Oak, Whats the deal

[lookwow]

I normally use Hickery/fruit wood in my UDS but have been thinking of switching to Oak/Sugar Maple as we have 12 acres up north full of the stuff that i could get for free. Ive read a ton of the stuff on the forums about them.

Everyone seems to be on the same page about Maple and the flavior it adds. Oak on the other hand seem to be all over the place. Some say its strong, others say its mild. What are all your thoughts on how this will work in a UDS which is fo course not totally fualed by wood? Im going to try this out either way but figured I would get some experts to way in.

 

[daveomak]

I have not used Oak.........I know there are several varieties and each may have it's own flavor profile...

 

[alelover]

Oak is a fine smoking wood. Milder than hickory. I use a mix of the 2 quite a bit.

 

[czarcastic]

I like oak because it is plentiful (read: free) and imparts a nice flavor.  It's mild enough to use with poultry and seafood - especially when combined with fruitwoods (cherry and apple are my personal favorites), and smoky enough to use on beef and pork.  

Oak burns pretty hot so if you are using it as fuel as well as flavoring in your UDS, be careful how much you put in at one time.  

I love to use oak for "finishing," when I smoke only part way and then grill to complete the dish.  A good bed of oak coals burns hot and gives great flavor "kick".

 

[SmokinAl]

I use oak all the time.

It's the dominant wood around here.

I know there are a lot of oak varieties.

Different parts of the country have different kinds of oak.

 

[tjoff]

I use oak.  Black oak mostly  I like the flavor it adds

 

[solaryellow]

White oak and red oak (southern apparently) are part of my regular rotation. I really like oak with beef.

 

[kingkoch42]

gone

 

[Bearcarver]

I like Hickory the best. Then the fruit woods.

I tried Oak, but didn't care for it, but my opinion on Oak is kinda biased.

I turned so much Red Oak into cabinets, and sucked up so much Tannic Acid from the Oak sawdust that my taste for Oak is forever compromised.

The dust gives you a burning in your eyes, nose, and throat.

At the end of the day, I think I used to spit Oak 2 X 4s, and sneeze trim!

I would go by other people's opinions on Oak for smoking.

Bear

 

[lookwow]

I like Hickory the best. Then the fruit woods.

I tried Oak, but didn't care for it, but my opinion on Oak is kinda biased.

I turned so much Red Oak into cabinets, and sucked up so much Tannic Acid from the Oak sawdust that my taste for Oak is forever compromised.

The dust gives you a burning in your eyes, nose, and throat.

At the end of the day, I think I used to spit Oak 2 X 4s, and sneeze trim!

I would go by other people's opinions on Oak for smoking.

Bear

My house could really use the trim redone. Can you sneeze a free batch for me. Ill pick it up :)
 

 

[michael ark]

Use oak and hickory alot .Hickory is stronger.Never had the problem.

 

[smokebuzz]

White,burr and pin oaks are going to be milder, where red and black may be stronger. I like the flavor and heat from oak, that reminds me, i need to go cut some................

 

[flash]

White oak and red oak (southern apparently) are part of my regular rotation. I really like oak with beef.

 My assumption is it is a stronger wood also. Both white and red oaks work (southern) but I know Red burns hotter than White and seems to be preferred over White. Black Jack, Turkey and Blue Jacks are great Red Oaks.  Love mixing them with Cherry. Gives a great color to the meat (beef)

 

[oldschoolbbq]

   Oak is one of the best woods you can get. I prefer Hickory and Fruit,for flavor and use Oak and Maple for long cooks. Each to his own,personally I would starve if I had to use (yuk)charcoal or those bags of 'whatever ' 'they burn for Charwood.

Just MHO.have fun and

 

[Bearcarver]

My house could really use the trim redone. Can you sneeze a free batch for me. Ill pick it up :)

LOL---Not right now!!!!!

Thanks to you I got coffee going through there right now.

That was a beauty of a come-back!!!!   

Thanks,

Bear

 

[meateater]

I use Oak from time to time. I like to mix woods and change it up alot. It is lighter than hickory. 

 

[shooterrick]

I use both oak and Pecan.  While I prefer pecan the local Q joint uses oak only because it is cheap , available, and his patrons do not object to the not overpowering flavour.  I also like apple alot but is hard to come by now that I live in  the deep south.

 

[cliffcarter]

 Oak on the other hand seem to be all over the place. Some say its strong, others say its mild.

Quote:

I know there are a lot of oak varieties.

Different parts of the country have different kinds of oak.

Quote:

White oak and red oak (southern apparently) are part of my regular rotation.

Quote:

I go with the people that say Oak is strong.

I have a SFB smoker and have used only Oak.  My oak is almost three years since it was cut so it is very, very dry and I have to wet it down a little before using it.  Maybe it is because it is so dry or maybe because I smoke much smaller quantities of meat, but after just four hours of smoking the food has a good strong smoke flavor.

Cal

First off let me say that judging from your signature pic that you probably live in Wisconsin, second if you have access to a ready supply of maple I would cook with the maple, but that's my personal preference.  Smokin Al is correct there are 49(if I counted correctly) oaks native to the US, so when someone says "oak" I always wonder "which one?" The oaks most often mentioned as good cooking wood are white oak, live oak, post oak, pin oak, northern red oak, southern red oak and coast live oak which is also known by the local name of "red oak" on the west coast where it is found. Don't worry I'm keeping it simple, this is a link that tells you which oaks are found in Wisconsin, just scroll down until you find Quercus, they're listed with the scientific name first and the common name second.

http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/data_results_with_common.cfm?state=WI

On the other hand   Kingkoch42  lives in France and the oak he has is not what we are used to. BTW Cal your acacia pic is posted here-

http://www.theqjoint.com/forum/showthread.php?8967-Got-Wood

solaryellow the growing ranges of southern and northern red oak do overlap, if you go to this link and click on NC you'll find a list of trees found in NC.

http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/map/zonemap.cfm

FWIW I find that northern red oak smells sour when burning and at this latitude takes a very long time to season for cooking so I do not use it, although I know others that do. JM2C.