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Trust me... my family simplifies things as much as possible and as far as I know we've never soaked them. Never had one go up in flames, just the ends get charred a bit. But i think from what was said, that's just the way of it.

After you've skewered your food of choice, wrap the ends of the skewers in little pieces of aluminum foil to keep them from charring.

Years ago I worked with a caterer and now I even soak skewers when I am not putting them over a fire! I thought it was a way to eliminate splinters and also helps in the cases where people don't like to put wood in their mouth (like those little wooden spoons you get with ice cream).

Aimi - what a good idea!

This past weekend I soaked, and the ends still charred and a few even burned away, making it hard to grab with the tongs! So I'm going to have to say it doesn't really make any difference.

The skewers that are available in my area must be soaked. The first time I used them, I didn't, and the sticks burned away almost completely - every single kabob niblet fell into the bottom of the grill, and was lost for eternity. :'-(

Erin in CR- that's interesting. Were they a specific kind of wood? I wonder if wood vs. bamboo makes a difference...

I always soak skewers. Our BBQ gets really hot and whenever we haven't soaked them, or not soaked them for long enough, they always burn through and we end up trying to rescue chunks of kabab off the grill.

Metal skewers are nice, but it's hard to get a whole lot of them. We usually make kababs when we have people over, so it's hard to have over a dozen metal skewers... Bamboo is easier to find and cheaper.

I got a couple dozen metal skewers for a dinner party years ago (cheap, too -- I might have got them at China Fair, come to think of it). They go in the basket with the grill tools. Besides the no-burn factor, I think it's easier to thread your kabobs with metal, too -- stuff seems to slide on easier.

Just last week, I saw a Steve Raichlin show where he demonstrates that soaked skewers and non-soaked skewers will catch fire at the same rate. He advises creating a fire guard -- placing a piece of folded aluminum foil on the grill -- under the 'handle'-end of the skewers.

I've soaked and not soaked, and I can't say I've seen any difference... Today I received two different types of skewers that I ordered from Amazon, flat 3/8in and double-skewers (both stainless). I did shrimp, onions, peppers and zucchini. They both performed admirably. I think I prefer the double skewers, only because they did not split any of the vegetables. The flat skewers broke a few veggies as I was trying to slide them on. They both worked well keeping stuff from spinning around. Once I finish the bamboo that I have I won't buy anymore.

I have never soaked. I think a little burning is no big deal as I slide it off the skewer before eating anyway.


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Never had a water-soaked one catch on fire, but the first time I *forgot* to soak a skewer, it went up in flames!!

I have stainless steel skewers....problem solved!

I've never soaked the bamboo skewers we use - didn't know that was something you were supposed to do - and I've never had them burn or anything. They get a little blackened, but that doesn't bother me...

I actually soak my skewers to make it easier to get the skewees off them after grilling. The water prevents the veg or meat juices from bonding with the wood and everything will slide off nicely.

Soaking helps the threading process, and foiling the ends is good, too - but even faster is to make a shield for a whole row of skewers by folding about 4 thicknesses of foil the size you need to shield the skewer ends. (I learned this at BBQ University this year.) So, just lay your shield on the grill under the ends of the skewers with no food on them. I also learned to leave at least half each skewer empty to facilitate cooking and eating - it's harder to eat a fully loaded skewer than one with just a third or half full.

we use our landlord's super-fancy grill... gets good and hot... and our skewers, unsoaked, were fine...

of course the ends char! why wrap them in foil so they don't? that seems silly.

I was under the impression that it help to keep the food from sticking after it was cooked, I wasn't really concerned with burning.

If I remember to soak, then yes, I do but oftentimes I forget until the last minute and I've never had one burn on me yet. Makes me wonder why I even bother to soak them when I DO remember.....