For Better Grilling, Try BBQ Wood Chips

Take a tip from the experts: use BBQ wood chips to spice up your grilling. If you're a master BBQ chef, then you probably know the fine benefits of BBQ wood chips. However, lots of people don't have a clue why this product is so popular.

Wood chips are very small pieces of wood that are added to your BBQ to create smoke. 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 have an electric, gas or charcoal BBQ you can add wood chips to get 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.

The key to using wood chips is to not let them burn too quickly. The resulting heavy smoke will spoil your food with an acrid taste. 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. Before you use them, though, let the wood chips "drip dry" for a few minutes before you add them to your fire. You want the wood moist, not dripping wet.

When using a small smoker in your grill you don't necessarily have to soak your BBQ wood chips first. Although soaked wood chips burn longer, if you are cooking a steak you might not need them to burn for that long.

Wood smoking chips or BBQ wood chips are available in a wide variety of flavors. 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. You can also try "heavier" flavors with lighter meats, though, such as using mesquite with chicken, but start with fewer wood chips.

Alder wood chips have a mild flavor and are recommended for use with seafood and pork. 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.

But remember that barbecuing is all about the meat. If you don't have a good piece of meat, there is no wood chip in existence that will make your meat taste any better. 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.