Use BBQ Wood Chips to Intensify Your Grilling

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You might not know that barbecue can take on a whole new dimension if you use BBQ wood chips. If you’re a master BBQ chef, then you probably know the fine benefits of BBQ wood chips. But many people have no idea what the big deal is about this product.

Wood chips are used in your grill in addition to charcoal or gas. If you are not using a wood fire to cook your food, then the only way you are going to get a true smoke flavor is by adding wood to your fire.

BBQ wood chips take your grilling to a whole new level. Whether you use a charcoal, gas or electric grill, wood chips will give you authentic barbecue flavor. There are special smoker boxes that can be placed in your gas and charcoal grills to add that special wood smoke flavor. Read the instructions for your particular grill before you try doing this.

When you use wood chips, take care to keep them burning quite slowly. The resulting heavy smoke will spoil your food with an acrid taste. If you soak wood chips in water for about 15 minutes before you use them, you’ll slow down their burn and make them smoke more. 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. Although soaked wood chips burn longer, if you are cooking a steak you might not need them to burn for that long.

Wood chips are available in a large range of varieties that cater to all tastes. They go from mesquite and hickory all the way to cabernet. The stores that sell BBQ wood chips will have flavor guides to help you wade your way through the new age of wood chips.

In general, if your meat is lighter, you’ll need a milder wood chip flavor. But it also doesn’t hurt to experiment and try mesquite with chicken, just begin with fewer wood chips then you would normally use.

With its more delicate aroma, alder wood chips best accompany lighter meats like fish and poultry. The flavorful fruitwoods go best with veal, poultry and pork. These types of woods include cherry or apple.

Hickory or maple 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 mesquite wood chips, while beef or ham go well with oak wood chips, which is another strong flavor.

Just remember that BBQ wood chips are a flavor enhancer and not the meal itself, so don’t skimp on your meats. A substandard cut of meat is not going to be improved significantly by the wood chip you use. Make sure you have a good cut that is fresh and well prepared.

So the next time you decide to grill a great piece of meat consider using some of these BBQ wood chips and savor the great flavor and aroma coming off your grill.