A contentious issue for many a pit master, there's really no right or wrong answer but more down to personal preferences. We like to soak the chips, find out why below.
Simply put, wet wood takes longer to smoke.
If you have soaked your chips, first you’ll steam, then once the surface water has burned off your chips will start to slowly smoke. We find that soaking your chips means not more smoke, just less frequent topping up of your wood chips and less times taking off the lid and letting precious heat out.
You can either:
Soak in water for a minimum of 30 minutes, drain and put directly onto your coals. Or if you are worried about the chips burning away too quickly or catching fire, make a packet for them to sit in out of tin foil. Poke a few holes in the packet to let the smoke out and you’re away laughing.