# favorite types of wood



## ddigitalpimp (Jun 1, 2010)

ive come to the conclusion that i dont like hickory at all.  its too over powering on everything ive smoked with it.  i prefer some lighter flavors in my food and it seems like hickory takes over.  i am curious as to if anyone else agrees with me about hickory and can offer another smoke source that would be good as an all around choice for a bunch of different meats.

i smoked a rack of baby backs yesterday with mesquite chips and i enjoyed them much better than the last rack of spares i did with hickory.  the mesquite was not as potent (if you will) and it let the flavor of the meat, rub and sauce come out more than with the hickory.  i also grabbed a bag of apple wood chips to try with the next rack of ribs i smoke.

what is everyone elses go to for smoke?  i was thinking of trying oak maybe but im really not sure what i should try next.


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## hdsmoke (Jun 1, 2010)

Personally i like hickory...and not mesquite.  If i am doing a longer smoke i tend to mix in some oak with the hickory chunks to lighten it up a little.  I did a 12 hour butt on hickory and red oak over the weekend and it was awesome.  Personally, i think oak is a good all around wood...and i think cherry is too.  I do all my ribs over cherry now and i love how they taste.


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## morkdach (Jun 1, 2010)

i use hickory some and i really like plum and pecan


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## flbobecu (Jun 1, 2010)

Pecan and Peach are my favorite right now. Apple & Cherry are most defiantly worthy on the grill, too.


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## cliffcarter (Jun 1, 2010)

Cherry and maple, unfortunately I have none seasoned yet, so it's bagged hickory chunks. If hickory is too over powering you could use less, it is a fine smoking wood IMO.


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## mballi3011 (Jun 1, 2010)

Now I have used alot of different woods over the past year or so. Now my favorites are apple, cherry, and oak for most beef and pork smokes. Now for fish and shrimp I like Alder, maple, and maybe some pear woods. Now here are alot of woods out there I guess I'm just lucky to have some place that carries different maybe 10-12 kinds of woods.


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## fftwarren (Jun 1, 2010)

I'm wondering if you may be trying to put too much smoke or white smoke. Most people love hickory smoke and many restaurants use hickory. but if you don't do it right, your right hickory can ruin meat, which may be whats going on in your case. Which if thats whats happening, any wood you use will produce the same results. Have you been smoking long or are you still new to it?


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## richoso1 (Jun 1, 2010)

You might try using a combination of Hickory and a fruit wood. I do that sometimes with Mesquite, depends on who I plan to serve my Q to.Chicken is great with 1 chunk of mesquite, and two of cherry.


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## hookup (Jun 1, 2010)

Favorite wood is whatever I get for my favorite price. 

Free.

Using cherry now.   Buddy chopped down a tree. Works nicely.


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## pineywoods (Jun 1, 2010)

I use mostly cherry or pecan on beef and pork. For poultry I use either apple or cherry


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## grampyskids (Jun 1, 2010)

The 1st time I smoked with hickory, the smell gave my wife a headache. I had to extend the smokestack on my smoker by 3' to keep peace. Now I like in this order: Alder, Apple, Oak, Maple and then Pecan. As ypu can see, we like lighter woods.


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## mythmaster (Jun 1, 2010)

I love hickory with longer pork smokes such as pork butts or shoulders, and I love mesquite for shorter (3 hours or less) smokes such as chicken parts and brisket (hot and fast method -- foiled after 3 hours).

I think that ribs and whole chickens would benefit more from a lighter wood such as Apple or Cherry, but I haven't tried that yet (I'm doing some ribs with Apple in the next few days).

Pecan sounds awesome for just about anything, but I don't have any (sadly), so I can't tell you for sure.

You'll just have to experiment and find out what works best for you and your family.


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## travcoman45 (Jun 1, 2010)

Personally, I prefer hickory.

Fer customers orders I use only Maple.  That seems ta satisfy everbody.

Apple is nice on poultry.

Hickory an mesquite er great on beef as lighter woods can get lost there.

Smokin be one a them personal choices, yall just gotta try different woods an different things an see what works fer yall.


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## meateater (Jun 1, 2010)

Hickory is my favorite, apple wood my second favorite. Sometimes I mix them.


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## bigtrain74 (Jun 1, 2010)

I am in love with cherry latley... It is some good stuff...


