Patent ID: 7938285

Claim:
A wood chip soaking apparatus for a barbecue comprising a base container having a bottom wall, a first set of opposed side walls with top support edges at a low elevation relative to said bottom wall, and a second set of opposed side walls having top support edges at a higher elevation relative to said bottom wall, the bottom wall, first set of opposed side walls and second set of opposed side walls forming a fluid holding chamber; at least one wood chip basket sized to be removably lowered into the fluid holding chamber of said base container, said wood chip basket having a plurality of fluid openings to allow fluid to drain therefrom, and at least one lift handle for lifting said basket from said base container, said lift handle being adapted to engage at least one of the top support edges of the first set of opposing side walls of said base container for suspending said basket in the fluid holding chamber thereof for soaking wood chips contained in said basket, and further being adapted to engage at least one of the top support edges of the second set of opposing side walls of said base container for suspending said basket above the fluid holding chamber thereof to allow fluid to drain from said baskets, said wood chip basket being fabricated of a heat tolerant material to allow the basket, with soaked wood chip contained therein, to be set over a barbecue heat source.