Wood, where, what and why?

[webebigdog]

Been smoking for a  long time. Avid Hickory wood user for all most every thing. I use Apple wood when I smoke bacon. Today, I scored a full trailer of apple wood, logs from 20 inches or so down to 4 inches. I get to go back tomorrow for another trailer full. Up until now, I have been begging and buying(at a price) for apple wood. Now I have a cord of apple, 1/2 cord of hickory and 6 cords of oak. I have never smoked with oak before, my friend loves it, says he gets good penetration and color. I know some people use pecan and other fruit/nut woods. My question to all is this, what wood is your favorite, why so and what you smoking?

 

[themule69]

I use a lot of hickory. Reason being I have a lot here. I have oak everywhere, Oak does well. I trim my apple trees and have been on a apple kick for a long time, and my pear trees give me some wood. I brought a sh#t load of mesquite home from Texas when I worked there. Then I do some mixing of woods.

Moral of the story is a lot of us use what we have. I can't say I could pick just one for the rest of my smokes.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[foamheart]

I have actually used smokes this year I had not heard of before, and I am not exactly new to the rodeo. I like all of them. I guess my preference would be by meat. Hard beef = Mesquite, Hard pork = usually hickory and apple, Light Pork = pecan, and the same with fowl, pecan.

I like pecan because I have trees on the property, besides it is what most folks here use so its just a normal taste modifier which is easily recognizable. Occasionally I get wild and and use something different, just so I wouldn't become locked in on one.

I had a turkey a few months back, stuffed the cavity with apricots and smoked with peach......... It was top shelf. Might have been one of my top 3 fowls of all time. But I wouldn't want it everyday.

 

[bagbeard]

lots of cherry, oak and maple here.  all great . cherry my fav . smells great while smoking.  white oak also great smell , also good for fuel wood. maple great mellow vanilla aroma

 

[iso]

Cherry. Great clean and clear smoke ring in pork. Decent flavor without overpowering. It is also native to this area and reasonably cheap & easy to get.

I also like hickory, mesquite, and pecan when I can get them at a reasonable price. My stick burner eats quite a bit of wood so I'll use these until the meat hits 165.

 

[webebigdog]

Wow, lots of differences on location and flavors. This is cool, I never would have thought of mixing woods? Why? I quess I just never tried. I will now start mixing with some experimentation of flavors. I Just cold smoked 42 pounds of bacon using apple wood. Just love that smell when cooking and the taste!!!!! Happy smoking everyone. Gotta go monitor my smoke. Trying 2 whole hams for the first time. We will see how they are.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Hey

I use cherry for my cheese, apple and birch mix for my pork, and a lot of willow for my beef.  Why willow??  2 reasons.  1) it is a nice mild smoke, and 2 )because aside from poplar and spruce (which really suck) it is the most common wood out here an I have a huge pile of it from when we cleared the land to build the house  LOL

Gary

 

[stephen1855]

i use alot of mesquite mostly beacause its one of the one woods that i can find out here in Hawaii, never thought that would be a common one out here. im going to start experimenting with some of the local wood out here soon though. 

 

[stephen1855]

i also just found this little gem when i was looking into some of the local wood here for anyone whos interested just a chart of different types of wood characteristics of the smoke and what its good with. good for little newbies like me.

 

[stephen1855]

be helpful if i added the link http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Downloads_files/SmokingFlavorChart.pdf

 

[jarjarchef]

I use what I have mostly available to me and that is oak. Ill buy the cherry and apple chunks, but don't really get a huge difference or change in flavor for me. When I can get it I love doing a mix of oak and orange. Don't like misquite. Hickory is nice. I have some pecan, but my chainsaw is down so it will have to wait for me to try it.