Wood Selection for Smoking and BBQ'n
This post was written by Jason Drumright on September 20, 2009
This info is brought to you by one of our partners The Firewood Guy whose products you can find at most of our retailers in Wichita, KS.
OAK - Always pleasant, very versatile, never overpowering. Use it for “dadgum big ol’ pieces of meat” like big roasts, big briskets, big chops, big steaks. Excellent for taking the “wild” out of heavy game. Replace your charcoal habit with oak, 100% natural and no glue or fillers like most charcoal briquettes. Many prestigious restaurants advertise throughout their menu their “Oak Fired Grill”
HICKORY – The KING of woods!! Excellent for all red meats, pork, and poultry but be careful you don’t use too much. Hickory is one of those woods that you can over smoke with and the flavor can become TOO strong. So ramp up slowly until you find out how you like it.
PECAN – Simply stated, pecan is “hickory lite”. Very subtle, sweet and mild. Goes with anything and I mean anything, it can even be used for baking. Truly a chef’s choice.
MESQUITE – Tremendous, but don’t use too much! Flavors? BAM! Excellent for beef, chicken, fish, wild game. Burns very hot and works great for grilling to give that “flame kissed” taste. Smokers? Yes, but again be careful and ramp up slowly.
APPLE – Mild, fruity and sweet taste. Good with poultry (skins will brown), fish, pork and even vegetables.
CHERRY – Very similar to apple. Flavor large meats like ham or pork shoulder. Also good with fish, salmon and poultry.
PEAR – Nice subtle fruity smoke flavor but not quite apple or cherry. Great with chicken, pork and all vegetables.
MULBERRY – The most overlooked of the cooking woods. It is a fruit wood like apple, cherry and pear BUT it has the density and heating value of oak. The best of both worlds, use it for anything.
Experiment and practice is the name of the game! You never know what you’ll like and don’t like until you try it, have fun!
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