If there can be wine snobs, why not wood snobs?

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I have never used post oak. Not sure if we even have that around here in Europe. So I can't comment on the different between the different types of oak.
 
 
We have 2 American chestnut trees on our place. This property has been in my family for more than a century. As you know most of them were wiped out in a blight, My family was big on their nut and fruit trees as all farmers were then. We have 1/2 dozen century old pecan trees, 4 walnut trees, the two chestnut. Our pear tree died about a decade ago along with our old crabapple.
Nice... just so you know the University of Maine has been working on blight resistant American chestnuts, there are some fully grown trees in western Maine that seem to have a natural resistance to the blight. They may make a comeback .... in a few decades
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Apple has got to be my go to wood ,but I have to say that pecan defiantly has a great nutty flavor at low temps ,however it is prone to flareing up,so keep your spray bottle close
 
Ours are more than 5 ft in diameter. Maybe ill contact them. I literally had to threaten my mom with death She wanted to cut one down 2 yrs ago for their new home. Our trees have become part of my families heritage. They have a mesquite flavor to me when smoking. Its rare i get a sample from them as i just dont allow much trimming on those trees at all.
 
Hickory and oak have always been my go to woods. At my old house I had a bunch of both that died in drought and so had wood galore. I have been running hickory in my new YS640, but about to switch to a hickory, maple, cherry, and apple. Looking forward to this.


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Apple is my all around wood. Hickory is good for ribs or pulled pork, Alder is good for chicken and Pecan is ok, but Apple works for everything. Oak is way too strong for me. I got a 20# bag of Oak pellets when I did my mailbox, but I think it's going into the mulch pile..
I got these pellets @ Lowes and they're great for sausage and cheese in the mailbox with an AMAZN tube. Kind of a "light mix".
 
Different types can be stronger then others I assume the post oak I had was very pungent.

How different is the red oak? Never have tried that.

Never used any oak before I thought it would be a medium wood. The post oak smelled strong when I got it mail order and still did the last time I smelled it I got it to try on brisket I had read it's commonly used in Texas style BBQ.
 
Down here in bayou country a lot of us use Red Oak to grill or smoke meats. It's everywhere, burns slow, has a flavor we are acustomed to and smokes nice. 

I like the flavor apple and pecan give the meat light and sweet - 

I prefer the red oak variety since i enjoy the spicy tang it gives the meat.

All in all i think its what we prefer. 

Brisket - mesquite or hickory for sure. 

everything else i just use what i have available.

good thread - lots of great opinions --- love this forum!
 
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So I have made the switch to CookinPellets Hickory, Maple, Apple, Cherry blend and have been happy with it. I am currently cold smoking a bacon with BBQ Delight Apple which smells awesome.


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I have used a variety of woods in my smoking. i found i favor fruit woods for flavor. Right now I'm using red oak on my new Lang 36 (never get tried of saying that) and it makes a nice woodsy flavor with a hint of sweet but not super strong. Hickory is a nice stronger flavor but i find it mixes well with something like a an apple that has a more mellow flavor. my favorite all in all is cherry which is a strong sweet flavor but it mixes well with the hickory (stronger savory) or with oak with its more subtle. Just what you are looking for. 

Happy Smoking,

phatbac (Aaron)
 
Great thread Blue. My favorite all around is apple do use some oak and hickory. Surprised some thought oak was strong that's my feeling for mesquite my nephew did a brisket with mesquite we couldn't eat it was so strong. 420 like to hear about the chestnut last one in my area die about 30 years ago glad to hear Maine is doing good with a new line in the chestnut field it was a great wood.
 
So a couple of weeks ago I was in Door County Wisconsin, an area locally known for cherry harvesting. For those who are unfamiliar and would like to take a look at a map, Door County is the peninsula over there in the Northeast part of the state. So after looking at the map you realize there's not much "area" there. I thought to myself, self, you should look into some cherry logs for you new Lang 36 stick burner. After a few orchard stops and some poking around about where I might be able to score some wood, I got a hot tip. I drive down the road to the next orchard and sure enough the tip was valid! I go inside and ask,"how much for the cherry logs?" Buck a stick is the answer. What!? Some of these are 2 foot long unspilt logs! I bought 20! Driving away I had a big smile on my face and then confusion. Why didn't I buy it all? So I went back and stuck a deal for the rest. Thirty dollars later I had 2+ Door County cherry trees in my truck. Split some when I got it home and it may still be a bit green but I've never smelled a sweeter wood.
 
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