Feel free to comment your favorite smoking wood or any questions and we will be glad to help you out with your next cook! Hickory, oak, maple and then alder which is the softest of the hardwoods. We recommend against using green wood, or wood that has been recently chopped. If youre lookin you aint cookin! Fear not, fellow pitmasters, well answer that question for you, while also walking you through the different types of woods for smoking, the varying flavors they give off, and which woods to avoid when smoking food. Can be used on virtually anything but it is a more mild smoke flavor so it is better for pork, poultry and fish. Please have your Model # and Serial # available when contacting us. Good for mixing with woods like alder, oak or apple. Secondly, wet surfaces will trap smoke particles more effectively, catching the flavors with them. Not many people come in looking for splits thats why we dont carry them. Purviance's personal favorites to smoke with are hickory and oak. The detriment to whole logs is that they dont fit into most residential smokers. A handful of wood chips is often enough for a short smoking session and you should start a long smoking session with just a few chunks. You have more volume control than you would with full split logs. Hickory: Hickory is probably the most popular smoking wood. Lets look into which woods give off what type of smoke. Not only is it great for smoking, but it also does so much more! A good rub can bring out the best in any cut of meat, making it an essential tool in the toolbox of every pitmaster. And as for the age-old debate about whether to soak your wood or not before you toss it on the coals, Purviance is firmly on the no-soak side, observing that the heat of the coals evaporates the water before it gets a chance to affect your food. Pork responds very well to hickory and maple smoke. Alder will typically give you the least amount of smoke but adds a nice sweet profile to more delicate types of meat. Your turkey will be a deep, golden brown when cooked over cherry and still not be too heavy on the smoke. Despite working great for nearly every type of meat, its great for fish, poultry and pork. It bakes, smokes, grills and roasts all in one grill. Smoking wood is available in four different forms; pellets, chips, chunks or splits (small logs). Pit masters traditionally use local wood, which is why Texans smoke beef with oak, Carolinians cook pork shoulder with hickory, Midwesterners use apple, and people in the Northwest smoke with alder and cherry. Other retailers and locally owned outdoor outfitters may offer a smaller selection of smoking woods.

It imparts very strong flavors. If you find yourself needing more smoke after a couple hours, you can throw on a few extra chunks to get your preferred smoke concentration.

Its great to use when smoking beef and pork low and slow. Theyre great with pork, and strong enough to stand up to beef and game meats. Wood chunks and splits are good for longer smokes. Dirty smoke will make your food taste acrid and sooty. Youll be surprised to see how easily you can get smoking wood from local timber or tree service companies. Other bbq variables (brine, rubs, pit temperature, moisture, duration, smoke density) have more influence on your BBQ than the type of wood you choose. These both give off steady heat and a strong, penetrating smoke that melds well with the tough beef fibers as they soften. It's important to have a clean burning fire and much of that starts with air flow. Readad-freeon your phone, tablet or print out and spill BBQ sauce on them. I have always been a believer: do what you love and youll never work a day in your life. It can be a invaluable wood to smoke with**if you do it in moderation. It is imperative you use a subtler smoking wood. Mon-Fri: 9am-6pm For example, starting a turkey with a few chunks of hickory and finishing with a split log of apple will give a deep, earthy flavor foundation while the apple takes the bird across the finish line and keeps it from being too smokey to taste. You can find smaller bags and boxes usually ranging in the 4 10 pound range in a variety of woods. Both of these woods will impart a deep, noticeable smoke flavor into pork ribs that is the sign of true BBQ. Think of smoking woods as existing on a spectrum from mild to strong. The ultimate key is to find what you like, to safely experiment and see what flavors are the ones that you really enjoy. Pecan splits might be hard to come by in Columbus. If you want a bold smoky flavor for your steak, use mesquite, hickory or oak wood. The wood you choose when smoking meat is only one of several factors that will effect flavor. It really depends on how heavy of a smoke flavor you prefer that will dictate which type of wood you use. This is one of those debates that has raged on for years and will likely continue for many more. Wood chunks will add smoke flavor for a longer period of time without having to add more wood during your cook. The process is called thermophoresis, simply stated particles will migrate from warm to cool surfaces. "Use mesquite like you'd use chile peppers," Purviance says. It is better to use chunks for larger cuts of meat that require longer cooking times because the chunks do not burn up as fast as chips. Make sure you only use mesquite if you are looking for a strong smoke flavor. Pecan: Similar to hickory with a nutty aroma that mixes well with fruit woods, pecan wood is primarily used for smoking poultry. Cooks that take hours to finish like pork shoulder, brisket, wings, pork belly and ribs. If you have to use green wood, let it burn down to a coal bed so all the organic compounds and moisture have burned off and wont get into your food. Pellets have no artificial binders in them, so you can be sure theyre safe to use on food. A whole packer brisket can be quite an intimidating cut to slice through, and the way you slice it actually affects the, To inject, or not to inject. A slightly less intense smoky flavor still gives great results, but too much smoke can cause food to taste bitter. You want avoid resinous woods in particular. 4500 Indianola Avenue Grape has a medium smoke intensity with a sweet and fruity flavor. People also tend to forget that smoking isn't just about adding flavor, it's also about adding an appealing hue to the meal. Red Oak is usually mentioned with Tri-Tip and popular in Santa Maria-style. Feel free to leave a comment, say hello, or provide any tips. In a pinch, theyd be fine for charcoal smokers too. Smoke is smoke.". But it is more intense than the fruit woods so you have to be careful with that you use it on.

