Smokin Wood

[nascarchuck]

Well, I know that we have had a thread asking what type of wood that you use to smoke with, but I want to put a twist on that question.

How do you decide what type of wood to use with different types of meats?

Here in Texas, mesquite is the common wood used. Is mesquite too strong for meats such as chicken and pork?

I bought some pecan at Academy. What meats should I use the pecan with?

I would like to try woods like apple, cherry, etc. What would I use those woods on?

[OSD]

I think most people use what type of wood is available to them in the area that they live. that being said.
I prefer pecan or oak for most smoking. Pecan is a milder version of Hickory.
I add fruit woods to add to the depth of flavor of the smoke. Peach or apple is my favorite.
I like Mesquite for grilling steaks.
Beef cuts of meat can take stronger flavored wood smoke.
Poultry takes milder flavored smoke.
Pork butts can take stronger smoke than ribs. For Ribs I like mild sweet smoke-pecan with peach.
JMHO

[SteerCrazy]

Like OSD said.......I usually go blend Pecan with whatever else I'm smoking. If it's chicken or pork its Pecan/Apple or Pecan/Cherry.
If it's brisket its Pecan and Hickory or Pecan and Maple is good
I don't use and never have used Mesquite, just somethin about it

[bigwheel]

Well mesquite is a case unto itself. In my view the geography is impotent when it comes to mesquite (Now will admit some folks thinks I'm crazy and a few others have tended to agree after testing the hypothesis). The mesquite commonly available to us in N. Texas smells like a big pile of smoldering dirty jock straps when it burns. Only way I would even consider using it would be to burn it to coals and break at the shovel. Now somebody bring me in a load of mesquite from around Corpus or Kingsville I grab it up and use it like a greedy hawg in just about any configuration. The stuff that grows out around San Angelo and Abilene aint too shabby neither..much mo betta than whut we get. I would also add Pee Can works similar. You get some Pee Can from around Jouston it tastes a lot superior to whut grows in my backyard in Foat Wuth..which has an aroma similar to burning a card board box. The best flavor from a Pee Can tree comes from the nutshells. For local grown wood Oak is by far your best friend. Now local apple and plum is ok too. I cant stand cheery wood...the Good Lord intended that for making furniture and not to be used for cooking. Just thinking out loud here of course.

bigwheel

Well, I know that we have had a thread asking what type of wood that you use to smoke with, but I want to put a twist on that question.

How do you decide what type of wood to use with different types of meats?

Here in Texas, mesquite is the common wood used. Is mesquite too strong for meats such as chicken and pork?

I bought some pecan at Academy. What meats should I use the pecan with?

I would like to try woods like apple, cherry, etc. What would I use those woods on?

[Stan41]

I use mesquite for everything here. We have live oak, spanish oak, and post oak too. I have used live oak, but don't much like it because it puts out too much black heavy smoke. Tastes OK, but usually is much too smoky for my taste. I haven't used spanish oak or post oak. Does anybody have experience with either one of them?
Stan

[Gator]

Oak and hickory for everything (it's the East Texas in me - you can take the man out of the country, but...).

[OSD]

Stan41, One reason for the black smoke is live oak is an evergreen type of oak tree.
Spanish oak is in the beech wood family.
Post oak is in the white oak family. this is a hard wood and is real good for smoking. A lot of places use nothing but post oak for smoking.

[SteerCrazy]

I heard "post oak" was also known as mesquite cause the only thing good mesquite is used for is buildin wood fences

[DJ]

If we had Post Oak here in Maine, I'd be a Happy Man, (Happy BBQ Man that is). Hickory is good too, specially on Ribs, Sausage and Fowl but still prefer the PostOak on Brisket and Butt.....dj
BW, Cherry ain't too bad when mixed with Hickory or Red Oak which is what we have up here, Red Oak that is/some hickory, but not too much, some white oak, but not an overabundance....I like a good Rib Eye over a bed of glowing mesquite, but not on my Q.

[Stan41]

Thanks to all of you for the information. I am going to try some post oak soon.

Around here the most valued wood is very old mesquite fence posts. I have two old abandoned fences with mesquite posts that are probably 75 years old. They make really good bbq wood. All the soft wood is rotted away and nothing left but the very hard wood.
Stan

[DATsBBQ]

I've taken to using Lazzari (sp?) lump made from Mesquite. The price is right and while it doesn't burn as long as some other lump, it's half the price. Usually get pieces the size of some women's thighs , but not my woman .

[SealBeach]

We like to use oak and a little bit of hickory, but i just had 1/2 cord of oak delivered last week, so it looks like i'm gonna be using all oak this summer.

I love the smell of oak, and the taste it gives to beef and pork is just about perfect in my opinion. Oak seems like a good value too, it is very heavy and dense, burns fairly clean and you get pretty good mileage out of it--nice long burn time from a chunk of oak.

[perryranch]

I use mostly mequite but that's because my Tomcat did a dozer job clearing out a bunch of it and the guy said to take all you want. We got 4 truck loads of it. It's been seasoning for about 3 yrs now. It's not my favorite but I have it. My favorite so far is pecan. I have a tree that fell about 2 yrs ago and we just keep going to it and getting branches off it, one of these days we're going to cut and split it up. We also have plenty of oak but the only oak I use is the B&B lump. I want to try some fruit wood and will one of these days. We have lots of persimmon, elder berry and some kinda cherry(just a couple of cherry) just don't know what kind.

[JamesB]

I usually opt for pecan with every type of meat because that is what I get for free. I also like to throw on mesquite especially for beef.

Now, does anybody know if water oak is any good? I've got 3 huge trees in the back yard that need to come down and I've been told they are water oaks. Never heard of that before.

Thx,
James.

[TX Sandman]

I have a huge water oak in my backyard. My understanding is it can be used for 'cue, but I haven't tried it, yet.

So far, my favorite wood is pecan. A good flavor, like hickory, but with a sweet tone that works great. I want to try some apple and cherry, but haven't had the opportunity so far.