"Curly Sue" wrote in message
Container? Ooops, my bad. I just put the chips on the coals. It
made smoke : I drained the chips in a sieve for about 10 minutes
(shaking occasionally to get water off) before putting them on the
coals.

Why do we need a container?


Chips on coals burn up too fast. Larger ships, more chunks would work like
that though. The container allows the chips to heat and give off smoke at a
regulated pace as there is little air getting inside to allow them to flare
up. Foil packets work also.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

"texpat" wrote in news:VnhGc.36109$Lh.19809@okepread01:

I have a high quality gas grill, but recently bought a "Smoky Joe",
because cooking on the gas grill was about like cooking inside.

I've tried wood chips, but I must not be waiting long enough. How long
(approximate) do the wet wood chips have to heat?

Well-chosen wood chips used in a quality gas grill with proper
vaporization...




Depends on where you put them. The container of wood chips needs to be
very close to the heat source. I have a small cast iron box to hold the
chips, which I place directly over the burner.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

"texpat" wrote in news:VnhGc.36109$Lh.19809@okepread01:

I have a high quality gas grill, but recently bought a "Smoky Joe",
because cooking on the gas grill was about like cooking inside.

I've tried wood chips, but I must not be waiting long enough. How long
(approximate) do the wet wood chips have to heat?

Well-chosen wood chips used in a quality gas grill with proper
vaporization...



Heat? Hell they're supposed to smolder. Only pre-soaking them to get maxium
smoke and minium flames. I like to use pre-soaked oak chips in beer, cheap
american beer. I like the flavour that oak smoke gives beef.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

And how long does it take before they are ready for you to begin cooking??

Depends on where you put them. The container of wood chips needs to be
very close to the heat source. I have a small cast iron box to hold the
chips, which I place directly over the burner.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

Curly Sue wrote:

Container? Ooops, my bad. I just put the chips on the coals. It
made smoke : I drained the chips in a sieve for about 10 minutes
(shaking occasionally to get water off) before putting them on the
coals.

Try using chunks wrapped in foil. Chips in a container will work but I
prefer chunks. You'll use less and there's no need to soak them.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

"texpat" wrote in news:YpiGc.36121$Lh.24491@okepread01:

And how long does it take before they are ready for you to begin
cooking??

Depends on where you put them. The container of wood chips needs to
be very close to the heat source. I have a small cast iron box to
hold the chips, which I place directly over the burner.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.




When the bbq is ready to cook, just prior to the placement of the
meat...the chips go on the coals/burner/flavour bar. Scattered, in a
container or wrapped in foil.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

James Schrumpf wrote:


Really? Most gas converts I know (and I am one) freely admit to
charcoal's flavor superiority, and made the switch purely for
convenience.

Gas on -- gas off!

Yep. Mostly for convienence. Easy to add some wood chips for a bit of
smoke when grilling. Most burger places (non-chain) around here use
mesquite for grilling. Great taste but the dang health folks say the
mesquite smoke produces a toxin. Now some lawyer wants mesquite banned
from grills in AZ. Wonder what they'll switch too.

BKahuna wrote:

For me, barbecue is meat that is cooked for an extended period of
time and at lower temperature using wood or wood products like lump
charcoal.

Slow cooking is the key. I do not however subscribe to the notion that
the addition of smoke makes every single meat recipe better. I treat
smoke like I would any other recipe ingredient. Most of the time I do
like the addition of smoke but not always.

Kind of reminds me of the making of fine wines. For centuries the
addition of charred oak in aging wines was considered a major quality of
a finer wine. Today many of the better winemakers have found that it is
easy to make a smokey/oak wine but it masks many of the finer flavor
nuances that would otherwise be notable. While not a perfect analogy, I
find some similarities with BBQ. Too many BBQ restaurants (at least
here) have way oversmoked meats on their menus for my taste.

Just today (6/7/04) there was an article in the Food
section of the Washington Post about Charcoal vs
Gas in the Food 101 column authored by Robert Wolke,
an emeritus professor of chemistry at the Univ. of
Pittsburgh. He touts lump charcoal as the best,
followed by gas and briquets not even being in the
running. He talks about the water (steam) production
of the gas grills as a detriment to obtaining good
grilling without steaming the meat. You have to
register with the Post but it is an interesting read

http://www.washingtonpost.com

Greg

PS. He also explains the difference between
grilling and BBQing. Really a pretty good
article. The briquettes suffer the most because
of the ingredient list that he provides.

And I don't have any side to take in this. I
currently grill on a 22 inch Weber charcoal
setup but am considering gas for the
convenience, which he doesn't go into.

Greg

PS. He also explains the difference between
grilling and BBQing. Really a pretty good
article. The briquettes suffer the most because
of the ingredient list that he provides.

And I don't have any side to take in this. I
currently grill on a 22 inch Weber charcoal
setup but am considering gas for the
convenience, which he doesn't go into.

Greg