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smoking First Time Smoking!

PwnedPepper

PwnedPepper

Well I tried smoking for my first time. I decided to use bone/skin chicken thighs. Brined them in a mixture of random stuff... made a rub of sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne, brown sugar, cocoa and some other random things i think...then made a simple honey bbq sauce which came out GREAT! Smoked them with maple. Im pretty sure I did something with the wood wrong because there wasn't much smoke. Cooked perfectly though so I'm happy! Although i smoked them on a gas grill..:oops: :onfire:

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did you soak the wood in water before putting it on the fire?...

chicken looks very tasty...
 
was there no smoke flavor or is it that you couldnt see the smoke coming off of the grill...

i have smoked chicken many times on my gas grill... i turn one side of my grill on...get my wood chips going, put chicken opposite side of heat...smoke/cook them at 300*F until done... then i put the chicken directly on the grill above the heat to crisp up the skin...
 
yes i soaked the wood for a bit.
and i could see a little smoke coming off the wood but it didnt seem like much at all, and there wasnt much of a smokey flavor either...
 
PwnedPepper said:
yes i soaked the wood for a bit.
and i could see a little smoke coming off the wood but it didnt seem like much at all, and there wasnt much of a smokey flavor either...
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thats the problem with smoking on a grill for me as well...i get a mild smoke flavor but not very stong..

i do have a suggestion though... next time.. prep your grill like usual...get your wood smoking.... turn your grill down to as low as possible. put the birds over direct smoke for an hour, then finish them off indirect heat...maybe that will work.. you can change the times on each side..just a suggestion..

i never soak my wood chips... i did when i first started smoking and then went with the theory...if i have to wait for the wood to dry before it actually starts smoking in my smoker why bother...the wood wont smoke until it is dry....i just eliminated a step..lol

or you could build a UDS..lol
 
BamsBBQ said:
i never soak my wood chips... i did when i first started smoking and then went with the theory...if i have to wait for the wood to dry before it actually starts smoking in my smoker why bother...the wood wont smoke until it is dry....i just eliminated a step..lol
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Bam, I believe you've got this wrong. Dry chips burn up fast, wet chips start smoking right away and last longer. When you use large chunks you don't need to soak, but the chips, yeah. I did some apple chips just last night. They start smoking right away.
 
thehotpepper.com said:
Bam, I believe you've got this wrong. Dry chips burn up fast, wet chips start smoking right away and last longer. When you use large chunks you don't need to soak, but the chips, yeah. I did some apple chips just last night. They start smoking right away.
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yup they burn up fast if you leave them in an open type chip pan... wrap in heavy duty tinfoil, poke some holes in it..not as much oxygen will get at them and give you the smolder you want.
or they make those cast iron chip boxes for smoker..they work really well and keep the combustion of the wood chips at a minimum

i use both chips and chunks... yes chunks burn up slower but i still dont soak chips..lol
 
I've done it both ways with chips (though I honestly prefer blocks of tree) and I prefer to do it Bam's way, wrapped in foil with holes. Ime, you get more consistent good quality smoke.

If you can't get tree, try to get sawdust, I like it better than chips. With a power saw, miter or table, or router with dust collection you can make your own from whatever specialty plank you can get your hands on.
 
Oh, you guys are talking for the gas grill. Never tried that. I was talking about putting chips over charcoal. I soak. Do you guys foil for coals?
 
If i'm using my large smoker with a fire box I put the chips in a cast iron "smoke box" that I picked up for about $10. Very heavy cast iron with holes in the sides and top. The whole thing gets soaked in water. When I use my small smoker I don't put coals on one side and just stack a bunch of chips up against the side of the smoker (soaked first) and the heat from the coals that are close by allows me to get a good smoke for at least 4 hours at a time.
 
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