# What woods are good for smoking?



## gonefishin (Nov 6, 2004)

Hi all,


As usual, thanks so much for allowing me learn how little I know 


I recently fell into a decent size cherry tree. I may get an opportunity to get a few more trees but I got to wondering what the rules were for picking trees for smoking wood.

I've heard that any fruit or nut tree is a good pick for using it's wood to smoke meat. But are there any exceptions? are there any other rules?

just to take the oak tree as an example. The oak tree can vary soooooo much in characteristics from each variety. Which will work? will they all work?

What about walnut? dark walnut. Peach trees? etc.

thanks,
dan


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

Most all hardwoods can be used for smoking, from what I know. There may be a couple of exceptions, but they would be rare. Of course, some are more sought after than others. The big thing is to stay away from softwoods, such as pines, firs, etc. Their tars and saps create nasty, off flavors. Of course there are even exceptions to this rule and I have heard of (but never tried) some older smoking techniques using these.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

You want to let your cut wood cure for about a year before you smoke with it. Otherwise it's too green and can taste off. I've seen a lot of oak used, even the local scrub oak (quercus gambeli). The temperate fruit and nut woods should all be fine. Once you go tropical I have no idea.

I'm told a lot of the Jerk flavor comes from the allspice wood they often cook over but I've not had that experience yet.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Any hardwood can be used for smoking. Some highly aromatic ones, such as mesquite, can actually flavor the foods. Most of the time this isn't so, however. The final flavor is a function of what brine (or dry rub) or other flavorings you use and the length of time the food spends in the smoke. The time-sequence of the smoke can also affect final flavor. 

Many will argue that this isn't so. But I challenge them to take a blind taste test and then tell me which wood was used. 

Your cherry wood is fine, as are all fruit woods. Hickory is traditional for smoked pork products. No reason not to use oak and other nut woods if you have a supply of them.

A less known source of great smoke is dried corn cobs. Another, seemingly little known approach, is to save the woody stems from herbaceous herbs such as rosemary, and drop them on the coals. Because they contain aromatic oils, they can add a unique flavor to the food.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

With a few exceptions any tree that has nuts or fruit can be used to smoke. Cherry is good but use it in small quantities because it can be over powering and will turn the food very dark. My favorites are oak, hickory, apple, and pear. Walnut is another that can be over powering. Best bet is to burn a bit and smell the smoke, if it smells powerful it will put that same smell/flavor into the food. 

Do NOT soak the wood, all that does is create steam and possibly creosote that will stick to the food leaving a very nasty bitter taste. A small clean burning fire is better than a large smokey fire. In this picture look closely at the left end of the pit. The smoke is barely visible coming out of the door above the steam table pan of beansand this was about 2 hours into the cook.


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## hippysandy (Jul 22, 2009)

Cherry can darken the color of the meat and give it a sweet flavor. You can also prefer to use Hickory. Hickory wood is popular for making barbecue.


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

Any thoughts on Maple? I picked up a bag and haven't used it yet, because frankly it seems like an odd wood to use for smoking.


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Maple-smoked bacon, to mention one meat, is widely esteemed.

The best barbecue I have ever eaten, made by "Uncle Will" - a black guy with a roadside stand in a dubious neighborhood in Houston, is smoked, according to Will, over a mixed fire of pecan and white oak. His products - ribs, brisket, hot links, shoulder - are sensational. His sauce, though thoroughly competent, is hardly needed - it's entirely middle of the road; not real sweet or real spicy, and doesn't distract attention from the meats.

My son was so enchanted by this discovery of pecan that he smoked a family Thanksgiving turkey with lots of pecan. He took one bite and threw it away. He said "it tasted like a tree!" So take it easy, pecan-wise.

Alder is _de rigeur_ for salmon in the Northwest, and available from Luhr Jensen & Sons in Hood River, Oregon. I got a case of 10 1-3/4 pound packages about five years ago, and am still going strong.

Mesquite is also available in chunks for grilling. (not from Oregon, though ) Mesquite is also exquisite for furniture, but not available in very big pieces, as it's a small, knarly tree. Check with the _Houston Hardwood Company_ if you would like to play with some - for small furniture, that is, not smoking.