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## caveman (Jun 1, 2010)

I love Mesquite as it was the first smoking wood I used.  I had to learn how to not over power the meat with the smokey flavor & accomplished that with the help of perusing the forums here.  My wood of choice at this moment is hickory as it completely rocks, in moderation.  I agree with the consensus on the vets here.  Lighter woods for chicken & poultry & heavier woods for beef & pork.  It is all up to the taste of the chef however, so what ever you use, just remember to use it in moderation.


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## sethhpu (Jun 1, 2010)

My favorite wood is mesquite. Now I know many don't like using it for long smokes but I have done a few briskets and a pork butt with only mesquite and never had that bitter flavor. Much like Caveman I had to learn to keep the smoke thin and blue but every smoke I have done is with mesquite. I know there are other flavors that will enhance the meat and I'll get to them eventually.


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## adiochiro3 (Jun 1, 2010)

In no particular order: I prefer Plum, Apple, Cherry, Alder and -- lately -- Ash (which is a member of the Olive family!!!!).  Alder is fantastic on poultry, but so are the fruitwoods.  Plum is stronger, so I reserve that for pork & beef.


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## coyote-1 (Jun 7, 2010)

So far I've used:

hickory

mesquite

maple

cherry

oak

First two I've had to purchase chips/chunks, the others have been free in the form of logs.

All of 'em are good! My last smoke, 6 racks of babybacks and 2 chickens, used all of them - and it came out great.


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## wildflower (Jun 7, 2010)

mesquite and pecan, spent to much (if there is such a thing) time in TEXAS


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## graybeard (Jun 7, 2010)

Hello ddigital, try to use less wood next time and make sure you are getting a good air flow.
beard


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## oldschoolbbq (Jun 7, 2010)

Digipimp,you live in an area with lots of Maple.I feel you are paying a premium for the mesquite and if you have never used whole Mesquite, you will find that it is much stronger than Hickory.I say that as I grew up in Texas and did a lot of cooking on smokers. There is not a lot of Oak up here in our latitude,and it is expensive too-so getsome Maple and try it alone and then try it with Hickory.Maple makes a good all around wood. If your fuel for smoke is chips,then find a tree trimming company and ask them for a bag of chips and dry them at home....

I really feel you will enjoy the Maple,IMHO.

Have fun and,


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## alelover (Aug 5, 2010)

So far in my limited smoking career I have used pecan (MY FAVORITE), apple, oak and hickory.

I like them all.


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## jdt (Aug 6, 2010)

From my experience

I don't like mesquite at all

Hickory is good stronger than Pecan

Pecan is great stronger than Maple or Oak

Maple is a good all around, Oak is a fuel wood IMO not as much flavor as cherry

Cherry is stronger than apple

apple is just a touch stonger than pear/peach and plum

Cherry with a bit of hickory is usually what I do but its not beyond reason to mix it up and have apple, cherry, hickory, oak, maple and pear all in one overnight cook just for fun, Cooking with sticks I figured I would oversmoke something eventually but luckily the bellfab draws so good I have had no problems yet.

If I had a source for pecan it would be pecan and cherry mainly but its hard to come by pecan up north here,


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## Bearcarver (Aug 6, 2010)

Cherry, Apple, Maple, and Peach are good for pulled pork, briskets, chuckies and things like that, but when it comes to my Bacons, it's gotta be Hickory, and a lot of it!

My Hard Smoked Salmon was best with Hickory too, but I never had Alder before. I can't wait to try that in my A-MAZE-N-SMOKER!

My two pennies,

Bear


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## alelover (Aug 6, 2010)

I would like to try alder too. I don't think we have them trees here in NC though. Alaskan Brewery uses it to smoke the malt they use in their Alaskan Smoked Porter and it is fabulous.


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## distre (Aug 11, 2010)

I use pecan on most of my smokes and everyone loves it. I think of oak as a fuel wood as stated before. Mesquite can be strong like hickory, and oak would be a good to mix with either of these in my opinion. Fruit woods are not easy to come by in my area other than small chunk and chips, but I keep looking for a source.


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## ak1 (Aug 11, 2010)

90 percent of the time I use maple. But I've also used Hickory, Alder, Mesquite, Apple, Plum, Birch, Beech, Oak, Cherry, Walnut, Ash, Peach, Pear, Linden, Lilac, Rose, Grapevine, Pecan, Pine cones, Cedar.

Right now I've got some Black Locust aging that I want to try.


