What wood do you smoke with?

[Grilldaddys]

I've personally smoked using apple, cherry, hickory, oak, pecan & mesquite at various times. I'm keenly aware of using only hardwoods for smoking (so no cedars or pine). I also understand different woods have different temperatures and flavors... so background given with what i know, i'll flip to what i DON'T know and need the help from the community....

1) Anyone ever smoked with black walnut?
2) When smoking with oak- Does it matter if it is white oak? red oak? post oak? live oak? Do different types of oak woods smoke noticeably different OR are all oak woods going to give similar results?
3) Last BBQ competition i went to, i saw a more than few pitmasters running lump charcoal and then adding just chunks of smoking wood (e.g. - apple, mesquite, etc.)... I know that is the way i use my Kamado smoker, but i've never considered doing it in my offset stick burner. Clearly, i could just try it, but i want to hear the thoughts of others too...

 

[Grilldaddys]

I am so sorry- i just noticed there is an entire section for smoking woods. I'll try to cancel this post and move to the proper forum.

 

[tx smoker]

1) Anyone ever smoked with black walnut?

I've never tried it but it's a very hard, very dense wood. As with mesquite, once you get it burning it's likely to burn very hot, but it's going to take a lot of heat to fire that stuff up. It's also very expensive, at least in milled fashion for cabinet or furniture making. I wouldn't hesitate to give it a go though if you can lay hands on some without breaking the bank.

Robert

 

[hardcookin]

I like using cherry,big supply in the area. Also use a lot of oak.
Cherry is a milder wood. Good for chicken or pork.

 

[ofelles]

Regarding the black walnut. I have heard that with pellets, it has a very strong flavor and a little goes a long way. I would assume that goes for chunks/splits also.

 

[SmokinAl]

I use red oak & hickory most of the time, cause it's easy to get around here.
Al

 

[GaryHibbert]

My personal favorite is Hickory, Miss Linda's is Pecan.
I use Orange for pork and dairy products, Jack Daniels Barrel for anything chocolate, always Hickory for bacon.
Garu

 

[SmokyMose]

Hickory for pork and chicken. For some reason I like Mesquite for Brisket.
I slice off cookies of Oak from my firewood which I use for anything....

 

[pushok2018]

I like to smoke meats and fish with either cherry, apple, pecan and sometimes with oak.... Rearly with hickory.....

 

[pineywoods]

I've used red oak, live oak, and water oak and to me the flavor is fairly close with all oaks the biggest difference I find is that red oak burns hotter and faster at least in my opinion it does.
I mostly use pecan, cherry, and sometimes hickory I have plenty of oak right here on my property but rarely use it for smoking but cut it for camp fire wood. I like apple for poultry but in FL it's hard to get splits of it.