Best wood chunk type if using over charcoal

I use 3-4 fist sized chunks when using my WSM or Cajun Bandit. Apple is great with chicken, pecan is excellent with pork.


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I use apple, peach, sugar maple, hickory, oak, and some cherry in my offset "stick burner", sometimes just wood, but mostly over and with charcoal. I like them all, and no, it's not too subdued over charcoal.

A bit of a fine point, but I don't use wood chunks "over" charcoal, I use it dispersed throughout the charcoal.

Trumpstylz said:

And the milder fruit woods still come through, even when using with charcoal?

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Yes. I can't compare to a stick burner because I don't have one but there is no doubt that the smoke flavor comes through. I did a series of tests with various types of smoking wood (and I highly recommend that to anyone) and the flavors of the different woods was striking.

Depending on the meat, the smoke flavor could be overlooked, such as some subtle woods and beef, but with mild flavors such as fish, the smoke flavor of any woods really comes through.

I did some chickens today using hickory, apple and cherry chunks distributed through the briquettes and there is no doubt that the smoke flavor came through. (In other words, I'm stuffed! :wink: )

Trumpstylz said:

And the milder fruit woods still come through, even when using with charcoal?

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Just for the record I don't consider apple or black cherry mild, more like medium-strong, a step below hickory. I like using apple when I cook on the kettle with charcoal, gives me a nice smooth smoke flavor.

Wood burns efficiently at one speed. You don't need a big piece of wood to get a good smoke, in fact, when it comes to making "thin blue smoke," bigger is NOT necessarily better. The key is to have small amounts of wood burn efficiently, so you get sweet smoke flavor, and not bitter, over-smoked flavor.

I use charcoal for heat on my WSM, and mix some wood chunks in, using the Minion method. If needed, I add small amounts of wood chunks, so I can still smell wood smoke, but not too much at a time, so I don't get thick white smoke.

Certain principles apply whether you use a stick burner, or use charcoal and chunks. Either way, you want mostly hot coals for heat, and small amounts of wood for smoke.

I follow my nose. If I smell wood smoke, I leave it alone, if I don't I add a few wood chunks, right on top of some red-hot coals. IMO, the best smoke is smelled, not seen.

As for the kind of wood to use, that is subjective. I like pecan for lots of meats, apple for pork, and oak for beef. But, honestly, I've used the "wrong" wood from time-to-time, and didn't find any fault in the meat. The only wood I don't like for long cooks is Mesquite. I like it for steaks, but it is too strong for my tastes on BBQ. Personal preference.

CD

I am a huge fan of 2/3 hickory and 1/3 cherry. The two complement each other beautifully, and the cherry adds great color.

John

Apple, white oak, and cherry

1/2 cherry/ 1/2 pecan for me on my UDS and BBQ vault

i used the weber wsm charcoal smoker mainly - and usually used a water logged big chunk of hickory which i throw on top of the pile of hickory. i use hickory for everything except salmon--salmon where i love alder wood.

http://thebarbecuemaster.net

I smoke in a UDS or kettle, always with charcoal and wood, I use apple the most, with smaller amounts of oak, sometimes pecan. I rarely use hickory as I have yet to find that sweet spot with it in my kettle. I think the opposite of your supposition is true, that a all wood hickory and oak smoke in a stick burning offset gives a milder smoke, for the same wood types, than does a smaller direct fire cooker.

I use three to four chunks, fist or smaller sized.

I like Apple for chicken and ribs. I think it gives it a great flavor with a touch of sweetness, if that makes sense.

The key is the starting temp, pretty much regardless of the wood you use. When hot smoking, the meat is only going to take up smoke to a certain point. Once the meat reaches a temperature that seals the outler layer, the meat will not take anymore smoke.

If you want a lot of smokyness, start at a lower temp, with whatever wood / charcoal mix that you feel compliments your cut of meat and rub /injection/marinade etc.

Start low to get the smoke, and finish a little higher in temp, so that you're not sitting there for 2 days waiting for it to be done. Like for spares... a lot of people start low. 180-200F, and then after the first hour, bring it up to 225, then 275 and sometimes a lot more. It means you can get good smokey ribs in 4 hours rather than 6 or 7.

Cheers!

Bill

i'm a cheap farker & tend to mostly use free wood. I used to use peach a lot because i hunted a friend's property & he had a peach orchard. Then i started hunting a friend's place in SW Arkansas and we had hickory available so mostly used it. Now i'm using mostly pecan because my son brought me a bunch that he cut from a fallen tree at his grandmother's house.

Wampus sent me some cherry wood a couple of years ago & i used it sparingly because it was such incredible wood (and was very sad when i used the last of it).

If i had my druthers, i'd smoke with cherry all the time, if no cherry then pecan or peach with hickory close behind.

^^^ Yes,

Smoked with some Weber branded Hickory tonight. Nice, but my peach / nectarine / apple wood of my dad's hobby farm was better. I ran out of it and bought the Hickory chips. I'm not disappointed, but I'd prefer my own wood.

Cheers!

Bill

I'm a big fan of mixing white oak and peach chunks.

I pretty much exclusively use 1 part hickory, 1 part apple and 2 parts cherry on my chicken and pork smokes. I love the taste the hardwood hickory imparts and the color the cherry puts out. I always start with Cherry and hickory then go over to apple and cherry to finish.

When smoking brisket I use pecan and oak.