Dont misunderstand, they will do a great job on pork, beef or lamb. Brisket is a forgiving meat in terms of smoke penetration, so as long as your fire is clean, your brisket should turn out just fine from a quality standpoint. If youre only just starting, So youve cooked the perfect brisket, its got a beautiful black bark and that trademark jiggle that tells you its been cooked to perfection. Avoid pine and other soft woods, which give foods a bitter tar-like flavor. "It's to be used in combination with other flavors, and for limited amounts of time.". Ive been lucky enough to use my professional experience in the meat industry over the past 20 years to create a business where I love to go to work. Wood chunks and splits are good for cooks that take hours to finish like pork shoulder, brisket, ribs and larger cuts of meat. Why the Price of Meat Keeps Going Up, How To Use A Smoke Tube in a Pellet Grill, Smoked Baby Back Ribs on a Pellet Grill (Better than 3-2-1), The 17 Best BBQ Rubs You Can Buy Online for 2022, Complete Guide to Injecting Meat for Smoking, Smoking Times and Temperatures Chart: Free Printable Download, Smoking Your First Brisket Advice From Aaron Franklin, The Best Smoker Thermometers for Mastering Temperature Control. Wood comes in various forms for smoking: logs, which you use in stick-burners (the offset barrel smokers used at restaurants and on the competition barbecue circuit); fist-sized wood chunks; and wood chips (the most common form of smoking fuelavailable at supermarkets and hardware stores). Wood pellets are designed to fuel pellet grills but can also be used in smoker boxes. Texas is big on post oak. This allows us to earn commissions from Amazon.com for any qualifying purchases made as the result of clicking on relevant product links that we insert into our pages and articles. Adding wet wood chips to a lit grill will also lower the temperature causing you to have to wait longer to get it back up to your desired temperature. They follow that order with how strong the flavors are that they impart. Oak has flavors that are good with beef, especially brisket and sausages. But wood chips have their role too: If you're grilling up something that cooks up in a flash on a regular charcoal grill*say, chicken thighs or fish filets*wood chips are ideal for adding that five or 10 minutes of smoke that are all you really need. The strongest smoking wood is going to be mesquite.