I've read that traditional Vermont country hams are smoked over corncobs... never tried one. I'll stick with Missouri country hams and hickory.

Hoppy smokeeng! as Jacques might say.

Mike


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## gonefishin (Nov 6, 2004)

Thanks all 


Yeah, I'm wondering about maple as well. I've obviously seen maple smoked bacon...but what type of maple?


When I made the initial post I had left out that my inquiry was toward what woods will work well for smoking. But in the context of what trees would be good for smoking wood.

We do have some alder trees in our area, but I don't have any immediate access to them. I may be able to get a few more cherry trees, which I may be able to barter for some hickory logs from another guy. There are alot of red and white oak trees in the area too. I would imagine I should come across one of these in the future. When it comes to maple I would think that the harder maple like the crimson king, which keeps deep red leaves thru summer, would be better for smoking. Another option in the maple category would be the autumn blaze type, which has green leaves during summer turning to blaze orange/red in fall. These aren't as hard as the red leafed varieties but still much harder than silver maple and other soft maples.

thanks all!
dan


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

I've been playing with a stove-top smoker -- hot-smoking only, alas, but still pretty good for smoke cooking -- and have used alder (pretty traditional in the U.S. Pacific Northwest for salmon), pecan, oak, cherry, and still have to try maple, hickory, mesquite, corncobs (not wood, obviously, but usable for smoking as MikeLM points out; I suspect it will be on the sweet side), apple, and one more (sorry, I forget).

And according to a forthcoming book from the CIA, contrary to what KYH said upthread, any smoke _does _add flavor, provided the particles of smoke can cling to the surface of the food. Which is why the surface of the food should be dry, preferable with a pellicle (a skin formed by the drying of the brine or marinade). Anyway, that's what a chef-instructor at Culinary said.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

white and red oak are excellent BBQ smoking woods and really good for a steak over hardwood coals. I have 1/2 cord or so that I was using in the old BBQ pit.


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## oldschool1982 (Jun 27, 2006)

IMHPO So many woods are good. 

Personally.......

I like a mix of Oak and Hickory maybe 60/40 respectively for most of my standard stuff.....Ribs, Brisket, Butt even veggies and cheeses. However and this is just personal preferance.....I started finishing things with apple. It really made a nice over-tone for the meats (pork) and the cheese. Not a big fan of apple with beef and for chicken I will go straight apple. 

Pecan works well for some seafoods like scallops and salmon as well as some game birds like Pheasant. I have also done an apple/pecan mix for Pheasant. 

Cherry is good, small amount of alder thrown into the mix with oak and hickory. Mesquite stands alone mainly for beef. 

I have used maple in many cases....again in a mix wih a small amount of Oak (white). Black oak is great too. 

Lamb I use strictly cedar and not in a hot or full smoke. Basically it's a half, cold smoke and then roast in the oven to Rare


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

>And according to a forthcoming book from the CIA, contrary to what KYH said upthread, any smoke _does _add flavor, provided the particles of smoke can cling to the surface of the food.<

That's not quite what I said, Suzanne. Of course the smoke adds flavor, otherwise why bother?

What I said was that, with the exception of a very few aromatic woods, that the smoke flavor imparted is indistiguishable, one wood to another, if everything else is help constant.

I've been playing with smoke---both for smoke cooking and smoke curing--- for about 40 years and stand by my statement. I've met many people, professionals and just plain folks, who are very contentious about the choice of wood and how it flavors the food. In each case where I could convince them to take a blind taste test they could not tell which sample was cooked by which wood, because they tasted the same.

In short, as so often happens with culinary matters, conventional wisdom and in-the-mouth testing yield totally different conclusions.

The problem is, often, that different dishes are cooked using different woods. For instance, a lightly seasoned fish might be smoked with apple wood. Then a heavily spice-rubbed brisket is smoked using hickory. And the conclusion is that the radically different tastes are from the wood. But it's just not so. Or, in a similar vein, two dishes might be prepped the same, but one dish is lightly smoked, the other deep smoked. And, again, the type of wood is said to be the cause.

Another aspect is the age of the wood. Relatively green mesquite, alder, and the stems from herbacious herbs will add their flavors to the food as their aromatic oils volitize then recondense on the food. But even those woods, when well aged, contribute little if anything because their oils already have evaporated.

