Any advice: Using chips first time.

[Rob O]

HI there. I was wondering if anybody could give me some advice. This will be the 5th time I'm using my Weber Bullet and I've learned there's a lot I need to learn about firing the grill and getting the temp. right.


I agreed last night to smoke some salmon fillets but as luck would have it the only fruitwood I could find was chips (apple).

Since I figure the chips are going to burn faster and maybe hotter than the chunks any advice on when I should add them and quantities?

What about soaking them ahead of time to prevnt flame ups? Or would that just smother my coals?

thanks.

 

[Greg Rempe]

Try soaking them for an hour or so then putting them in an aluminum foil puch and poke holes in the bad boy...throw it on the coals and run!! Good Luck ROBO!!

 

[Ken McCrary]

I always soak the chips first. I also learned from this forum that I use alot more than some. I also prefer the cave man method. I don't bother with the foil and simply sprinkle them on the coals. I've never noticed a problem with ashes. However, to be honest I have never smoked salmon either. Where I come from we eat salmon out of a can mixed with flour and fried up in patties....lol

 

[Tony Weisse]

One of the first cooks I did (on my discarded ECB) was turkey breast with apple chips. Every time the smoke died off I would throw on another handful. I used up the whole box on that cook and the turkey was about as tasty as a well-used ashtray!

With salmon you could probably get by with sprinkling a few soaked chips on the coals. They'll burn up pretty fast but should leave you with a light smokiness.

For longer burns I usually use make up a packet with aluminum foil. I've seen some suggest "poking it full of holes", but usually just put in a couple of small holes. Sometimes no holes at all, depending on how leaky the foil packet might be. This has given me a nice amount of smoke over a fairly long time.