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Soaking wood chunks, waste of time

PhilsGrill
PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I found the web page and video on soaking wood chunks.

Here it is:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/woods.html

Bottom line, waste of time and does nothing.

Comments

  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    Really I wasn't aware of that!! :woohoo: :ohmy: :laugh: :whistle:
  • Spring Chicken
    Spring Chicken Posts: 10,255
    It's interesting how wood works. A large oak tree will soak up over 100 gallons of water a day but when it is cut into pieces it hardly soaks up any water. I guess it works that way with humans too.

    Spring "Science Project Test Subject" Chicken
    Spring Texas USA
  • Gator Bait
    Gator Bait Posts: 5,244
    Spring Chicken wrote:
    I guess it works that way with humans too.

    Spring "Science Project Test Subject" Chicken
    Spring Texas USA

    Yup, I'd guess you'd be about right Leroy. :laugh:

    Gator
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Well. I have been preaching this for a while, and i'm late to the party. my logic is based solely on the construction of the egg. being airtight, it's not possible for wood to burst into flame (even at sear temps) because the spare o2 is not available.

    but. I think it's the Naked Whiz who references a good point, and something which Harold McGee concurs on. McGee says that soaked wood (in a regular old briquette environment) will lower the contact temperature and the wood will smoke at a temp where the lignins are burning at temps that produce sweeter compounds. you are basically breaking down wood into it's compounds when you burn it. at a high temp, you get different compounds. I'm way over simplifying, but there's thought that lower temps produce sweeter esters.

    i don't soak, because the wood in an egg doesn't burst into flame anyway.

    but there is some logic to why you might soak in other cookers.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    the wood in a tree doesn't abosrb water really.

    it's a pretty cool dynamic. the leaves evaporate water, and so the surface tension at the leaf is enough to draw water from the twig, which draws it from the branch, etc.

    and thereby, hundreds of gallons of water are drawn up through the roots.

    pretty cool.

    gotta loves them trees.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Spring Chicken
    Spring Chicken Posts: 10,255
    They are pretty efficient aren't they.

    Spring "Efficiency Begets Efficiency" Chicken