> Which is why the surface of the food should be dry, preferable with a pellicle (a skin formed by the drying of the brine or marinade).<

Absolutely correct. Without the pellicle you're pretty much spinning your wheels. Although there's more involved in the formation of a pellicle then just drying the brine or marinade.

It's also why dry rubs are so preferred over brines, nowadays. It takes considerably less time for the pellicle to form with a dry rub. If you're interested in why, I'll be happy to explain.

Still another aspect, btw, is the time-shedule of the smoking. Much has been made about how the food can only absorb X hours of smoke. Just this week one of the celebrity chefs made a big deal about there being no use smoking for more than two hours because that's all the smoke the meat he was making (a pork shoulder, for pulled pork) could absorb.

In one sense that's correct. At the start, two hours of smoking is about max (it varies, naturally, based on factors like the type of protein, seasoning used, strength of the pellicle, etc.). However, if you then let the food rest with no smoke for a half hour, then start smoking again, it will happily absorb more. The more you alternate smoke/no smoke on a 30 minute alternation the smokier the food will taste, and the deeper the smoke ring will extend into the food.

To be sure, scheduling of smoke is more a concern with smoke-curing than with smoke cooking. But it's another instance of "experts" making categorical statements that are not borne out by the facts.


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## gonefishin (Nov 6, 2004)

Thanks all! I've got some good ideas of the trees I'll keep an eye open for :bounce:

I'll keep my chainsaw sharp and fueled 
dan


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## jerkseasoning (Oct 19, 2009)

_I hope this post is OK I have only joined recently, there was a lot to read in the answers to your question and admit have not read them all so this may already have been suggested, but my late father who owned a fresh fish shop in London here in England, smoked all of his own fish in a Smokehouse, and produced kippers, buckling, smoked cods roe, smoked sprats, smoked haddock etc. etc. and always used Oak dust, which was probably oak sawdust, hope this helps. iI once tried smoking using uncooked rice, and tea it was awful._


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

NO CONIFERS unles you want your meat to taste like Retsina wine or that chinese tea that aged in pine barrels.

EDIT: Mostly use fruit and nut woods as well as a few others like maple and misquite. And apple wood I hear is the best all around wood for smoking.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

_Only use fruit and nut woods ......._

Hmmmmmmm? Mesquite is neither. Maple is neither. Alder, larch, boxwood, locust and ash are neither. Corncobs are neither. Etc. Etc. Etc.

A lot of this discussion reminds me of my days in the Boy Scouts, when "what is the best wood to use for cooking" was a passionate discussion. Fact is, you used what was available, and, depending where you were camping, might have very little choice.

Same thing for smoking food. You use what is available, with the exception that softwoods are out. _Any _hardwood will work, as will some alternatives such as corncobs.

Years back, before smoking became an "in" thing, I lived near an apple orchard. In those days the farmer would just about pay you to haul away the pruning trimmings and fallen branches. So I used apple wood. Nowadays they charge a second mortgage for their scrap wood. Instead, I use random hardwoods, harvested from my own property. And there's not a whit of flavor difference in the final products.


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Post edited.

In the deep south and elsewhere, it's whatever non-conifer that's on hand. Here it's hickory, oak and pecan woods. Those trees are all over the place. In Jamaica, it's pimento (aka allspice) wood that's the smokewood of choice, in Japan cherrywood, out west mesquite.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Yep. Smokewood choices can be culinary or regional. But I'm going to disagree with kokopuffs a little because he oversimplified, did disservice to the role hickory plays in the south, and ran some regions together. For instance mesquite is most popular in Texas and the Southwest. In the California part of the Pacific west, the woods of choice are red oak, live oak and citrus; but its alder and fruitwoods -- especially apple -- as you move up the coast into the Northwest.

But in koko's defense -- what's a quibble without a nuance? -- mesquite is moving in because it's cheap (comes from Mexico), sustainable, and available. It makes a great hardwood lump charcoal too, because it's so strong it brings some flavor even as a charcoal, burns hot, and (again) is cheap, sustainable and available.