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## pineywoods (Aug 11, 2010)

Cedar is not a recommended wood for smoking not sure about pine cones either


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## pit 4 brains (Aug 11, 2010)

Being from the SW, I cut my teeth on mesquite smoked, grilled, and pitted bbq so naturally it is a pleasent flavor for me. I guess most folks around here are used to it so there isn't much complaint. Burn it a little green or on a cool fire and yes, you will taste the south end of it. I have had soome apple that was sent to me and recently began using pecan and I love it. I did some CB with a bit of walnut and it was good. My most recent was three chickens over pistacio and that was a great smell and flavor, but my ole standby is plain lump mesquite..


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## dforbes (Aug 11, 2010)

oak for heat, then pecan and cherry. hickory is good but a little bit can go a long way. i like mesquite, but it is not readily available here

Dennis


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## cwalk (Aug 11, 2010)

I agree totally. If I can help it ill never use hickory again. This past weekend I used cherry and loved it. Not an overpowering flavir but yet noticable. Hickory is popular cause its plentiful but im on a search  for tons of cherry wood


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## ak1 (Aug 12, 2010)

Piney,

My bad. I should have been a bit more specific. I didn't really smoke with cedar, or pinecones. It was more of a smoke/ grill process. With the cedar, I put some shavings into a smoker box and used it while I was grilling some fish. 

With the pinecones, I used them as the fuel  cooking some bratwurst. It's a method popular in Germany. The pinecones give an interesting flavour to the sausage.


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## solaryellow (Aug 12, 2010)

It all depends for me. I am not a fan of mesquite but the chipotle I have been doing lately wouldn't be the same without it. I lean more towards oak and pecan (Thanks Jerry!) for beef. Hickory is what I use mostly for pulled pork, some bacon and some sausages. I like to use cherry for baby backs and apple for poultry and some bacon. I sometimes will use maple for bacon and some beef. And other times I will mix it up just to try something new.


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## alelover (Aug 12, 2010)

A tree cutting service would more than likely sell you wood. I have one by me I get it from. I got this for 10 bucks. Hickory on the left. Red oak on the right. They're about 2 1/2 feet long.

He had pecan too but it wasn't split yet.


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## tedpop (Aug 12, 2010)

i am using Olive wood as it comes free  where i live, i have some oak and a lemon tree recently chopped down  will be tried in the future.

The Olive wood iis good on chicken  but since it's all i use can only wait untill other woods are used to compare. I can get my hands on Cherry, Plum,  and almond wood as well as the almond Husks that will smoke well, So ive been told, any coments on nut shells for smoke??????


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## tjohnson (Aug 13, 2010)

Maple is used by alot of smokehouses because it gives such a mild smokey flavor.

Personally, I mix Maple and Apple together, but recently tried ground up wine barrels on chicken.

Cherry is a great all around wood too.

Todd


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## hdsmoke (Sep 3, 2010)

I mainly smoke pork and on ribs i use all cherry usually...butts i use a mixture of cherry and hickory, and sometimes i have some oak i will throw in for fun.  The hickory and cherry mixture is really good on the butts...maybe a 2-1 cherry to hickory ratio.  I found some apple splits in a friends wood pile and took them home and split them down to size for my smoker and i might throw those in with the hickory this weekend on the butt and see how it is.


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## coffee_junkie (Sep 3, 2010)

My favorite wood is FREE!

In order of my favorite.

Pecan

Apple

Hickory

Lilac

Cherry

Maple

Around here the stores mostly carry Hickory, Mesquite, and Apple. I have only been able to get one bag of pecan here ever, I love that stuff! I was able to get ahold of an entire apple tree, it will last me for a long time!


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## northern greenhorn (Sep 3, 2010)

I use apple the most, but I like pecan, maple, and hickory


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## chainsaw (Sep 3, 2010)

Primarily hickory but we have 2 pecan trees so am trying that too. Peach is really good, probably any fruit trees would be good.


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## alelover (Sep 3, 2010)

tedpop said:


> i am using Olive wood as it comes free  where i live, i have some oak and a lemon tree recently chopped down  will be tried in the future.
> 
> The Olive wood iis good on chicken  but since it's all i use can only wait untill other woods are used to compare. I can get my hands on Cherry, Plum,  and almond wood as well as the almond Husks that will smoke well, So ive been told, any coments on nut shells for smoke??????


Have you tried olive wood on a pork butt yet? Does it impart a good smokiness? I met a guy once that said plum was awesome. That's all he used.


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## eman (Sep 3, 2010)

IMHO ,Pecan is probably the most neutral flavored smoking wood. I use it allmost every smoke BUT! i have a MES and i add small handfulls of fruit wood

chips when doing poultry and smaller cuts of meat and small palmfulls of misquetewhen doing beef or butts. But pecan is allways my base wood.


