Favorite woods for smoking

[whistlepig]

I have tried:
Cherry
Mesquite
Post Oak
Apple
Pecan

I will have to say Cherry is my favorite.

 

[Displaced Texan]

My tree guy up here who got my hickory for me was telling em he can get cherry.

What do you like about it? I'm guessing good flavor. Does it burn nice and clean?

 

[whistlepig]

I have been using Cherry for beef and pork and prefer the smoke flavor over the other woods I have tried. A couple of weeks ago I tried Pecan for chicken for the first time.

Cherry is better. I am doing a bulk wood order with Fruitawood. Looks like Cherry it is. All the smoking woods I have tried burn well and clean.

 

[chopsaw]

My go to is mesquite or apple . Someone gave me peach chips and I really like that on poultry . Beech and red oak on bacon and ham .

 

[SmokinEdge]

My go to is mesquite or apple .

That’s my camp.
Peach is tasty to.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

I really can't say that I have a favorite, I like them all espcially when they're blended.
Apple and cherry on pork is fabulous.
Maple and pecan on turkey is out of this world.

 

[whistlepig]

It is hard to find woods for smoking locally here. So I order in bulk online to save on shipping. To say I can run down the street and get a mix of woods to try would be a lie. I have to make wise decisions when ordering wood.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

It is hard to find woods for smoking locally here. So I order in bulk online to save on shipping. To say I can run down the street and get a mix of woods to try would be a lie. I have to make wise decisions when ordering wood.

That's understandable.

 

[Fueling Around]

What is your smoker?
I will add Maple Red Oak, and Ash to your list.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I use Maple, White Oak, Hickory, and Cherry because that's what is readily available around me.

Our daughter has a Dogwood tree that is mostly dead and I'm going to cut it down. I've been researching whether or not it's good for smoking and the general consensus is that it's OK, but we'll see. If it is good, I can get a bunch of that, too...

 

[smokerjim]

Hickory is my favorite, but will use what ever I have laying around the yard.

 

[SmokinAl]

Where I’m located, hickory & oak are the cheapest & most available, but I like mesquite and pay a little extra to get some splits. I use them with the other 2 & I like the flavor of the 3 mixed together.
Al

 

[tallbm]

Mine all depends on meat. Also I run pellets for smoke in my electric smoker using an AMNPS so I get perfect smoke with little to no effort.

• Beef - 100% Mesquite hands down, it also works well on other meats despite what people may think. It's all about controlling the smoke.
• Sausage and Bacon - 25% Hickory, 75% Apple
• Pork, Chicken, Turkey - 65% Hickory, 17.5% Maple, 17.5% Cherry
• Salmon - 100% Alder
• Favorite middle of the road wood for anything/everything - Maple hands down. I am worn out on Oak which is used for most things in TX since we have so much oak.

I like other combos and other woods too but the meats and woods above are my primary wood flavors.

Wood that I am most disappointed with is Pecan.
It's not bad but just nothing special. I'll blend it with other stuff to get rid of it since I have about 35 pounds of 100% Pecan pellets. If I remember correctly Pecan gives an interesting brown color where Cherry gives that nice mahogany color. So that's interesting :)

 

[whistlepig]

I just tried Pecan. As you say nothing special.

What is your smoker?
I will add Maple Red Oak, and Ash to your list.

Masterbuilt 560

 

[whistlepig]

Maybe a different approach. Least woods (for me) I like for smoking:

Maple
Mesquite
Pecan

 

[Mr. Zorg]

I grew up, went to school, and started my career in South Texas using mesquite for everything, with an occasional bag of store bought hickory chunks for something different. IMO mesquite is a universal a wood for cooking as is oak.

During the course of my career I lived in rural Southeast Louisiana a while and used a lot of Water Oak, a variety of red oak, as it was locally abundant. Then we moved to the Great Lakes area where I used wild cherry and shagbark hickory.

Wild cherry is hands down my favorite fruit wood. I like it for pork & poultry. I don't care for apple or peach in my use. I've never tried pear, plum, mulberry, etc. but I bought some serviceberry wood recently to try out.

For beef, I like mesquite, hickory, and oak. For seafood mesquite or oak. I didn't care for maple in my use. I've never used walnut.

I don't typically mix different wood types when I cook.