Wood chips - to soak or not to soak?
I used to always soak my wood chips and put them in my smoker box because, well because everyone said you were supposed to and I guess it kind of made sense. Recently I started reading that soaking wood chips is nothing but a waste of time and fuel as the wood doesn't absorb much water and the water itself needs to evaporate before combustion can happen. Soaking them just delays the smoke. So over the last couple months I've been skipping the soak and I gotta say, I wish I had figured this out much earlier. I'm getting a ton more smoke, getting it much earlier, and by just monitoring the heat I'm actually getting less flare-ups because I don't have to crank up my burners to get the smoke started.
Anybody else's thoughts?
Don't Soak Your Wood. This Myth Is Busted.