A-MAZE-N Dust - Opinion on all around best wood dust in 5lb bag size?

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hkeiner

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Well, I have read a lot of good things about the A-MAZE-N box and the MES and plan to pull the trigger and order one. I also want to order some dust at the same time. I see on the website that the 5lb size is a much better deal (cost per pound) than the 1 lb size for the standard woods and so feel compelled to order a 5lb bag size instead of 1 lb bags from the git go. The question is which wood dust to choose. The 5lb size comes in  Cherry, Hickory,  Maple, or Mesquite. 

Any opinions on which wood dust is a good all around choice for doing hot smokes (particularly for ribs, pork butts, turky legs, and brisket) in my MES 40? I have found myself that Mesquite can be a bit strong when using chips and chunks, but I don't know if this might be the same with the guaranteed very nice thin blue smoke you get with the A-MAZE-N box.   

I realize everyone has their own tastes, but I thought I would ask anyway.
 
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Hickory seems to me is the "Go To" choice for most people and also a great all around flavor for most foods. Personally I can run out of other woods, but have never been out of hickory; always have hickory on hand.
 
pecan, apple or maple seems to be the ones that i have been gravitating towards as of late.
 
Bourbon Oak Barrel, Apple, Cherry, heck most any of them.  I try for subtle smoke flavors, not heavy, over the top. If you have a specific preference, not just the ones offered, I'll bet dollar to a donut that if you sweet talk Todd, he'll fix you up with your flavor choice.   Good choice on the AMNS. 
 
I like Hickory on Beef and Pork Shoulder

Cherry, Apple or Maple for Nuts, Cheese, Bacon and poultry

I like to add a little Mesquite to the tail end when I smoke chicken.

Variety makes the world go around!

Todd
 
I am a big apple and pecan guy.  I do like all of them. Just smoked a chicken and a chuckie with some cherry that was incredible

Maple is good on nuts and I mix apple and maple when smoking cheese or apple and pecan

It is all good. As one of Todds testers I have tasted all of them and they all are good.
 
  1. Hickory is my primary choice.
  2. Mesquite is probably 2nd
  3. Cherry or Apple 3rd
  4. Asking a question like this on a forum with over 20,000 members invites over 20,000 different opinions...
    icon_mrgreen.gif
 
 Asking a question like this on a forum with over 20,000 members invites over 20,000 different opinions.
Ony 4 woods to choose from so only 4 different opinions possible. 
icon_biggrin.gif
.  It seems a majority suggest the hickory over the other three wood choices, so I plan to order a 5lb bag of hickory with my A-MAZE-N box order.

Thanks to everyone for their opinions.
 
Ony 4 woods to choose from so only 4 different opinions possible. 
icon_biggrin.gif
.  It seems a majority suggest the hickory over the other three wood choices, so I plan to order a 5lb bag of hickory with my A-MAZE-N box order.

Thanks to everyone for their opinions.
LOL,  yes but think of all the different combinations of those 4 choices...

Hickory is what I use mostly.  I think overall it is the best choice for most meats...  I try the others mostly in experimenting...
 
When I ordered my AMAZEN I got 1lb bags of most everything.

Last week I ordered 2 five pounders. One hickory and one pecan.
 
Personally I have a bunch of hickory, but ordered and use cherry on almost all of my smokes.  It's great on ribs and poultry (have done both chickens and turkeys), I personally like apple for pork butts but would use cherry as my second choice.  Just adds a nice sweet flavor without the slight bite of hickory it also does a nice job showcasing the rubs and such on the meat without overpowering it. 
 
I just ordered an Amazen package yesterday...it came with a lb each of hickory, maple, and cherry, and I ordered an additional 5lb bag of hickory, and a 1lb bag of peach.

Hickory is my go to wood, but I like a little peach mixed in, it makes the smoke very sweet.

Can't wait till it comes! Tracking number says tomorrow.
 
Has anyone managed to create their own sawdust for the Amazen burner that works?

The company won't ship dust outside the US and supplies here in Australia are limited to Mesquite, Mesquite or Mesquite, hell, we don't even grow mesquite here.

We have our own hardwoods like apple mallee, mulberry, yellowbox, wattle etc but I need to get the dust consistency just right for continued combustion.

Roger Of Oz
 
Roger,

Sorry you only have mesquite over there, but to me mesquite can be a bit strong, especially for poultry.  And you can definitely over smoke other meats with mesquite if you aren't careful.  In my humble opinion, hickory is the go to wood for most anything and it does have a a distinctive flavor.  I went to a bunch of different blends over the last 19 years of smoking and basically use a combo of hickory / apple and with beef will sometimes go to hickory / cherry.  After hickory (and the similar oak), the fruit woods are real similar and difficult to tell the difference on.  I remember a long time ago when I visited an ol' timer in Baton Rouge who was a real legend of barbecue and smoking in Louisianna.  He had a small place where folks would come from all over to get his Q and he told me that for a period of about a year he smoked with all kinds of different woods and no one ever knew the difference in the taste.  This was a guy who was open thursday thru sunday only and served thousands every week.  He would laugh about other ol' "pros" coming in and stating how they could taste the flavors from good old applewood, peachwood, etc. when all he might be using was oak.  He claimed that hickory and cherry were the only wood he could pick out when tasting smoked foods.  And this after smoking for over 40 years.  Got the same story from an off the highway smokehouse when I visited back in the eighties.  Anyway, like someone said before, find what you like and go with it.

PS  What the hell is wattle wood??

All the best. 
 
Probably 75% of my smokes are done with Hickory, especially my Bacons.

Then 10% Cherry.

And the last 15% are of Apple, bourbon, wine & whiskey Barrel, and Maple & Oak.

Bear
 
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