On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 17:06:55 -0700, "Califbill" wrote:

"Earl" wrote in message
...

wrote:
On Fri, 21 Jun 2013 08:46:37 -0700, "Califbill"
wrote:

We bbq mostly chicken, pork and fish. If you have a wood burning grill,
then you will get more flavor. Gas, you might as well use the broiler.
We
have an electric skillet with a broiler lid, so not even a lot of mess to
clean up.
That is why I throw hickory chips in there.
I have a spare "floater" from my spa that I drop in a bucket of water
with a handful of chips and let them soak an hour or so and they smoke
up real good.
For chicken or ribs I sometimes use charcoal. Put the charcoal in,
fire up the gas and when the charcoal is good and hot, turn off the
gas. Just be sure to use pure charcoal, not that chemical laced "match
light" stuff.
I use my smoker about once a month. There is no need to soak the
smoking wood. It's actually better to get as much early smoke as
possible. When the meat is "sealed" from the heat it can't absorb much
more smoke. I learned this many years ago but started with the same
theory as you - to provide constant smoke by soaking the wood.
-------

Not soaking the chips get flames and little smoke in my experience.

My smoker is electric, so I never get flames - just smoldering. I got rid of the charcoal smoker
many years ago. Too much trouble when smoking a turkey.

John H.
--

Hope you're having a great day!