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## smokermark (Nov 19, 2010)

I like hickory but like you I personally prefer the lighter woods. I have some oak both red and white too but I don't use a whole lot of it.  When I do it's with other woods. My favorite is pecan. It just goes so well with just about anything that I cook and I like to  use it with almond. The almond is similar and a bit less sweet in my opinion so you can tone down the sweetness of pecan if you want that way. The woods I have in my chest are red and white oaks, beech, wild cherry, pecan, apricot, hickory, olive, guava, grapefruit and a little bit of maple. The apricot is similar to apple wood and maybe a touch less sweet sometimes I'll use that with guava or maple. I like using olive smoking poultry. For ribs the two combos I've used that I like best are pecan, cherry and almond. And guava, pecan and almond. I'll use oak with pecan and almond for brisket, sometimes cherry. The cooker used makes a difference too.


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## fourthwind (Nov 19, 2010)

My favorite's are Hickory and Peach for everything.  I use a 25% Hickory and 75% peach mix in the wood burner.   Hickory is a wood that doesnt produce a good smoldering smoke.  Much better if it's burning at the proper temp.  I do not use hickory in the electric or gassers.  Prefer using Maple and fruit woods in those.  Only thing I use Mesquite for is grilling.


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## grillin_all_day (Nov 19, 2010)

It all depends on what I'm smoking...I love apple, cherry and pecan.  I mixed cherry and hickory in a brisket I did awhile back w/ great results.  I've used alder with drunken chicken that kicked ass if I do say so myself.  Next up on the list of woods to try is oak.


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## coacher72 (Nov 19, 2010)

I like mixing my woods also. I use a lot of hickory but like mixing in pecan, cherry, and apple. Would like trying others but haven't found a good supply around here. I always thought mesquite was pretty strong on meat so I haven't used it very much. If you didn't like hickory I wonder if you had a creosote problem due to the dreaded "white smoke".


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## mschulke (Dec 7, 2010)

I've smoked with lots of different types of chips in my Weber kettle before I got my pit.  I've used apple, cherry, maple, oak, mesquite, pecan, alder, hickory, grapevine, and even Jack Daniels oak chips.  The apple and cherry are best on poultry, and its a toss up between pecan and mesquite for beef.  Grapevine (the domestic variety, not the wild stuff I have) is, I think, hands down the absolute best wood for pork.  My dad used it a couple times, and it was outstanding. 

Now that I have my pit, I have only used oak, wild pecan (pig-nut, in Texas), a little wild grapevine, apple, and elm.  I'm like HookUp, I like my wood free.  My first supply of these came from my dad's place in Texas.  Of these, the elm was hands down the best.  I know a lot of people don't smoke with elm, and I've even heard it will make you sick, but I had no problems with it, and it beat my pecan and oak.  I'm out of it now, and am resupplying my needs in AZ by getting some down and dead Gambel's oak in the national forests.  We'll see how that works out next summer.

Mark


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## smokinstevo27 (Dec 8, 2010)

mix of hickory and cherry on butts and ribs, apple on chicken.


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## fester (Dec 8, 2010)

I mix apple and hickory for pork smokes and red oak for beef.


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## tomcat66 (May 30, 2014)

I like apple and cherry wood and even peach when I can get it I'm not a real big fan of Mesquite Wood


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## padronman (May 31, 2014)

Ughhh I never use Mesquite.......too strong for most of my tastes.  I use

Pecan

Cherry

Apple

Red Oak

Hickory

Usually I will mix the woods to get a better profile.  Been liking Pecan and Cherry as of late.


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## lost1er (Aug 23, 2016)

All of them depends on my mood


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## coacher72 (Aug 24, 2016)

I agree with many others, I use a mixture of hickory and apple or apple and cherry.


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## jmgreen (Aug 24, 2016)

I've used most types. Pecan is my go to wood for most things. I think it burns a little less hot than hickory and isn't quite as acrid.  Also have been using apple as I got some from a friend. I'm starting to run low now so I may get some hickory as a place near here will sell you their cutoffs from making axe handles. Quite a bit for $5.00. Has anyone used redbud? I've heard it imparts a buttery, almondy taste. I've tried it but couldn't really tell.


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## betaboy (Aug 25, 2016)

I mainly use ash because it's what I have the most of on the property. I also use oak, cherry, and apple (when our couple of apple trees need pruning).


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## markyque (Aug 25, 2016)

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__ markyque
__ Aug 25, 2016






My apple tree couldn't handle the 60 mile and hour wind last week. How do I season it and prep it for my MES 40?


