Wood Chips


 
T

tmfast

TVWBB Super Fan
I want to do some turkey legs today to get warmed up for Memorial day. All I could find locally was apple chips " I hate chips". Does anyone have a good way to use em? Last time I used chips was 2 years ago. I put them in a foil pouch with holes.
Thanks to the economy, I can only get good chucks in the next county. The local home depot & lowes only carry cowboy, or a non-brand of hickory & mequite, and I am not really happy with the product.
 
foil with holes is the easiest way to go. i'll be doing that for my spares sunday with the lowe's apple chips.
 
i have done both. can't say i can tell a difference. i prefer chunks but the guy at the local getting place jacked his apple chunks up 4 dollars just in time for memorial day weekend. i told him he could keep the wood and may have lost a loyal customer
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by tmfast:
I want to do some turkey legs today to get warmed up for Memorial day. All I could find locally was apple chips " I hate chips". Does anyone have a good way to use em? Last time I used chips was 2 years ago. I put them in a foil pouch with holes.
Thanks to the economy, I can only get good chucks in the next county. The local home depot & lowes only carry cowboy, or a non-brand of hickory & mequite, and I am not really happy with the product. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Unless using a gasser, why bother soaking & using a foil pouch? Throw the chips by the chunks/handfuls directly on the coals - add more when they're done. That's how I do it anyway.
 
I usually soak the chip for a couple of hours, drain of the water or what ever liquid I am using, and through about two fist size hand fulls right over the hot coals, works out good for me. Happy smoking!!!
icon_biggrin.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clint:
Unless using a gasser, why bother soaking & using a foil pouch? Throw the chips by the chunks/handfuls directly on the coals - add more when they're done. That's how I do it anyway. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

i find that chips burn up too quickly like this. in the foil pouch they will smolder and produce smoke for a longer amount of time than if you just throw them on the coals. i do throw them right on the cols when grilling in the kettle. but slow and low on the WSM i foil them to get more smoke from them. them things aren't cheap...lol
 
chips really need to be soaked and put in foil with only a hole or two. i forgot to soak one time and the chips just burned up so fast i gave up.
 
If I get stuck having to use chips I put them in a well sealed foil pouch with one small hole in it, you want as little air as possible getting to them.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tony C.:

i find that chips burn up too quickly like this. in the foil pouch they will smolder and produce smoke for a longer amount of time than if you just throw them on the coals. i do throw them right on the cols when grilling in the kettle. but slow and low on the WSM i foil them to get more smoke from them. them things aren't cheap...lol </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you see these try 'em out - they last me forever used liberally... I grill at least 3 times per week, smoke a couple times at least per month during the summer (today too!! woo hoo!). I spend maybe $35 per year on cookin chunks & smoking chips from http://www.woodinc.com/chunks.html - they're sold at Smiths Foods around here.

Years ago on my way to discovering charcoal, I used a metal pan to hold smoldering wood chips. Kind of like a butter dish lid.
 
Where are you guys putting the foil pouches? Does it have to be heavy duty foil? Does it disintigrate?

I don't even foil my water pan for fear of ingesting aluminum
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clint:
Where are you guys putting the foil pouches? Does it have to be heavy duty foil? Does it disintigrate?

I don't even foil my water pan for fear of ingesting aluminum </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Even light-weight aluminum foil will work.

How exactly would you be ingesting aluminum?
Melting Point: 660.37 °C (933.52 K, 1220.666 °F)
Boiling Point: 2467.0 °C (2740.15 K, 4472.6 °F)

Regarding the pouches:
You want to limit air supply so they don't flame, but you want an exit route for the smoke too. With only 1 or 2 pinholes, much of the smoke is going to be deposited on the inside of your foil pack.
If you shape the pouch like a light-bulb and point the thin end up and have a finger-sized hole in that end for smoke to escape, you'll allow the smoke to exit without letting much oxygen in.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clint:
I don't even foil my water pan for fear of ingesting aluminum </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
You have nothing to worry about. If there were problems using foil pouches, I'd have died years ago. Plus, you'll spend much less time cleaning your water pan.
 
I like to use chips as an addendum to my wood chunks. I usually bury some in the charcoal pile when using the minion method.
 
aluminum is not a heavy metal and is totally safe in the human body. listen not to loons about such things. aluminum is often used to bolt bones back together and sending things through bone marrow is the easiest place to introduce metal poisoning. aluminum is inert to the human body.

charcoal when used in a typical wsm or kettle style cooking application is not hot enough to melt aluminum and no where near hot enough to vaporize it.
 
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