what wood ??

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smokin pop-pop

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Dec 30, 2014
214
69
Allentown Pa.
So I picked up a Cabelas ring bologna kit and a buddy of mine dropped off some deer meat

and said " surprise me ". So it will become a couple rings with some LEM hot pepper cheese chunks

mixed in. I am wondering what wood I should use , I have mesquite , hickory or apple ? Or maybe

a mix of all 3 . what do you think ??
 
I find wild meat can be hard to determine as it can vary in flavor (and gaminess) quite a bit.
If the meat has lots of light yellow/white fat I'd go with Apple and maybe blend a bit of hickory in, if the fats more yellow or the meats more on the lean side I'd go with a heavier smoke. It'll help with the game flavor a bit.

Interested to know what you choose and how it turns out!
 
When I smoke venison I generally use beech for smoke, if no beech I'd go oak. Of the woods you mentioned I'd use apple or hickory, I'm not a fan of mesquite.
 
Also, if you are grinding it make sure to add a good bit of fat, I add 20-25% straight pork or beef fat for ground venison, for sausages I add a little more.
 
When I smoke venison I generally use beech for smoke, if no beech I'd go oak. Of the woods you mentioned I'd use apple or hickory, I'm not a fan of mesquite.
I once had an opportunity to tour parts of the Anheiser-Busch brewery in Columbus. It's a big operation, and there's basically a separate building for every part of the brewing process.

Budweiser is billed as "beechwood aged" and yes in fact there was a warehouse-sized building with huge wooden casks on racks, where the new beer soaked in beechwood.

I asked, What do you do with the wood after it's spent? and she didn't have an answer. I'd think you could sell that like Tabasco selling their retired shredded oak barrels as lump.
 
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I'd imagine there would be some kind of market for bud's beechwood lol. I have several beech trees in my yard and I always have some mixed in with my firewood, it's a good smoke wood, kinda like oak but milder.
 
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