Are all hickories the same?

[hog warden]

Along lines of the "are all oaks" thread, what about hickory? I have access to at least Shagbark, Pignut and Pecan........and maybe the Shellback. If you buy smoking woods in the store, hickory and pecan will be different, but hickory is generic. They don't say which species it is. So what about the others? Any preference?

My primary use for hickory is to smoke sausage. Or bacon if I made any.

PS: I have access to enough northern hardshell pecan to smoke every hog in Iowa.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I'd bet you couldn't tell the difference. I have both pecan and hickory and can't taste the difference...

 

[DougE]

The different hickories are pretty similar in flavor, but pecan is milder ..... closer to apple than hickory.

 

[yankee2bbq]

I honestly don’t know what type of hickory we have here in northern Arkansas. Hickory is pungent, I use it mostly on pork and beef.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Meathead of Amazing Ribs, did a YT vid a year or so ago. And he says the flavor difference between wood varieties is not discernable.

I'll try to find that vid.

I can definitely tell a difference in the aroma of smoke. Not sure I can nail it down to a specie, however.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Here's the vid, this is mostly basic stuff, but I think what he says about smoke flavor is truth. Meathead has made myth busting his thing.

He says the differences are minor, and smoke itself is just one part of the flavor of the finished product. Detecting a diff in smoke wood would be very difficult.

I got the vid set to start at 16:38 , when he begins talking diff wood.