Does The Type Of Wood Impart A Specific Flavor?

Few things cause more confusion with people who are new to smoking than the different types of woods available. They here Apple Smoked Bacon and expect the bacon to have an apple flavor. This is not how using different woods works, the type of wood you use is not going to impart a different flavor of smoke. What the difference between the smoke different woods put off is the strength of the smoke. Fruitwoods like Apple and Cherry put out a milder smoke and are great choices for lighter flavored meats like chicken and fish, I also smoke any vegetables I am doing over fruit woods.

When To Use Apple

Apple has a mild, subtle smoke. It works great with poultry, fish, pork, and vegetables. It can be, and often is used for Hams, Pork Shoulder, and Turkey.

When To Use Cherry

Cherry is also a milder subtle smoke. It works great with large cuts of meat like Ham, Pork Shoulder, Fish (especially Salmon) and all types of Poultry. This is also a good wood to use with Chimineas.

When To Use Hickory

Hickory has a very strong smoke to it. It works well with all types of beef and pork as long as you like smoke flavor. Hickory is the most popular wood to use when smoking and grilling.

When To Use Mesquite

Mesquite has a very strong smoke to it. Similar to Hickory it works well with any red meat especially wild game. Mesquite is often the culprit when something has too smokey a flavor to it.

When To Use Pecan

Pecan is similar to Hickory with a lighter smoke, it imparts a subtle mild flavor of smoke. Pecan is good on every type of meat, especially poultry but it also works very well when doing vegetables or other non-meat items. Pecan is what I use almost exclusively when either smoking or grilling with my pellet grill.

When To Use Osage Orange (Hedge)

This is a very hard wood and it burns extremely hot. When used as a blend with oak it is suitable for smoking but by itself, it is best used as a heat source.

Pellets Vs. Chunk Wood

Pellets grills are becoming more and more popular in the United States with numerous manufacturers entering the market. Pellets grills main advantage over charcoal and wood is the convenience, you can simply push a button and be smoking or grilling in a few minutes. People have wildly varying opinions on how effective these “combo smokers” are, I will tell you from experience that Pellet Grills impart somewhere between 50-75% of the smoke flavor that using a wood and charcoal smoker will.

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