So you’re planning to add some wood chips to the grill to create that perfect smoky flavor when you start to think about soaking your wood chips.
Some guides recommend soaking wood chips for 30 minutes while some recommend soaking for 8 to 24 hours.
Personally, I prefer the lazy and easiest method so I would just soak my wood chips overnight or keep my wood chips sitting in water but this raises the question:
Can you soak wood chips for too long?
Generally, wood chips can be soaked for up to 24 hours or a few days and can still be used in a smoker. Wood chips that are soaked for 1 month or longer will begin to rot and break down.
So wood chips are safe to soak for 30 minutes, 24 hours, or even a week and still place in the smoker. The only difference with wood chips allowed to soak longer is that they may smolder at a later time after all the water evaporates from the wood.
Now let’s cover the pros and cons of soaking wood chips to see if it’s even worth your time!
Reason For Soaking Wood Chips
The reason why most guides recommend soaking wood chips is to prevent the wood chips from burning so quickly on the fire.
The thought is that soaked wood chips will smolder longer than dry wood chips.
However, there is some debate as to whether or not soaking wood chips actually allows the wood chips to smolder longer and create more wood smoke.
Another reason folks recommend soaking wood chips is to add flavor to the wood chips by soaking them in whiskey.
First, we’ll cover soaking wood chips in whiskey and then cover if soaking wood chips helps them smolder longer.
Adding Flavor To Wood Chips
One way that some folks add flavor to wood chips is by soaking them in whiskey.
Similar to marinating your meat, soaking wood chips in whiskey will allow the whiskey flavors to absorb into the wood chips and alter the smoke flavor.
So if you want to add a specific whiskey flavor to your wood chips then soak the wood chips in that whiskey for at least 24 hours before throwing the wood chips on the grill.
Allowing the wood chips to soak in the whiskey for a longer time will allow more of the whiskey flavor to absorb into the wood chips.
Now let’s cover if soaking wood chips in water, or even whiskey, helps the wood chips smolder longer.
Water Evaporating From Soaked Wood Chips
There is a good case study published on amazingribs.com that proves soaking wood chips is just delaying the wood chips from burning and creating the wood smoke you want.
Soaked wood chips will start to burn off all the water first via steam before burning and creating the wood smoke you want.
So effectively, soaking wood chips is not necessary unless you want to delay when the wood smoke is created by the wood chips.
However, the case study did show a good method for soaking wood chips. If you soak half of your wood chips and keep half of your wood chips dry, then the dry ones will burn first and your soaked ones will start smoking later in the fire.
How To Soak Wood Chips For Delayed Smoke Release
The best way to incorporate soaking wood chips is for delaying when the smoke will be released from the soaked wood chips.
So do the following when you want to extend the amount of time there is smoke being created by your wood chips:
- Toss dry wood chips onto the fire to create wood smoke immediately
- Include soaked wood chips onto the fire to create wood smoke later
Some folks will use a smoker box or aluminum tray partially filled with water to help delay further delay when the soaked wood chips will begin to create wood smoke.
Just remember that the water will evaporate first via steam before any of the soaked wood chips will be hot enough to create wood smoke.
Final Thoughts
Soaking wood chips can be beneficial if you plan to add flavor to the wood chips or delay when the smoke is created by the soaked wood chips.
Generally speaking, wood chips cannot be soaked for longer than 1 month, or else the wood may begin to deteriorate. Soaking wood chips for a longer period of time will allow the wood to absorb more of the liquid the wood chips are soaking in.
So feel free to soak wood chips for a longer period of time if it’s more convenient just to place them in a jar of whiskey or water and have them sitting there for a few days or a week.
The wood chips will absorb more of the liquid and will create wood smoke at a later time than dry wood chips.
Just make sure to also include dry wood chips on your grill so that you can begin to create wood smoke immediately while your soaked wood chips dry out.
Now that you know the benefits of soaking wood chips – get out there and start smoking some food!
