What’s Your favorite wood or wood combo for smoking?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

motolife313

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Aug 27, 2016
1,334
462
I really like the plum or I like 50/50 oak-cherry. But honesty I can’t tell the difference in flavor, I like the oak and plum becuase they burn slow. I’ve got some stuff I use as my secret weapon for heat. It puts out a lot more heat then my other woods, and it’s got this very strong sweet sugary smell to it. I though it was oak but maybe maple.i don’t use it much. Any ideas?and I got 7 different kinds. apple, cherry, oak,plum, walnut, maple and alder. Here’s the pics of the hot burning unknown wood. I really though it was oak tho. It looked like a oak tree but never seen oak yet with this stringy of grain and that smells so sweet
C72F84E3-7605-4B5F-820D-E5894EA93D17.jpeg
5BB0D3B2-3452-43E7-A507-318DD73D0A27.jpeg
I’ll get a better shot of the bark tomorrow. That’s it on the ground. Not sure about the 2 to the right tho. Looks little straight for this stuff lol, tough as nails to split btw even with 2 wedges and sledgehammer, it was only 20-22” diameter
8E742AF1-7506-422E-BCBA-B264DAEDE6CD.jpeg
planing on pulling it out for couple ribeyes tomorrow and maybe some other stuff.
 
I like apple or cherry/apple blends. Light smoke, doesn't overwhelm, but I find the cherry blends add a nice..bite? Not sure on the correct word for it. It's always at the end of the flavour profile, it's not bad..just a nice contrast.
 
I can tell the difference when I use the strong woods (hickory and mesquite). Fruit woods kind of taste the same to me, but I do notice a color change when I use cherry. Oak and pecan taste the same to me, but I do like oak and cherry on poultry. I limit myself to hickory, mesquite, oak, and cherry. The trick to mesquite is use half as much as any other wood.
 
I haven’t tried hickory or mesquite yet but hopefully I can get my hands on some one of these days.
 
Not sure but I'm thinking your mystery wood may be gum. I like maple and oak in the fire pit I have. I have some pear but have not tried it yet.

Warren
 
Is sweet gum really hard to split? I used to get a lot of maple around here but stopped becuase there were so many different kinds I wasn’t totally sure which one to get and I’ve got so much wood I can be little picky lol
 
Oak is my go to just because it is so plentiful here in the south. Also use a bit of hickory mixed in depending on what I’m cooking in the reverse flow. In the MES it is a total different story. Options are wide open for all kinds of fruit woods and different smoke profiles.

Weedeater
 
For hot smoking I like oak and for cold cured stuff a mix of cob, PM blend, and oak. Still haven't found "the one" for cheese but most work fine.

My guess on the mystery wood is hornbeam. There aren't many woods with higher BTU than the usual suspects. BY FAR, my fave wood for the fireplace is osage orange. Highest BTU of all and fragrant. Doubt yours is that since it lacks the tell tale deep yellow color. Bark does help a little, but a leaf would really help ID what it is.
 
My favorite to use is hickory. Lots of times when I do chicken or ribs though if I sauce then I will add a small chunk of cherry while the meat glazes. Also for fruit I really have started to like peach wood.
 
I don't associate different woods with taste so I never mix different types of wood but I do know from experience, since I do only cold smoke (no heat) that oak and maple give golden brownish color to sausages casings and meat (especially cheese) and cherry wood give dark brown redish color, depending on how long I smoke it...
 
I like 'em all but Hickory, Oak, & Pecan got used a lot in my past stick burners. I love the dark brown/mahogany color Pecan give the meat.
 
I like 'em all but Hickory, Oak, & Pecan got used a lot in my past stick burners. I love the dark brown/mahogany color Pecan give the meat.
now this os something new for me... I do a lot cold smoking and I do know about cherry smoke properties to darken meat, but I didn't know about pecan... thanks for that info. .
 
I’ve actually used a mix of hickory, pecan and white oak. Really nice flavor on some spare ribs I did on Wednesday.

Key is having a clean fire and TBS to clear smoke.

Thinking hard about getting 3/4 of a cord of red oak for $150 delivered and stacked. Sound like a good deal?? I have all my wood up til now for free by picking but this stuff is seasoned split and ready to go. I would have to wait awhile for new wood to get ready. Have a comp coming up in April and want some good dry wood for it.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky