Smokin' woods

[jtmccallum]

My son has an opportunity to sell smoking wood to a local grill.  The cook wants a supply of hickory, apple and cherry.  We don't have a lot of these available,  cherry in particular.  We were wondering what other woods might be acceptable.  We were wondering about red maple or white oak for holding temp.  Would thorn apple be the same as apple.  Would any other cherry be OK, such as pin cherry or choke cherry.  Has anyone used butternut,  I have the tops and slabs from 2 trees I cut this winter.

[beenthere]

I think the woods the cook wants are used for the smoke smell, not for heat.
That other named woods are likely not of interest due to the odor of their smoke.

[Raider Bill]

The traditional woods for smoking are HICKORY and OAK. Here is a list of woods suitable for smoking:

ACACIA - these trees are in the same family as mesquite. When burned in a smoker, acacia has a flavor similar to mesquite but not quite as heavy. A very hot burning wood.

ALDER - Very delicate with a hint of sweetness. Good with fish, pork, poultry, and light-meat game birds.

ALMOND - A sweet smoke flavor, light ash. Good with all meats.

APPLE - Very mild with a subtle fruity flavor, slightly sweet. Good with poultry (turns skin dark brown) and pork.

ASH - Fast burner, light but distinctive flavor. Good with fish and red meats.

BIRCH - Medium-hard wood with a flavor similar to maple. Good with pork and poultry.

CHERRY - Mild and fruity. Good with poultry, pork and beef. Some List members say the cherry wood is the best wood for smoking. Wood from chokecherry trees may produce a bitter flavor.

COTTONWOOD - It is a softer wood than alder and very subtle in flavor. Use it for fuel but use some chunks of other woods (hickory, oak, pecan) for more flavor. Don't use green cottonwood for smoking.

CRABAPPLE - Similar to apple wood.

GRAPEVINES - Tart. Provides a lot of smoke. Rich and fruity. Good with poultry, red meats, game and lamb.

HICKORY - Most commonly used wood for smoking--the King of smoking woods. Sweet to strong, heavy bacon flavor. Good with pork, ham and beef.

LILAC - Very light, subtle with a hint of floral. Good with seafood and lamb.

MAPLE - Smoky, mellow and slightly sweet. Good with pork, poultry, cheese, and small game birds.

MESQUITE - Strong earthy flavor. Good with beef, fish, chicken, and game. One of the hottest burning.

MULBERRY - The smell is sweet and reminds one of apple.

OAK - Heavy smoke flavor--the Queen of smoking wood. RED OAK is good on ribs, WHITE OAK makes the best coals for longer burning. All oak varieties reported as suitable for smoking. Good with red meat, pork, fish and heavy game.

ORANGE, LEMON and GRAPEFRUIT - Produces a nice mild smoky flavor. Excellent with beef, pork, fish and poultry.

PEAR - A nice subtle smoke flavor. Much like apple. Excellent with chicken and pork.

PECAN - Sweet and mild with a flavor similar to hickory. Tasty with a subtle character. Good with poultry, beef, pork and cheese. Pecan is an all-around superior smoking wood.

SWEET FRUIT WOODS - APRICOT, PLUM, PEACH, NECTARINE - Great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish. The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.

WALNUT - ENGLISH and BLACK - Very heavy smoke flavor, usually mixed with lighter woods like almond, pear or apple. Can be bitter if used alone. Good with red meats and game.

BBQ List members report that wood from the following trees is suitable for smoking: BAY, CARROTWOOD, KIAWE, MADRONE, MANZANITA, GUAVA and OLIVE. The ornamental varieties of fruit trees (i. e. pear and cherry) are also suitable for smoking.

Other Internet sources list the wood from the following trees as suitable for smoking: BEECH, BUTTERNUT, FIG, GUM, CHESTNUT, HACKBERRY, PIMIENTO, PERSIMMON, and WILLOW.

[Ianab]

Most woods can be used for smoking, just the flavour is going to change, for better or worse...

Maybe do up some samples of the woods you do have and drop them off for the chef to try out?

The different species of cherry are closely related and should have a similar flavour, if you let them try out the sample, they might like it. If not, well it's not big expense or waste time, put it down as marketing / market research.

Ian

[Chris Burchfield]

Raider Bill, out of curiosity, how many grills do you have?  Thanks for the list.  I've used hickory, oak and apple myself but not from such a list.  Only what I've been exposed to over the years.  Thanks again.