Logs have their place, and you get more of a feel for the health and seasoning of the wood, but just make sure they fit into your smoker. This is the fun part, really. Regional preferences are largely based on regional availability, but the commonality you see here is that common BBQ cooking woods are from hardwood trees. Cherry is an excellent wood for smoking pork, lamb, beef, dark poultry like duck and other gamey meat. Apple and cherry are the most commonly available fruit woods around. It's just a matter of knowing the fundamentals. "Wood smells and tastes like wood for the most part. If you notice the ribs getting too dry or dark on the outside, then thats a sign to wrap them up to avoid more unnecessary smoke exposure. Ad Choices. They end up needing to be cut into shorter pieces, and by that time, youre better off just rolling with wood chunks. That doesnt mean they should be used for your food. Cherry is a mild to medium smoke level that is sweet and slightly fruity. Smoke is the essence of BBQ, but do different types of wood really give off different smoke profiles? GET RECIPES & TIPS DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.

Take care not to use too much wood, especially with stronger-flavored woods. Learn fire and combustion management, combine woods and proteins experience is the best teacher! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Get BBQ guides, recipes, and out free digital cookbook sent straight to your inbox. Other fruitwoods work well for turkey, like apple or peach, but cherry has the right balance of depth and subtlety to it sitting in between heavy hickory and lighter apple. Maple: Maple wood gives a more subtle, mild and sweet smoky flavor that blends well with woods like alder, oak and apple. All wood is not created equal when it comes to smoking meat. Birch is a smidge heavier, and an appropriate choice for more strongly flavored fish**salmon smoked in birch is a classic combination. Also, very strong, mesquite gives you a good flavor quickly, but mesquite can become bitter fast too. Maple is our go-to wood for smoking chicken. Yes, that means this may be an imprecise science, and some experts say that it doesnt matter what wood you use, it is all about process. The first thing to consider is what kinds of wood to use, based on how overpowering the smoke they put out is. Alder imparts flavor similar to fruit woods, a little more sweetness and a bit more delicate, and works well across the spectrum of smoking including seafood. Sassafras has a sweet smell and taste, but you do not need a lot. So keeping the meat surfaces moist will increase the smoke flavor you can achieve and this will continue throughout the process. Wood from trees that bear fruit is becoming readily obtainable in most markets. Choosing the best type of wood is an essential part of smoking meat, it is right up there with choosing the right time and temperature. When it comes to selecting the best wood for smoking, each wood has unique flavor characteristics that enhance the flavor of your food. Follow our simple instructions to get that extra smoky flavor to your Pellet Grill BBQ by using a smoke tube. For more delicate meats, like chicken and fish, a lighter hardwood or fruity wood is advised. Once you get a solid feel for different types of woods and how their unique smoke properties affect specific proteins, you can start to mix and match smoke profiles with different foods. Depending on what type of food youre planning to smoke, youll want to pick the wood that most closely matches its flavor profile. Mesquite, a popular smoking wood in the Southwest and Hawaii, delivers an assertive smoke flavor well suited to red meat. Fish and seafood are the most delicate proteins on this list, so youll need to be extremely aware not to oversmoke lest you risk ruining the meal. And don't just tear off a green branch and stick it on the coals, either, for much the same reason. Some can even be mildly toxic, and the last thing we want is to make our dinner guests sick. Pitmasters love to wax lyrical about how the particular type of central Texas white post oak they use gives their barbecue its unique flavor. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Usually only reserved for large chunks of beef.and people from Texas. Yes, hickory will burn differently than apple, and subsequently, the smoke differs, but so long as you have clean combustion and steady oxygen intake to feed the fire, youll have a solid smokey flavor that acts as an ingredient in and of itself. Chunks range in size from a plum upwards to a grapefruit, and are generally placed on hot burning coals to initiate clean combustion and smoke. Though smokiness can lend a diabolic richness to food that can transform a decent hunk of flesh into a transcendent repast, too many grillers have forgotten that when it comes down to it, their guests want to eat meat, not smoke. Good on large chunks of beef and pork. Required fields are marked *. A lot of ink (and possibly blood) has been spilled about which wood works best with which food. After logging in you can close it and return to this page. Bring back our old friends hickory and oak. We may earn commission from the links on this page. For the most part, you'll be using chunk-sized pieces of wood in your smoker, which won't become cinders before your pork shoulder gets above room temperature. 2022 All Rights Reserved | Smoked BBQ Source, How to Burn Wood for the Best Results in Your Barbecue.