Finally got to around to chipping n chunking some of my black cherry wood. What are your preferences? Soaked or dry? Favorite woods for smoking fish/ fowl ? Please share your secrets !!??
Dry! Always. Oak cherry pecan hickory which ever you pick, season it first. unless you like the taste of creosote!
Although most cookbooks and recipes will recommend soaking wood chips it's pretty much a waste of time. ( In My Opinion ) Pretty easy to prove by adding a tiny bit of dye to the soaking water and weighing a couple chunks before and after. Yes, they'll gain weight indicating a tiny bit of absorption but the dye will indicate on a split open piece that the absorption wasn't far enough into a chunk to make an appreciable difference . Never tried storing smoking chips in water but I kinda gave up smoking stuff as a waste of time any way. I could never taste a difference really. If you want steam spray the chunks with a spritser or add some water to a tin can next to/amongst the chips ?
Dry dry dry, maple, oak and fruit. I like to add cherry here and there. I've tried soaking, but I think it adds a bitter flavor. Much better results with dry chunks and splits over a pyramid stack of charcoal.
I do not soak my wood, but I just cut green wood, mostly preferring cedar or apple wood to smoke my meat. Being on the coast, cedar planked salmon is to die for I think.
SKEETER McCLUSKEY should take a gander at this, he pumps out more bbq than a restaurant can. I try to get my wood as dry as you can. Small splits helped me this summer, very nice to have them when I can use them. This winter I hope to smoke some meat in the snow. Usually plum, apple and cherry take front row in the weber on coals.