Each wood has its own character, and more of it if you burn and use it "just right." If you over or under smoke, burn it too hot or too wet, the varietal characters of the wood start to fade. So, to some extent I'm going to take issue with KY; but on the other hand a lot of the distinctions are so darm subtle with the milder woods they get lost in the combination of generic smokiness, plus whatever's going on with whatever natural flavor the food has, plus the spice it carries.

There are some excellent lists of wood along with discussions of how they taste and their appropriate uses on the net. One of them is on the Barbeque FAQ, which everyone interested in 'q should read anyway. Here's a link: Table of Contents. See FAQ 8 for the discussion on smokewoods.

So far, I've yet to see anything very complete here on CT. It's pretty much been "I like to use this," without much of a discussion of "for what," or "why I don't like to use these other woods;" the kind of information you need to make an intelligent decision. There are a few posts from some of the more active smokers that buck that trend; but as I said, nothing that combines breadth with depth.

BDL


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## cyberdoc (Nov 1, 2009)

Pretty much any hardwood.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

What does this mean? 

If someone went into a store which offered a choice of a dozen different hardwoods, you'd say "it doesn't matter, choose whatever's cheapest?"

Would you use walnut and alder interchangably? 

BDL


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## cyberdoc (Nov 1, 2009)

There is a web site, askthemeatman.com, that has a good guide as to what woods go well with various meats.


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## cyberdoc (Nov 1, 2009)

askthemeatman.com/woods_to_use_for_smoking_art_updated_9300.htm


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## a_mak (Aug 27, 2009)

I'm not sure if this would be a different topic but has anybody tried smoking not with wood but with things like tea, rosemary, or cinnamon sticks? If so, how did it turn out? Did the flavor of the item used come through on the food? Obviously this is more suited to smoking smaller items like poultry breasts or fish filets and not a rack of ribs.


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

I've tried smoking with rosemary and Turkish bay leaves twice and really didn't notice any flavors being imparted to the meat that was smoked.


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## jerkseasoning (Oct 19, 2009)

Hi, I tried smoking chicken breast with tea, uncooked rice grains and sugar, it did the job, but tasted of tea, ugh!!!!


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

Not as a primary but I have used cinnamon sticks mixed with my wood chips for venison.


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## grillzilla (Oct 26, 2009)

The best smokewoods are,in my book,Apple,Hickory and Pecan.For all you Texans out there,Mesquite is good,too,but it can overpower a food very quickly.These are just my own favorites,but I do run my smoker at least once a week.


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

Mesquite is not a wood that gets used a lot even in Texas for smoking unless you count the peoples republic of Austin. The rest of the state seems to focus far more on hickory, oak and pecan for smoke but mesquite for grilling.
Cherry and apple rate pretty darn on my list in addition to those.


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## lukep (Nov 6, 2009)

Alder-smoked salmon is popular in the Pacific Northwest. You can use fruit wood as well, but usually fruit trees have a history of many pesticide sprays which are applied each year.


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## bhirsch (Jun 23, 2008)

I just came upon this thread and would like to add a couple of things. I would suggest that tropical hardwoods be avoided because some of them contain compounds that can be very irritating, at least when working with them in a woodshop. I don't know if the same thing can happen with their smoke, but I wouldn't take the chance. Also, bark doesn't seem to burn cleanly and can leave a soot deposit, so it is best to remove it if you are using branches or chunks of a log.


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## robertwhite (Aug 13, 2010)

Hi!!

Smoke is the third leg of barbecue, with the other two being heat and time.

If you're feeling experimental, some interesting woods you can use in your BBQ smoker include apricot, peach, pear, orange, and grapefruit.  Each of these types of wood will give your barbecue a different taste.  For instance, apricot wood provides a mild, fruity sweetness that goes great with meats like chicken, turkey, pork and fish.  Orange wood provides a medium smoke flavor with just a small hit of fruit flavor.


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

This is an old thread, but something came up that's worth mentioning because it didn't get much of a response: smoking with tea, rice, and so forth. This is an old Chinese technique, and it works very well. Barbara Tropp's _The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking_ has several recipes that are reliable.

The big trick is that this kind of smoking does NOT function the way hardwood smoking does. Specifically, you do NOT want to cook the food with the smoke, only flavor it lightly. The cooking part is a separate step. A really strong tea-and-spice smoke would indeed probably be unpleasant-tasting; a light smoking, however, just 15 minutes or so, will impart an elegant whiff of flavor.

