How to Make a Foil Woodchip Pack for Smoking Meat

How to Make a Foil Woodchip Pack

Before I explain how to make a foil woodchip pack, I need to explain why this is important.

I often have folks ask me if they should soak the wood chips in water or not and my answer is always the same.. it's not necessary and in most cases is even counter productive.

Here's some things that I have discovered about wood chips:

Wet wood chips will cool the coals, you don't want that in most cases.
Wet wood chips produce a lot of steam, not so much smoke.
Dry wood chips smoke better and produce better smoke.
Soaked wood chips do not keep them from burning up.

So why does everyone in the world soak wood chips and wood chunks before using them? I have no earthly idea.. maybe because everyone else does it? Your guess is as good as mine!

Having said that, I do know that it is frustrating to throw wood chips onto the coals to produce a little smoke and they are burned up within minutes if not sooner. The answer to this problem is NOT to soak them but rather to reduce the oxygen that gets to the chips so they can produce smoke without catching on fire.

This is where wrapping the wood chips in foil comes in.

To wrap wood chips in foil, follow these instructions:

Tear off a piece of 18×18 foil (or 12×12 if you have the smaller box of foil) and lay it flat on the table or counter.

Place a handful of wood chips in the center of the foil.

Fold the four sides of the foil over on top of the wood chips to completely enclose the wood chips.

Use a fork or other sharp object to poke about 4-8 small holes in the top of the foil pack to let the smoke out.

Place these foil packs right on top of the coals or even above the burner or coals on the grill.

Replace pack with a new one when the smoke stops coming out.

I like to make 8-10 of these ahead and have them ready for when I need them but they are easy and quick to make so you can easily make them up as needed if you so desire.

Please note that my rubs and barbecue sauce are now available in 2 formats-- you can purchase the formulas and make them yourself OR you can buy them already made, in a bottle, ready to use.

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"Love the sauce and rub recipes. So far I have used them on beef ribs, pork ribs, and different chicken parts. Can't wait to do a beef brisket. Texas rub is great as well!" ~Peter S.

"I tried the rub on a beef brisket and some beef ribs the other day and our entire family enjoyed it tremendously. I also made a batch of the barbeque sauce that we used on the brisket as well as some chicken. We all agreed it was the best sauce we have had in a while." ~Darwyn B.

"Love the original rib rub and sauce! We have an annual rib fest competition at the lake every 4th of July. I will say we have won a great percent of the time over the past 15 years so we are not novices by any means. However, we didn't win last year and had to step up our game! We used Jeff's rub and sauce (sauce on the side) and it was a landslide win for us this year! Thanks Jeff for the great recipes. I'm looking forward to trying the Texas style rub in the near future!" ~Michelle M.

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