[Raider Bill]

I've got 3 smokers [1 electric], 2 gas grills, 1 weber charcoal and a BGE ;D

I've also been known to dig a pit for banana wrapped buried pig. ;)

I just like grillin, chillin, smoking.........

[Buck]

Wow Bill, what a reference. You are now my cookin wood consultant.

[submarinesailor]

I sure would like to be around if Norm, Bill (Raider Bill), Marcel (isawlogs), Steve (Burlkraft) and MM's smoking friend all got together for a cook/smoke off.  Can you say; "GOOD FOOD"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bruce

[zopi]

sassafrass rocks...

[Mooseherder]

A co-worker and I went for a Brisket sandwich at a BBQ establishment in Fort Pierce last Friday for lunch.  We frequent this place a few times a month because it is so good.   He asks us a lot of Meat and business questions when we go in there.  I was curious to know where and what type of wood he was using.  He graciously offered us a tour of his kitchen and Smoking ovens.  He has a couple Smoker Pits on Trailers out back and I always thought that was his process.
Turns out he has 2 smokers the size of about half of a refrigerator each that run day and night on wood Pellets.  It has an auger that feeds the pellets to the right temperature and smoke to make perfect BBQ.  The ovens are in a Caged in area just outside his kitchen.  He buys the pellets locally at one of the Home town hardware Stores.
The Ovens were Commercial use around 3500 each from Oklahoma.
On another note.
I cooked some Burgers on A Wood Fire tonight.  They were some good.

[iffy]

I use osage orange. Very distinct flavor.

[Tom]

The new disease that is killing Red Bay has provided a whole bunch of excellent cooking wood, but I seldom see anyone using it.   They have really been missing a Godsend, letting the dead trees go to rot or the fireplace.

It's a shame that someone didn't have the resources available to cut all those trees down, split them, treat and store the split wood for sale later.  There would have been Years of sale of the specialty wood and chips once people were made aware that it was one of the trees that provided the bay leaf for their spaghetti and stews.   You could have even gotten paid to take down the trees. 

[isawlogs]

I have read that Alder is used for smoking a lot down south, my question: is that Alder the same Alder we have here that grows in/side of ditches or on the edge of fields in bundles. The type we have here, the wood is white when you cut it and turns yellowlish to orange a few minutes after it is exposed to air/sun. It rarely grows more then ten inches in diameter, most are in the three inche ball park. Here it is a vavorite to beavers for dam building.

[Burlkraft]

I sure would like to be around if Norm, Bill (Raider Bill), Marcel (isawlogs), Steve (Burlkraft) and MM's smoking friend all got together for a cook/smoke off.  Can you say; "GOOD FOOD"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bruce

Maybe we should say Heart Attack!   :D :D

[Tom]

I think it is funny when you say "down south" and I haven't knowingly seen any Alder.  I guess everyplace is South of someplace, eh?

I did look at the ranges of trees shown on the PDF's of this website and saw that Hazel Alder is supposed to grow around here.  I just haven't paid it any attention if it is here.  It looks like this is a good excuse to find some. 

[timerover51]

There should be Alder in the Southeast, as Alder and Willow are the two best woods from which to make charcoal for black powder, and the powder mills that were located in Augusta, Georgia used quite a bit of it.

[timerover51]

Most woods can be used for smoking, just the flavour is going to change, for better or worse...

Maybe do up some samples of the woods you do have and drop them off for the chef to try out?

The different species of cherry are closely related and should have a similar flavour, if you let them try out the sample, they might like it. If not, well it's not big expense or waste time, put it down as marketing / market research.

Ian

Ian, given that you are in New Zealand, do you have any knowledge of how well some of the woods located in the Solomon Islands might be for smoking or grilling?  I will likely be there next year with a research ship for a bit of an extended period.

[SwampDonkey]

I suspect alder is about like hawthorne as far as species and range. Although, up here alder will grow about anywhere in damp ground that is open to light. Hawthorn seem to take  over fields and lines near the river valley. No sign of it out in the back country. I bet hawthorn would be good smoking wood though if you could stand the thorns. I also think roundwood (mountain ash) would be good to. Tons of that stuff around here, grows in damp ground and fence rows to. The wild ones have gummy buds when squeezed, the introduced ones are hairy. Maple flavouring takes two forms, the smoke and the syrup. I've eaten maple smoked bacon or pork chop.

[WDH]

Plenty of hazel alder "down here".  It likes wetland.