Picture this: you’ve decided to host a huge, annual backyard barbecue for you, your friends and your family.
The weather is sunny, and the energy is high – but when you go to fire up your grill to start preparing food for all of your guests, there’s just one problem… your wood chips won’t smoke!
If you have found yourself in this predicament more often than once, then keep in mind that this issue is far more common than you might think.
So much so, that besides the fact that electric grills are ideal for smoking a variety of different foods, one of the most common complaints many grillers experience is little to no smoke from the wood pellets.
Luckily enough, there are plenty of ways that you can try to troubleshoot the problem to get your wood chips smoking – and this is where we come in to lend you a helping hand.
Below, we are going to be sharing with you some factors that might be preventing your wood chips from smoking, so that you can figure out why your wood chips might not be smoking. Read on!
Poor Quality Wood Chips
First things first, one of the most common reasons why you might be noticing that your wood chips simply aren’t smoking (regardless of what type of electric grill you have) might be due to the fact that the wood chips are of poor quality.
In order to ensure that wood pellets are able to provide a great amount of smoke for cooking, they will need to have been first saturated with liquid.
If they do not undergo this process, then they will be dry – and dry chips are often unable to produce as great a cloud of smoke as wood chips that have undergone the saturation process.
More often than not, you will usually be able to purchase wood chips that already come saturated in water, although you should keep in mind that you have the option of saturating the wood chips yourself.
If you are interested in soaking your wood chips prior to using them, then you can use a variety of different liquids in accordance with your preferences – including using wine, broth, stock and more.
The choice is entirely up to you, you’re just going to want to make sure that you are allowing your wood chips to soak for a period of around 30 minutes for the best amount of smoke.
In addition to making sure to saturate your wood chips, it’s also worth keeping in mind that the type of wood chips that you use will also affect the quality of the smoke that your wood chips price.
For the greatest amount of wood chips, we recommend that you consider hickory wood chips – as they are known for producing a great amount of smoke.
Low Heat
Alongside dry, poor quality wood chips, another reason why your wood chips might not be smoking could simply be down to the fact that there is not enough heat.
In order to make sure that you are able to get the greatest amount of smoke that you can from your wood chips, you’re going to want to make sure that the temperature is around 285-300 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you use this optimum heat range, then you will find that your wood chips are able to produce the necessary amount of smoke needed for cooking, while anything less is more than likely not going to be enough to heat the wood chips enough to produce smoke. Leaving you unable to grill with your smoker.
Weak Air Circulation
As we’re sure you’re already aware, in order to make sure that your electric griller is working in the way that it should be – it’s very important to make sure that it has the proper ventilation.
Besides ensuring that your grilled food is evenly cooked, making sure that you have a good circulation of air traveling through your electric grill will also help to increase the amount of smoke that your wood chips are able to produce.
So, if you happen to find that your wood chips aren’t smoking as greatly as you would like them to, then we recommend that you consider adjusting the door of your grill’s smoker to see if you can notice any changes in the amount of smoke that is being produced by your wood chips.
Poor Weather Conditions
Last but not least, another reason why you might be finding that your wood chips aren’t smoking as well as you would like could be down to the wind, rain, and other adverse weather conditions.
For this reason, if you don’t already have one, we recommend that you consider investing in a shelter that will be able to help keep your electric grill protected from external factors (such as unwanted weather conditions) while you are using it!
For a quick fix, placing your grill underneath a makeshift tent or umbrella will help to keep your wood chips from smoking, but if you happen to live in a wetter area of the world – we recommend that you consider investing in a more permanent solution.
Most grillers that struggle with the weather interfering with their wood chips often install a metal shelter or pergola around their grill.
Final Words
So, there we have it! Thank you for taking the time to read through this article.
After reading through the above, we’re hoping that you now have a much greater understanding of why your wood chips might not be smoking, and are now ready to go and troubleshoot the issue to see if you can get your wood chips to start smoking as they should be.
As we have said, this issue is a lot more common than you might think, so why not pin this guide for future reference? Thank you for reading, and Happy Grilling!
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