White Oak vs Maple

[SmokingJoe]

Hey Bretheren

One of the big challenges I have in the north east is wood supply. While I love post oak and a few others they are not regional and difficult to get. The 2 I have most access to is White Oak and Maple.
Have a decent deal for a cord of either of them and unsure which to choose. I don't think I've ever smoked anything with maple so I'm curious if the choice is White Oak or Maple, which are you choosing?
I cook an even amount of poultry and beef.

Thank you

 

[SirPorkaLot]

Hey Bretheren

One of the big challenges I have in the north east is wood supply. While I love post oak and a few others they are not regional and difficult to get. The 2 I have most access to is White Oak and Maple.
Have a decent deal for a cord of either of them and unsure which to choose. I don't think I've ever smoked anything with maple so I'm curious if the choice is White Oak or Maple, which are you choosing?
I cook an even amount of poultry and beef.

Thank you

Post oak is a member of the same family as the white oak.

Maple can be softwood (silver maple) or hardwood (sugar maple), depending on variety, not of all it is good to smoke with.

 

[gcs]

Sugar maple is probably the best, but I have used well seasoned Norway maple and it was ok.
In the Northeast you should have no trouble getting red or white oak, the maples, beech, cherry and apple.

 

[SmokingJoe]

Sugar maple is probably the best, but I have used well seasoned Norway maple and it was ok.
In the Northeast you should have no trouble getting red or white oak, the maples, beech, cherry and apple.

I think the issue I'm having is 2 parts.
1- The people selling any wood marketed towards smokers and cooking are robbing people with the prices. I've seen it over $300 for 1/4 cord of apple, cherry, or oak.
2- Most wood suppliers around here are tree cutting services. They sell as firewood and a completely mixed bag mostly sycamore, ash, birch, etc and none of them are willing to sell anything separate..
Though I did make friends with one and he'll give me from his next apple and cherry tree but will take at least a year before I can cook with them.

 

[SirPorkaLot]

he'll give me from his next apple and cherry tree but will take at least a year before I can cook with them.

Why is that?

Fruit wood is best used when green.

Apple and cherry don’t need a year to season (very few, if any varieties of wood need to be seasoned for year to smoke with. That’s a bbq myth)
It’s smoke wood, not fireplace wood

 

[SmokingJoe]

Why is that?

Fruit wood is best used when green.

Apple and cherry don’t need a year to season (very few, if any varieties of wood need to be seasoned for year to smoke with. That’s a bbq myth)
It’s smoke wood, not fireplace wood

Really? I honestly did not know that, I figured like any fire, trying to get clean smoke and good bed of coal.

 

[SirPorkaLot]

Really? I honestly did not know that, I figured like any fire, trying to get clean smoke and good bed of coal.

Think about it. Seasoned wood is good for fireplaces because it burns clean and hot with very little smoke.

If you have a hot base fire going and toss in a green cherry split. There will be a few moments of white smoke, but after that is all thin blue with the essence of the cherry tree in it.

I also use green hickory, but I pre-burn it first.

Myron famously uses green peach wood

Old dried up wood is great for fireplaces, or base fires in your smoker, but for flavor, try running some green over a hot fire. You maybe surprised.

 

[SmokingJoe]

Think about it. Seasoned wood is good for fireplaces because it burns clean and hot with very little smoke.

If you have a hot base fire going and toss in a green cherry split. There will be a few moments of white smoke, but after that is all thin blue with the essence of the cherry tree in it.

I also use green hickory, but I pre-burn it first.

Myron famously uses green peach wood

Old dried up wood is great for fireplaces, or base fires in your smoker, but for flavor, try running some green over a hot fire. You maybe surprised.

I most definitely will give it a try, have access to some green apple, I'll try it this weekend, appreciate that!

 

[Callahan-que]

I do what SirPorkalot said. I use oak as a base 'cause it's cheap and plentiful around here and throw in splits of other types for flavor. I very seldom use say just pecan or cherry, it's usually a mix.

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

Do you have access to Mulberry?

Grows like weeds around here. Good wood it is. :thumb:

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Sugar Maple is amazing and smells so good when it burns. I tended to use it in the winter and mostly for chicken/turkey because it gave a very sweet flavor to the meat.

If you like post oak then white oak will be the perfect wood for you. Very similar in terms of flavor and aroma, so you'll be good to go.

Wood prices are pretty rough right now, but you also have to consider the time of year. With winter approaching most of the people who need wood for cooking / heating already have bought their wood for the year, so you're trying to get wood in a market where the supply is less than stellar.

 

[Smoke Dawg]

WE had a very large maple tree that I had to take down so smoked with maple alot and it worked great. I have no idea of the specific strain but it had big ass leaves that were a pain to clean up. I did let it season and even brought a cord to MT with me.

 

[WeberWho]

White oak I believe is one of the hottest burning types of wood available. Excellent for smoking

 

[WSM18Lang48]

I have good success with well seasoned white oak. Unseasoned wood burns too dirty in my experience.

 

[Inthewoods]

Why is that?

Fruit wood is best used when green.

Apple and cherry don’t need a year to season (very few, if any varieties of wood need to be seasoned for year to smoke with. That’s a bbq myth)
It’s smoke wood, not fireplace wood

As a person who lives on wood heat (no furnace), cooks with wood and the dominant cooking species being apple and cherry, the above post is absolutely correct. That's not opinion...it's a lifestyle.

-D

 

[PitRow]

My parents had a small grove of sugar maple on their property that they took out when they built their shop. I used that exclusively for smoking for many a year, great stuff. I wish I had more of it. I have never used post oak so I can't compare it, but if you have sugar maple, use it, you won't be disappointed.

 

[mike243]

Cut your firewood when the leaves have fell off and the saps down, use it as soon as you split it