[kokopuffs]

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.

[KYHeirloomer]

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.

[kokopuffs]

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.

[boar_d_laze]

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

[cyberdoc]

Pretty much any hardwood.

[boar_d_laze]

Originally Posted by cyberdoc

Pretty much any hardwood.

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

[cyberdoc]

Originally Posted by boar_d_laze

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

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

[cyberdoc]

askthemeatman.com/woods_to_use_for_smoking_art_updated_9300.htm

[A_mak]

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.

[kokopuffs]

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.

[jerkseasoning]

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

[DuckFat]

Originally Posted by A_mak

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?

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

[grillzilla]

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.

[DuckFat]

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.

[LukeP]

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.