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Does it matter what kind of wood you use when you smoke?
Posted on 8/18/24 at 5:27 pm
Posted on 8/18/24 at 5:27 pm
Most recipes for smoked meat advise you to use a particular type of wood, hickory or apple or what have you.
These days I am using a Traeger and, although it is possible to switch out the type of pellet in the hopper, it ain't easy. So I compromise and use a blend.
Am I missing something? Can the average person actually tell the difference if a rack of ribs is smoked with hickory or maple?
I would appreciate some advice on the subject.
These days I am using a Traeger and, although it is possible to switch out the type of pellet in the hopper, it ain't easy. So I compromise and use a blend.
Am I missing something? Can the average person actually tell the difference if a rack of ribs is smoked with hickory or maple?
I would appreciate some advice on the subject.
26
Posted on 8/18/24 at 5:33 pm to Roscoe14
I don't know about the average person, but I think most people can notice the difference between pecan/hickory and apple/cherry. Mesquite really stands out.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 5:47 pm to Roscoe14
Blend is fine. I tend to use pecan and cherry in my barrel smoker.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 5:48 pm to Roscoe14
No, use a good hardwood.
Mesquite might be the only one that you can actually tell.
Mesquite might be the only one that you can actually tell.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 5:50 pm to Roscoe14
Not with pellets. But if you use real wood you can definitely tell.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 5:53 pm to Roscoe14
I can’t speak to the results with a pellet grill. Hardwoods in a stick burner definitely produce different results.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 5:59 pm to Roscoe14
quote:
These days I am using a Traeger
Then it doesn’t matter anyways. Use a blend and avoid mesquite pellets and most anything will be fine.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 6:15 pm to Roscoe14
Like everyone else has said, use the blend for pellets. Wood type isn’t nearly as important as a conventional wood burning smoker.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 6:19 pm to Roscoe14
In an absolute and all the time sense, I could be fooled some.
But I can usually pick out pecan or post oak vs other woods.
But I can usually pick out pecan or post oak vs other woods.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 6:46 pm to Roscoe14
Thanks, all. It sounds like the consensus is that a blend is fine for what I am doing, which is the answer I was hoping for.
Maybe some day I will join the big boys with a wood fired smoker and then I can worry about wood types.
Maybe some day I will join the big boys with a wood fired smoker and then I can worry about wood types.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 7:32 pm to Roscoe14
Post oak for beef, fruit woods for pork is a good way to smoke…
Posted on 8/18/24 at 7:42 pm to Roscoe14
With true wood and not pellets the difference is the harder vs. softer woods. Fruit woods will burn faster and have a lighter flavor in comparison to pecan/oak/hickory which will burn slower and give a more intense smoke flavor.
Posted on 8/18/24 at 8:29 pm to Roscoe14
Pellet fanboys will be downvoting, but wood choice is not as critical with pellet smokers. They don’t impart the smoke like a stick burner. That’s where choice of wood makes a noticeable difference. .
Posted on 8/18/24 at 10:11 pm to Roscoe14
You will never in your life ruin or save your BBQ because of the wood you use to smoke it.
Posted on 8/19/24 at 7:03 am to RichJ
quote:
Post oak for beef, fruit woods for pork is a good way to smoke…
Pretty good basic rule. Hickory works on pork too, but can have a sharp taste. Most any fruit wood works on pork and turkey. I've cut low branches of the wild persimmon tree in my back yard or the wild cherry. Works fine.
Mesquite is very distinctive.
Posted on 8/19/24 at 7:33 am to SpotCheckBilly
quote:
Mesquite is very distinctive.
This is true. Up in Colorado we smoked a dozen or so Briskets, a mixture of Mesquite and Oak was used.
For BTR area, most use pecan wood. I like the Pecan Smoked flavor at Bergerons in Port Allen. But the Pecan smoked at Poches in Breaux Bridge, has a little different taste on their smoked products. I'm not as high on their stuff. The lunch specials at both places are some of the best in the area!
Posted on 8/19/24 at 8:41 am to Roscoe14
Blend for pellet and I use different woods depending on the protein I am smoking on the stick burner.
Posted on 8/19/24 at 9:02 am to Roscoe14
Texas A&M Camp Brisket has done taste tests on briskets smoked with different woods. There's not a lot of difference.
Here is an excerpt from a write-up of a 2019 camp:
LINK
Here is an excerpt from a write-up of a 2019 camp:
quote:
This time we received a tray marked F through I and a sample of lean and fatty brisket for each letter, along with the requisite cheddar cheese and white bread. We rated each sample as we had done on Day 1, using a scale of 1 to 9 to score each brisket for flavor, tenderness, juiciness, and overall like.
What we did not know until after the scores were revealed was that each brisket had been smoked using a different smoke wood.
Here are the results for overall like:
F) Post Oak: 6.3
G) Pecan: 6.8
H) Hickory: 6.2
I) Mesquite: 6.8
Briskets smoked over pecan and mesquite were rated highest; post oak and hickory the lowest. When the numbers were crunched by the TAMU students, there was no statistical difference between pecan, mesquite, or oak. According to Dr. Savell, participants at Camp Brisket 2019 had no differences in preference for the same four smoke woods. In most prior years, either oak or hickory were the winners.
LINK
Posted on 8/19/24 at 9:09 am to Roscoe14
I have been using post oak for over a year now. I like it better than Hickory. Hickory can leave a bitter taste for longer smokes.
Posted on 8/19/24 at 9:24 am to Twenty 49
quote:
Texas A&M Camp Brisket has done taste tests on briskets smoked with different woods. There's not a lot of difference.
That is an experiment I can get behind
But it doesn't necessarily mean there isn't a difference in flavor. Just that people didn't prefer one over the other with any significance.
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