I have bought/made/salvaged all kinds of wood chips for my BBQ. Hickory and sugar maple are my ol' faithfulls, but apple and alder work nice too. Now, a lady friend of mine (out West) swears up and down that oak works really well. I can't imagine. Oak? That sour smelling stuff? Don't like cherry. Tried it...not good. (I love the wood itself, and always have lots of cherry shavings and chips...too bad.)
What else should I try?
rHere in Texas oak and mesquite are pretty much staples for smoking and grilling. As you know, the piss smell will leave the oak with a year or so of seasoning.
Some folks don't like mesquite, but I like it as a mix myself, in with charcoal or lump. It is also great to grill chicken, sausage, steaks or burgers with it as the meat isn't over the smoke of the mesquite all that long, but enough to give it a distinct flavor.
I use white, red, live oak, etc. when I have a long smoke for butts or brisket. If you like a mellow smoke, use just a few fist size chunks for the first three or four hours at least, and more if you want a better bark on your victim.
I fill my custom charcoal basket with about 7-8 pounds of charcoal, and intersperse about 4 or five fist size pieces in the charcoal and fire it off. As the charcoal burns down it will reach the wood and ignite it as it burns providing a most satisfactory smoke, burning slowly and evenly.
Properly seasoned oak of any variety I have tried makes a mellow smoke, with more character than hickory or cherry. A great many professional competitors use oak as their smoking medium in competition.
If you are a fan of lump, then no doubt you have used at least some oak in the mix unless you made it yourself.
Robert
Ditto on oak and mesquite, but don't forget pecan ... my personal favorite for sausage and chicken.
Oak is good, pecan is good, mesquite is good and I can't imagine why you don't like cherry. My personal favorite. Keep a wet bucket of it all the time. Southern cherry must be different than Northern cherry.
Some of those floridians swear by palmetto roots, but I've not tried that. You're not going to find it in the frozen north anyway.
The only wood I've tried and didn't like was walnut. Too strong.
Frank
Ditto on the pecan. I've actually soaked hulls overnight and used them with outstanding results.
The hulls ( Like Dave suggested) or the wood? I never knew that pecan is a member of the hickory family.
I keep forgetting about mesquite. I just don't see much of that around these parts. But I have bought baggies of the stuff from my BBQ dealer, and quite liked the flavour.
A local pub makes every kind of daiquiris imaginable. One day the bartender tried ground up hickory nuts. One of the regulars, a physician, was the first to try it out and spat it out in disgust. "WTF was THAT?", he asked. "That was a Hickory Daiquiri, Doc."
I know, I know...that was awful.
r
Either will work ... and the nuts for making the pie for dessert. (Recipe on the "Karo' syrup bottle has yet to be beat). :)
Same genus, different species. Practically speaking there can be so many variations in color that they can be hard to tell apart. You have to be careful at the lumber yard that one doesn't get passed off as the other as some salesman will swear there is no difference ... there is.
They also smell distinctively different when burned/smoking ... pecan imparts a sweeter flavor to the meat in my estimation.
Ugh, how long have you been waiting to work that one into a conversation? ;-)
I had it blocked out of my mind for years...I don't know why my protection mechanisms failed.
Fruit woods go great with poultry. We did last Thanksgiving's turkey on a grill with apple, and pear is my favorite with chicken. Try and match/complement spices/marinade with the wood.
Beech is good, Manuka (you probably don't get THAT where you are), Gum (eucalyptus saligna, e. botryoides) works well, for fish anyhow. I have a bag of White Ash shavings that I keep for the purpose.
Wish I could lay my hands on some Hickory shavings.
-P.
I use a lot of oak as it is plentiful here. Works well with beef.
When I use cherry, it is usually mixed. Come to think of it, most every batch of meat I've smoked this year was a grab of what was in the scrap bucket or tree trimmings, or both.
I like walnut, but it can be strong.
the "Karo' syrup bottle has yet to be >beat). :)
Can I get an *AMEN* to that one. A slice of the Karo pecan pie, a small wad of French Vanilla Blue Bell next to it, and a cup of strong coffee is heaven itself.
imparts a sweeter flavor to the >meat in my estimation.
Milder, too. I really like it myself for chicken, pork loin, etc., but not so much for The National Meat of Texas, beef. I like a little more smoke on my briskets, and personally have found that pecan can be a little too mild. Some of my friends actually like the milder smoke, so I guess it depends on what you prefer.
Since there is plenty of all those woods around here, I just tune the smoke mix and quantity to what I am smoking.
Robert
No worse than the "Slippery Hickory Dock" line they used to use on the Jungle Cruise.
scott
Here in Florida we sometimes use orange tree chips, although hickory and mesquite are more commonly used. It gives the meat (usually chicken or turkey) a good flavor. and doesn't make a fowl odor.
Dave FL
That sounds intrigueing. I will ask a friend of mine to try to get me some.
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