was just right.....try intermittently added dry chips next time.......

It's not some secret magical thing.....just a flavoring, like a rub or injection.....it's also added scource of fuel, so you want it to burn clean & play nice with your food.......

[Tim]

Chicken soaks up smoke flavor really fast. You don't want to over do it. When I use chips (soaked or not) I like to wrap a handful in foil and put it on the edge of the coals. Poke some holes in the foil and it will give you a longer smoke.

[Duke]

I just add a chunk or two near the hot spot and it will start to smoke when it heats up.

[SmoothSmoke]

Soaking doesn't do much man.  Add a a chunk or two of wood and you'll have enough smoke flavor for a chicken. 

[Tim in PA]

I'll call it a success, the chicken had great flavor and was very moist. Thanks for the reassurance.


So I shouldn't bother soaking next time? I got the excess water off the chips with  paper towels. And I almost bought junks instead of chips but decided to just follow the recipe to a T since it was my first time. I need to figure out how to keep the fire at a constant tempuratre. I added some charcoal about 30-45 minutes in and it didn't seem to make a different. Maybe I didn't add enough. I still had plenty of eat though as it was thoroughly cooked.

[Bman]

I use chunks while smoking & chips while grilling.  Neither get soaked in water.  Congrats on the tasty experiment.

[jperry1907]

Looks like you nailed it! You might want to get some charcoal holders/baskets and uses the minion method for longer smoke times.

[1buckie]

Good Show !!!

Glad it worked out well for you........

This is what your basic "thin blue" smoke will want to look like ~~>



That indicates a small, hot, clean ~ burning fire......

The foil packet works pretty darn good for chips also......just use a double thickness of foil, a fat fistful of chips, fold it up fairly tight, leave a little play inside the packet & poke 3~5 small holes in the foil to let the smoke breathe out....

That will work fine, loose or packet, for chicken & say, appetizer type stuff; if you're doing larger  pieces like pork shoulder or roast type thing, go ahead & commandeer some chunks........

[glrasmussen]

Great looking cook! I am a non-soaker now. Water chokes down the temp in my opinion. I do smoking on the front end of the cook. I have watched a lot of cooking shows, they say to dry in the fridge 24 hours(after brine) then smoke . I use only chunks, but after seeing Buckies cooks for turds, I am looking for shavings(dust) to try.

[1buckie]

Great looking cook! I am a non-soaker now. Water chokes down the temp in my opinion. I do smoking on the front end of the cook. I have watched a lot of cooking shows, they say to dry in the fridge 24 hours(after brine) then smoke . I use only chunks, but after seeing Buckies cooks for turds, I am looking for shavings(dust) to try.

It's kinda trick; I put up a fairly detailed how-to somewhere, but I don't remember where just now......
start with a very hot , orange pack of coals & squeeze out the shread real good....steams like crazy & is really hot at the start.....I've burnt my hand & forearm before, careful....
takes some practice, but turns out a real smooth flavor when right.......