wetting your wood

[chancy smith]

I have my first question, 

I have a homemade trailer smoker with a nice size fire box, ive smoked in it twice and the second time i took some advice from a friend and did not soke my apple wood in water before putting it in the fire box.  It just burnt up and not much smoke.  I generaly start a fire in the fire box with hedge wood let it burn down and add apple wood that has been soaking over night in a bucket.  my friend says that the watter does nothing but lower the temp in the fire box.  i think it smokes alot better.  what do you guys do?   i want good smoke flavor, help.

 

[fpnmf]

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch?search=soak+or+not

 

[seenred]

IMHO, soaking is a waste of time.  The water has to evaporate before the wood will burn or smoke, so soaking just delays the smoke.  Plus, the amount of water wood will absorb in a few hours is minimal anyway.  The way to control your smoke is by controlling how hot your fire is and how much oxygen it gets.

 

[q-in]

To me,it's personal preference of what works for you and your smoker.

 

[s2k9k]

Soak a piece of wood overnight then cut it in half and inspect the cross section and see how deep the water penetrated. I bet you will be surprised.

Wet wood will put off a lot of steam at first which a lot of people confuse with being smoke.

 

[frosty]

Chancy,

My experience is that a smaller, hotter, more condensed fire is better than a larger one.    Using smaller splits or chunks of wood will help minimize spikes in temperature.

I was real bad about wanting to look inside, and luckily some good folks here reminded me to keep the lid closed.  I was letting all the smoke out, and all the oxygen in. 

The rule is "if you're looking, you're not cooking".

I realized I was being impatient and causing my own problem.  I am better now thanks to all our friends at SMF.

Good luck with your efforts!!!

 

[geerock]

Wood absorbs very little water. Theres a reason they used it to make boats. Soaking does nothing but delay the smoke process.

 

[chancy smith]

So my fire was prob too hot when i put my smoking wood in, and it just burned up.  I need to cut the o2 to the fire when i add the wood and it will smoke more.  just enough 02 to keep the temp up?

 

[smokinclt]

Sounds like a stick burner.. I would very much recommend not soaking your wood. Lots of wise words so far. You just need to build a smaller fire and get it smoldering correctly. Adjust the FB dampers for a little less air and make sure to keep the exhaust wide open. I would try starting with oak and adding the apple pieces after you have a good little fire going. Also on a stick burner you don't really need to see smoke to have smoke. Doing a clear burn will work out just fine and you will still taste the smoke. 

 

[daveomak]

Chancy, evening and welcome..... How about a couple pictures of your smoker, firebox and air inlets to the firebox.... we may be able to help you modify it for better control etc.....   Dave