Wood for smoking

As most of us know, choosing the right wine to go with an italian dinner is an art form. Choosing the right color to use while painting can make or break the project. Did you honestly think that choosing the right wood for your BBQ adventures was all that simple? You might not be getting everything you can out of your BBQ. I am going to teach you everything I know about wood for smoking, and then some.

In the age we live in now, there really is not many places we can go to just look out over the wide open expanse of flat lands and or forested areas. Thus we are limited on a selection of wood for smoking to what we can find in our local hardware stores, or have to get some mesquite wood chunks from Wal-Mart. When it comes to ask the question, “What wood should I use?, when going to use indirect heat and your favorite wood for smoking to cook your BBQ, you may not have a whole lot of options.
There are a select few who have managed to come into a good situation where wood that is perfect for smoking just falls into their lap, such as the Guru has a friend with a Pecan tree that gives him disc of Pecan wood all the time, another friend gets Maple tree chunks given to him on a regular basis. So by all means, if you can get it…. get it.

For those of us however that have to pick what wood to use, I have put together a smoking wood uses list.

Choices of wood for smoking

Acacia

Acacia is a lighter version of mesquite. Produces a lot of smoke heat. Good wood to smoke beef and chicken.

Alder

Alder is usually used with poultry and fish. Almost a given wood for smoking salmon. Has a slight sweetness to the taste that goes very well with a sweet tasting marinade.

Almond

Almond like Pecan, gives a sweet nutty flavor. A high-point using this wood is that is gives off a low amount of ash. Good with all beef, pork, poultry and fish. A good all around wood.

Apple

Apple will produce a very mild taste with a subtle sweet fruity flavor. Good with poultry (turns skin dark brown) and pork.

Ash

fast burning wood, and gives a light flavor. I always find that you have to use more than what seems right to get a good amount of smoke …….

Birch

Birch like maple is a sweet flavored smoke. Generally compliments your marinade well, if chosen correctly. that goes good with pork and poultry.

Cherry

Cherry is fruity but somewhat mild. Good with poultry, pork and beef. There are many people that say cherry wood is the best wood for smoking, period. With that being said, wood from a chokecherry tree has a good chance of giving off a bitter taste. Gee, wonder why they named it, “choke-cherry”.

Hickory

Hickory is a very strong smoke (read: go lightly) usually used on beef and lamb. This wood is widely available almost anywhere. When first using Hickory, I would suggest go light and work up each time till you get to the amount you are comfortable with. It is very easy to over do it.

Maple

sweet flavor that is excellent with poultry and ham. A personal favorite wood for smoking pork, cooked over indirect heat.

Mesquite

Mesquite is honestly my go-to wood for smoking. Gives off a strong earthy flavor, with a good kick. As far as I am concerned, this wood goes with everything, tastes great, and you can almost not over do it….. almost. Industry standard wood for smoking just about anything in Texas.

Oak

Oak is strong but not overpowering and is a very good wood for beef or lamb. Oak is probably the most versatile of the hard woods, seeing as how you can virtually use any type of oak and they all do their job well.

Pecan

Pecan burns cool and provides a delicate flavor. It’s a much subtler version of hickory, with a touch of sweet to boot.

Walnut

Walnut is a heavy, smokey flavor and should be mixed with milder flavored woods. If used alone on the wrong meat it can produce a biter flavor.

Wood choice by meat

Beef

Me being from Texas, I am a firm believer that beef needs to be smoked over mesquite, but for your benefit, here are a few more options.

Acacia

Acacia is good as it is like Mesquite.

Almond

Almond works well, and gives off a low ash, so for low and slow, it makes keeping the fire hot much easier.

Cherry

Adds a nice subtle fruit flavor to the meat, and will compliment a beef rub very well.

Hickory

Goes great with beef, almost so much that you dont need to prep it first. The taste of hickory can sustain itself. Just know that it is very strong, so do some test runs with lower amounts to get the feel for how much you want to use.

Mesquite

BLAM! The wood for smoking beef as far as I am concerned. Nuff said.

Oak

Oak works well with almost anything, but Red Oak will work best with beef.

Pecan

Works great, like Hickory. You almost don’t need to add anything further to the meat for flavor, this smoke can carry the show.

Poultry (Chicken, Turkey, etc.)

Soon…. I promise.

Pork (Tenderloin, Chops, Butt, etc.)

Soon…. I promise.

Lamb

Soon…. I promise.

I hope this helps answer the age old question of, “What wood for smoking (insert meat type here) is the best?”, but please, if you know of a wood that is left off, and you like it, comment that out and I will put it up in our list. No good wood for smoking should be overlooked.

Related posts:

1. Brisket, ribs, and brats smoking soon
2. Oil! Huh! What is it good for?
3. Confessions of a Lifter
4. Smoking BBQ in North Texas Weather
5. Bacon Chicken BBQ Recipe