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## dummy que (Aug 25, 2016)

mschulke said:


> I've smoked with lots of different types of chips in my Weber kettle before I got my pit.  I've used apple, cherry, maple, oak, mesquite, pecan, alder, hickory, grapevine, and even Jack Daniels oak chips.  The apple and cherry are best on poultry, and its a toss up between pecan and mesquite for beef.  Grapevine (the domestic variety, not the wild stuff I have) is, I think, hands down the absolute best wood for pork.  My dad used it a couple times, and it was outstanding.
> 
> Now that I have my pit, I have only used oak, wild pecan (pig-nut, in Texas), a little wild grapevine, apple, and elm.  I'm like HookUp, I like my wood free.  My first supply of these came from my dad's place in Texas.  Of these, the elm was hands down the best.  I know a lot of people don't smoke with elm, and I've even heard it will make you sick, but I had no problems with it, and it beat my pecan and oak.  I'm out of it now, and am resupplying my needs in AZ by getting some down and dead Gambel's oak in the national forests.  We'll see how that works out next summer.
> 
> Mark


the reason you don`t use elm is it will give you a hart attack trying to split it use oak,cherry,hicorey and ash thanks to emerald  ash borer  would realy like to try pecan but it dosen`t grow here in ohio pig nut is a type of hickory


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## betaboy (Aug 25, 2016)

I think you can use apple wood green.


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## sauceboss (Oct 22, 2016)

MarkyQue, there are two ways to season your wood; split it and set it out in the sun to dry over 6 months to a year (some wood takes longer) or "kiln" dry it in your smoker. Set it around 165F for 1 1/2 hours. I'm not 100% sure on the temperature and time. However I agree with Betaboy, you should be able to use the apple wood green. From the research I've done and the experimenting, I haven't had any issues using green wood. I've used oak (various varieties), wild almond, wild pecan, and maple all green. It seems the need to season wood is more so for wood burners because green wood is a less efficient fuel source than seasoned wood due to water content. A lot of people soak their wood before throwing in the smoker so it smolders and doesn't burn. I don't see the point of taking all the water out of the wood just to add it back later. However if you don't have a wood chipper I'm sure you can just cut your tree into small logs and split to a size small enough for your smoker. If they are too long after you split the logs just use branch cutters to trim the "sticks" to size. That way you can store the wood in larger pieces a just prep a small amount the day before or during the smoke.


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## gearjammer (Oct 22, 2016)

I'm really big on Hickory, have used Mesquite, Apple, Oak, Maple and Alder.

I think that's all I've ever used, but Hickory is my favorite wood.

I like smoke and I lay it right on.

    Ed


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## dcb5739 (Oct 24, 2016)

Oak and Pecan are my 2 go to woods


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## juan morkast (Oct 26, 2016)

i use tons of alder/pecan (my fav) have been using lylok (spelling?) it's alot like alder/pecan (mild)

hickory goes in everything but in small amts, cherry, olive, oak, maple.

i tend to use only small amts in all my cooks

i will be in the US this thanksgiving and i want to pick up some orange, peach (any fruit wd) we cannot purchase these in my end of canada

 use what you have and experiment with your with what you can get, 

i love Q'in


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## kihler (Oct 26, 2016)

One more person - I'm from the Pacific Northwest now living in Arizona and I use alder and apple for almost everything. Fish, pork, beef - you name and I use alder and apple. When I smoke meats, I want to taste the meat, not just the smoke. I'm smoking some cured pork belly today. The final result will be bacon, and I'm using alder and apple. 

It seem each area of the country thinks its wood is best, it may be what you get used to.


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## browneyesvictim (Oct 26, 2016)

Fruitwoods or Alder and sometimes maple are my preference usually for smoking because this is readily available here in Oregon. That's changing now that I'm using more pellets and trying different ones than I'm used to. My eyes have been opened as well as my taste buds! So after trying (and liking) Pecan, why haven't I used any of the Hazelnut I have growing wild on my property?

Im lucky to have lots of smoking wood available to me and a wood chipper, but the pellets with an AMNPS has given me the opportunity to try more woods!

When my wife and I went on cruise vacation in Florida several years back, we spent some time goofing around Orlando, and we went to an upscale steakhouse- Charlies. I was blown away with the flavor of CITRUS they use (mixed with Oak)!  I buy chunks online now to throw a couple in the kettle grill when doing steaks. What a totally unique, different and fantastic flavor! Best steaks everI With that said that is for a quick grilling/searing only. I couldn't see a full smoke with it.


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