These smoke mixtures commonly consist of rice, sugar, tea, and spices. You line a big lidded wok, top and bottom, with foil. Put the mix in the bottom, and put in an oiled rack. Crank the heat until it starts putting up a fair bit of smoke, put the food on the rack, and put the lid on, then crimp the foil. After perhaps a minute, the inside of the wok is dense with smoke. Shut off the heat and wait. After 15 minutes or so, the smoke is pretty much done, and you take the whole shebang outside and open it up. If the flavor isn't strong enough, just repeat the process. When you think it's done, you remove the meat and take it inside, then you wrap up all the foil and throw it away in one go, or it'll stink up the kitchen.

Again, Tropp has good explanations of how to do this. Tea-smoked duck, for example, is lovely.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

The best woods for smoking are the driver and 2 wood.

BDL


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

"*We do have some alder trees in our area, but I don't have any immediate access to them. "*

Gee, Dan, I had no idea there are Alder trees around here. I've run into them (well, not literally) in southwest Florida and the Pacific Northwest - where it's a weed - but didn't realize they grew here in NE Illinois.

Sounds like it's time for some midnight harvesting... probably not with your chainsaw.

Mike /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Alder's magic with fish, shellfish and amphibian.  It's okay with chicken and mild poultry.  It's too subtle for anything else.

BDL


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## winternacht (May 21, 2012)

I noticed you mentioned larch as an acceptable wood to smoke with even though it's a conifer...it is a very hard wood and seams like it would work well. Does anyone have experience using larch?


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

[quote ]_I noticed you mentioned larch as an acceptable wood to smoke with even though it's a conifer...it is a very hard wood and seams like it would work well. Does anyone have experience using larch?_[/quote]

When you say "you," I think you're referring to KY Heirloomer; and you might want to shoot him a PM. In my experience, larch is not a good choice as a smokewood and shouldn't be used for the purpose. Although it's hard (but not very hard), it's a hard softwood and not a hardwood.

Hope this helps,
BDL


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

winternacht said:


> I noticed you mentioned larch as an acceptable wood to smoke with even though it's a conifer...it is a very hard wood and seams like it would work well.


Larch is a softwood. I'm not sure I'd want to smoke with any conifer wood because of the resin/gum content even in dried wood but IIR Bavarian sausage makers historically used evergreens. Some flavor profiles are very regional acquired tastes.

Juniper branches/berries can be used for a finish smoke as well.

Not all wood needs to be hard wood for smoking. Birch and pear are used fairly often in some northern regions of the US.

Dave


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Typically if the tree bears fruits or nuts it is okay for smoking. There are exceptions but nothing that grows in the US.


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

MaryB said:


> There are exceptions but nothing that grows in the US.


Birch does not grow nuts or fruit and grows in the US. Very similar to Maple in flavor profile. IIR Alder is a sub-species of birch as well. Even Poplar, a sort of Aspen has been used to make some very good charcoal like the stuff that BBQ Chef Billy Bones used to make.

Like most others I prefer hard wood and fruit wood but there are always exceptions.

Oak wine barrels can make great wood for smoking as well.

Dave


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Forgot about those but maple and birch both produce syrup that is edible so it goes along with being able to eat something from the tree. If you have never had birch syrup it is good stuff!


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

I have to admit I never knew Birch could produce syrup! Always some thing new to learn. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

Beech often gets over looked but it's a nice hard wood and if you have the patience to clean them (and can get them faster than the squirrels) Beech nuts are very good.

Dave


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

MARJUANA  IN THE WOODS.


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## rbandu (Apr 30, 2012)

*roflmao*


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## foodnfoto (Jan 1, 2001)

I've had some delicious results when smoking meat with cracked nuts in the shell-almond, hazelnuts and pecans. It works especially well in imparting a warm, nutty flavor to poultry and pork. 

Recently smoked a whole chicken with almonds in the shell that I had cracked and soaked for about 20 minutes or so. 

Did the same treatment to a whole pork loin only using hazelnuts. 

Both were really yummy.

Don't forget cedar planks for salmon and other oily fish. I guess to every rule there's and exception.

Hickory is also my favorite for traditional barbecued chicken.


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