What is the one question that always comes up when people get together to get a smoker going? No it is not which beer we are going to drink while the Brisket, Pork Butt, Ribs or Sausage is smoking, but that is a very important question in my book and needs to be addressed although it can wait till another time. It is “What wood do you smoke with?”
The easiest way to answer that question is mainly asking what wood is prevalent in the area that you live or grew up in for most people use what is native to where they are or where they grew up. Here in Central Texas the vast majority of people smoke with Oak. I will use oak but it is not the one that I go to right away. I really enjoy smoking with Pecan for it creates a nice smoke and imparts a nice flavor on the meat. One of the problems is that it can lend too much of a sweet flavor to the meat so I typically will mix it with Oak or Hickory to balance it out. There are other times that I will grab Mesquite and use it alone but you have to be very careful how you use it for it will over power the meat very easily. Many a brisket was over powered by this wood. For this reason, I have to determine what is it that I am going to put on the smoker and how long it will smoke for that will greatly determine the wood that I use.
This brings us to another question. With so many woods out there what is the best wood for this meat or that meat? If you are a wine drinker or if you are not you have probably heard the phrase “Red wine with red meat and White Wine with poultry and fish” or something to that effect. That is fine and good but I don’t really drink wine and when I do I’m going to drink what I want with what I want. This true with wood. You can search the internet and you will go crazy trying to decide which wood to use with what type of meat. Heck if you follow the internet you will need a logging camp at your house for everyone has an opinion and is also the subject matter expert. So you need to pay attention to everyone or not your choice.
The other thing to keep in mind is the difference between dried wood (Seasoned Wood) and green wood (Wood that is still moist). The vast majority of people smoke with dried wood for you do not have moisture in the wood and you do not have to use much of the fire to drive off the moisture. With Green Wood you have to use the fire to drive off the moisture and this is where a lot of the undesirable flavors can come from. I for one have not really tried using green wood but there are a lot of people who do and several BBQ establishments will use it. In fact there is one here in Central Texas that does and they brag about it in their name and they have a great business. I will discuss them and other BBQ places in a future Blog.
Keeping all of the information in mind the only thing I will tell you is that I enjoy trying different woods but to me the choice of wood is a personal preferences.
Here is a list of some of the most common woods and what the quote, un-quote experts suggested meat types that people smoke on those woods. For this I will divide the wood between Mild Wood (Fish and Poultry), Medium Wood (Poultry and Pork) and Strong/Strongest Wood (Red Meats).
Mild Woods: Alder and Maple
Medium Woods: Apple, Cherry, Oak, Peach and Pear
Strong Woods: Hickory, Pecan and Walnut
Strongest Wood: Mesquite
The important thing is to look around, experiment and figure out what you like to use. I enjoy trying different woods but to me the choice of wood is a personal preference. While I will use a mixture of wood there is not one be all end all mix that I use. So go out find a new wood and try it. Mix it up and see what you come up with, for you never know what you may create. If you find something good let me know.
Until then enjoy a cold beer or beverage of your choice while lighting the smoker up. As for the best beer to have it would be Free and Cold.