Fire Pit Tips

There is nothing better then BBQ meat that has been cooked or smoked with wood chips. If you are an avid griller then you already know the reason for using barbecue wood chips. But many people have no idea what the big deal is about this product.

What are BBQ wood chips and why use them? These wood chips are very small pieces of wood added to your BBQ that will create smoke. If you’re not already using wood to cook your food, the only way you’re going to get true smoke flavor is to add wood to your grill fire.

Using BBQ wood chips can send your grilling into the stratosphere. Whether you use a charcoal, gas or electric grill, wood chips will give you authentic barbecue flavor. You can also buy a special smoker box to place in your gas or charcoal grill so that you can get that “wood smoke” flavor. Read the instructions for your particular grill before you try doing this.

The key to using wood chips is to not let them burn too quickly. This creates intense bursts of smoke that can make food bitter. By soaking wood chips in water for about 15 minutes you can slow down the combustion and lengthen the time in which the smoke is created. Make sure you let the wood drip dry for a few minutes before you add it to the fire. You want the wood moist, not dripping wet.

If you’re using a smoker in your grill, it’s probably not necessary to soak the wood chips before you use them. Soaked wood chips will burn longer, but if you’re cooking a steak, you probably don’t want a long, slow grilling.

You can get BBQ wood chips in a variety of flavors. You can try cabernet, hickory or mesquite. The stores that sell these chips will have flavor guidelines so that you can choose the one that will give you the taste you want.

In general, if your meat is lighter, you’ll need a milder wood chip flavor. You can also try “heavier” flavors with lighter meats, though, such as using mesquite with chicken. If you’re going to do this, try using a few wood chips instead of a lot to see what this does to your flavor.

If you use alder wood chips, these are great to use with pork or seafood. Fruit wood chips are a mild wood chip that you can use with veal, poultry or pork. These types of woods include cherry or apple.

Hickory or maple barbecue wood chips are strongly flavored and should be used with poultry, pork or beef. Lamb, duck and beef also are great meats to use with strong mesquite wood chips. Beef or ham go well with oak wood chips, which is another strong wood chip flavor.

Just remember that BBQ wood chips are a flavor enhancer and not the meal itself, so don’t skimp on your meats! Make sure you have a good cut that is fresh and well prepared. Otherwise, your fancy wood chips will just be going to waste on an inferior piece of meat that no amount of grilling expertise can retrieve.

Using BBQ wood chips takes us back to that glorious time when all good cooking was done on an open wood fire. Don’t settle for just a plain old grilled steak or bland chicken breast cooked on bare coals. Cook like a pro and enjoy the vibrant aromas and flavors that come from cooking with BBQ wood chips.