Every aficionado of barbecue has his or her favorite wood for smoking with. Whether you split your own logs or buy bags of chips, it is the smoke that bonds us all together in the pursuit of the perfect barbecue. So, without wishing to cause a fight, this weeks questions it:
POLL: What's your favorite wood to smoke with?
1) Apple
2) Beech Nut
3) Cherry
4) Hickory
5) Mesquite
6) Oak
7) Pecan
8) Something Else (please specify in the comments)
Comments
It is a toss up between Alder, Sassafras, Apple, and Sugar Maple.
It all depends on the meat being smoked!
As Shadow says, it depends on whats fer dinner!
although lately I have been using quite a bit of the Jack Daniels chips.
Lately I have been using grapevines trimmed form my vines. Great smokey taste and free. They say any fruit or nut bearing wood is excellent for smoking, but you also have to include maple and alder. I’ve also heard birch is good, but have never tried it.
I agree with Shadow…it depends what your smoking. My family loves the combination of salmon & alder but for pork it’s hard to beak oak. Apple is excellent for chicken & I would love to try some of the grapevines.
I have a bucket of my favorite mixture consisting of equal parts Cherry/Apple/Mesquite. I use it primarily when smoking pork and chicken or for a quick flavor hit when grilling something.
I use alder and maple mostly; alder for fish and poultry then maple for meats.
I’m partial to Oak as my base coal, then like all the others Depends on the meal. Love Apple & Cherry, but would love to try some others. Grape? Why Not!
In Florida, us good old boys use Australian Pine. This non-native tree is actualy a hardwood. No sap at all. It is also known as Casurina. Great for the long smoke and for fish, which is most smoking needs.
I like hickory and apple mix for most foods.
I vary my wood according to the food and how seasoned it is. In general I prefer pecan for smoking pork and lower fruit woods for fish. Since I have trouble getting pecan, I mostly use fruit woods like apple.
I use alot of Apple for my Chicken & Pork.
My steaks while not really slow smoked…Jack Daniel Chips.
Cherry I sub some times with the Chicken & Pork
I was always a Hickory person and Venison still gets Hickory
I usually start off cold smoking with apple, for 2 hours, ( cheese on top rack, chicken below, pork on bottom ). Then remove cheese, dump remains of stainless Thermos into cast chip tray, removeing it and its soldering iron, top up chip tray with damp Pohutakawa (native to NZ), sawdust & chips, fire up the LPG burner, hot smoke til chicken & pork are up to temp. Cheers
I don’t know about you guys but being Greek, and having many olive trees, I like to use chungs of olive tree wood. It give a nice smooth taste to whatever I am smoking. I always add a few old pine tree dried up cones. Smoking “a la Greek!”
Here in the Pacific Northwest (USA) we have a wood called Madrone. It is extremely hard – to the point that it might not be useful for woodwork, too brittle. The heartwood is clear and white. I recommend it.
My wife does not like the heavy taste of pecan and hickory…in my grandfather’s day the wood of choice for the smoke house was chinaberry. It has a sweet, light aroma and my wife likes it.
A farmer from Vermont is usually offering incredible apple wood on ebay. It is the best I’ve seen, cut to a very usable uniform size with absolutely no bark. Check it out.
I use the old red wine barrel wood for poultry and pecan/alder for pork, oak and a combination of the above for beef, goat, lamb, and fish. Enjoy!!!
I love alder.
For pork and chicken it’s a mix of apple and cherry.
For beef it’s maple with a little mesquite or hickory.
Prunings off my peach trees first, then oak chips from my still.
CHERRY IS THE BEST
BUTTERNUT SECOND
AND YES YELLOW BIRCH IS ACCEPTABLE
I prefer Manuka (New Zealand tea tree) for smoking anything but can not find in Australia. They have tea tree here but it is not the same.
Pork – regular: Cherry and Mesquite 50/50….or just apple.
Pork w/ Pomegranate rub: Cherry and Mulberry
Chicken: Cherry and Mesquite
Here in the midwest, we have lots of Mulberry trees growing in places they shouldn’t. It has a nice fruity taste with light/medium smoke.