Maple wood any good?

WilliamKY

WilliamKY

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It's not a Brickseek deal but the Walmart near me has Western 570cu in chunk maple for $3 bag. Looks like maybe 10 bags but I've never used maple. Just wondering if it's any good (clearance?). Thanks.
 
I've tried over twenty different woods. Outside of mesquite I couldn't tell you in a blind test what wood someone cooked with. That said, in my opinion wood falls into four categories, light smoke (fruit woods), medium smoke (think pecan), medium heavy smoke (oak/hickory) and mesquite. I would put maple in the medium smoke heaviness category.
 
I'm thinking about going back and buying them all. $6.99 regular price marked down to $3. Seems like a good score, I use those Western chunks all the time.
 
It is somewhere between a fruit wood and pecan. That is good price.
 
I blend mostly. I've used maple quite a bit. Good stuff.
I'm a big believer in a kiss of mesquite. I'd have bought every bag- but 1 or 2. Brother behind you might be in a bind
 
I used to always use maple for anything that flies. It still works great, but because it tends to lend a paper bag brown color I try to mix in a little cherry if I can STRICTLY for my own eyeballs. Has zero to do with the flavor.
 
My friend smoked spare ribs with a maple tree cut from his property and the smoke flavor was awesome. But similar to what hobonicholbbq said I don't think it was anything different than a nut wood vs a lighter fruit wood
 
Thanks, guys. I went back and bought 6 bags. There was at least 15 more on the top shelf but I figured 6 was enough for a first try. I was wrong about the price. It was originally $7.98per bag so by the math I saved $29.88. Looking forward to some maple smoke soon.
 
HOBONICHOLBBQ said:
I've tried over twenty different woods. Outside of mesquite I couldn't tell you in a blind test what wood someone cooked with. That said, in my opinion wood falls into four categories, light smoke (fruit woods), medium smoke (think pecan), medium heavy smoke (oak/hickory) and mesquite. I would put maple in the medium smoke heaviness category.
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I'm inclined to agree with you.

As cooks, we know the smoke we're looking for and we're really good at sniffing it out. As for a blind taste eating, I don't think we're so good. :oops:

This said, I CAN taste peach when I smoke with it.........or maybe it's just being in the peach scented smoke (really smells like peaches to me.....nice and fruity) for hours that makes me expect it :-D
 
Last edited:
I like maple. I’ve used it for whitefish and salmon and it’s great for that. As a general rule I try to stay away from the bagged wood because I’ve found it to be too dry. To the point that that it doesn’t provide the same flavor. I’ve had real good luck finding wood on cl in the past. Good luck with it!
 
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