What is your favorite wood for smoking?

[smokeasaurus]

On the SOTG forum I asked this question and at the time my favorite smoking wood was cherry with peach nipping at its heels. Well last weekend I smoked a briskie and used peach accidently.....oh my did that briskie come out good!!! Peach is now my favorite wood to use in my off-set.

Also, you can mention your favorite combination of woods as well.  I prefer peach and oak.

[teesquare]

Well...I picked cherry - but, based on your experience smoke - I am going to use Peach pellets today to do some of the BBQ "Sot-glasses" and ABT's
T

[LostArrow]

Mine varies, for my offset it's what I can get free , for the WSM it's apple.
At LA hunt camp I can get Hickory, oak, wild pecan, black Locast , pear , plum, & occ other trees that blow down. Mainly use oak, & wild pecan because I can literally get  an unending supply .

[tlg4942]

Since Smoke ask this question on SOTG I started thinking and trying various woods.  I have an abundance of pecan,oak,wild grape available. We have some hickory around but not much this close to the coast. 
 I really seem to be partial to the hickory.
 The grape vine have a nice lite smoke for fish and seafoods.
The other thing this lead to was my return to cooking over a wood fire.Not so much smoking I guess although the wood flavor really comes out.  Something that 25 years ago was the main way I grilled.
Oak or pecan is burned down to coals and can be used in the smoker, grill or in a shallow hole. This provides the best flavor I've found regardless of the wood.

[africanmeat]

I love cherry wood it gives the food a nice flavor

[sparky]

i like to mix pecan/cherry pellets and just plain straight oak.  i'm liking the oak pellets alot.  i've been using oak on just about everything.  nice. 

[teesquare]

Well...I picked cherry - but, based on your experience smoke - I am going to use Peach pellets today to do some of the BBQ "Sot-glasses" and ABT's
T

And...I have been using a lot of Peach lately. I LIKE it! Mellow, slightly sweet flavor. Strength of the smoke is similar to Pecan I think...

[Hub]

If I could only have one wood (and I'm glad that's not the case) I'd have to go with hickory as the all-around universal smoke.  When it comes to beef, though (brisket and chuck) I almost always use mesquite.  I also like to grill steaks with mesquite.  It's a southwestern regional thing I grew up with.

Hub

[teesquare]

I am with you for beef Hub. I will always favor the Mesquite, but I have been having some fun with peach on chicken and pork. I also use Cherry and Apple.

BTW - Where are you from originally?

[smokeasaurus]

I have grilled steaks over apple wood with great results. Apple is really more universal than it is given credit for. Most think it is only for pork or poultry but it is just as good with beef IMHO. Peach and apricot is outstanding for beef as well. Next time ya do beef try oak next time..might make you rotate it in with your mesquite...........especially if it is red oak...............great for grilling and smoking. I like to add fruit woods to a bed of hot mesquite when slo-cooking.....outrageous.......I have found that I can mix and match all different kinds of woods with really nice results...i just keep it light......................

[teesquare]

It IS kind of fun to mix different woods when cooking. With pellet cooking - most brands are 70% oak, 30% flavor wood.  So, it is already a bit like blending two different woods.

[smokeasaurus]

I am a little envious of pellet heads.............they can really mix and match some interesting concoctions of wood pellets!!

[teesquare]

Well it has advantages...But disadvantages too. This is my understanding  thus far ( I make no claim to being an expert )

It is nearly impossible to afford - or find 100% flavor wood pellets - other than Hickory or Oak.  SO it is sort of a "forced" blending to start with.

Then - If you were to use pure 100% Flavor wood pellets - you will find a large difference in BTU output from wood to wood ( Example: I love Mesquite - but I do not get the same BTU/ heat output per volume of pellets as Oak or Hickory, thus it takes more Mesquite to keep the same temp. This is a fairly complicated issue that has to do with comparing how the different wood burns in it's natural state vs pelletized.

When wood sawdust is compressed to make pellets - it eliminates the natural cellular structure normally occurring in the wood. This natural state has larger voids, with spaces for air, making combustion a little easier - aiding in part, higher BTU output. But - the benefit is that pellets are less likely to combust into flames, and will smolder at almost a "charcoal like" state more consistently than wood in it's natural state.

So - they work very well for the way pellet cooking is designed to function. But, there are some minor compromises we make for the convenience of "push button cooking "

The number of folks that can truly smell and taste the difference in smoke, and tell you what wood you used - is small. It is a vast minority. You as a frequent cook, using different woods and tasting foods cooked differently may be good at it - but, that is not the average person that you feed from your grill .

[smokeasaurus]

My Man!!  Excellent tutorial on pellets T!! 

[Hub]

Well it has advantages...But disadvantages too. This is my understanding  thus far ( I make no claim to being an expert )

It is nearly impossible to afford - or find 100% flavor wood pellets - other than Hickory or Oak.  SO it is sort of a "forced" blending to start with.

Then - If you were to use pure 100% Flavor wood pellets - you will find a large difference in BTU output from wood to wood ( Example: I love Mesquite - but I do not get the same BTU/ heat output per volume of pellets as Oak or Hickory, thus it takes more Mesquite to keep the same temp. This is a fairly complicated issue that has to do with comparing how the different wood burns in it's natural state vs pelletized.

When wood sawdust is compressed to make pellets - it eliminates the natural cellular structure normally occurring in the wood. This natural state has larger voids, with spaces for air, making combustion a little easier - aiding in part, higher BTU output. But - the benefit is that pellets are less likely to combust into flames, and will smolder at almost a "charcoal like" state more consistently than wood in it's natural state.

So - they work very well for the way pellet cooking is designed to function. But, there are some minor compromises we make for the convenience of "push button cooking "

The number of folks that can truly smell and taste the difference in smoke, and tell you what wood you used - is small. It is a vast minority. You as a frequent cook, using different woods and tasting foods cooked differently may be good at it - but, that is not the average person that you feed from your grill .

Good rundown, T -- as a certified or, perhaps "certifiable" pellet guru I'd only add that base/flavor ratios differ from manufacturer to manufacturer and sometimes by wood type, too.  The two most common "base" woods used in pellets (usually making up from 60 to 70% of content) are alder and oak.  Alder has very little flavor and really lets the "flavor" wood come through, but some pellet cookers handle this better than others.  Oak is my favorite base because it has a mild and almost "sweet" flavor contribution that I think makes for a better overall balance in the pellet with more smoke contribution to the final flavor.  When I can get them Chris' (Cookingpellets.com) 100% hickory is the gold standard for most cooks with Candy Sue's (Barbequer's Delight) mesquite being "da bomb" for beef.

To answer your question above, I'm from Oklahoma -- highly influenced in my barbeque experience by both the Kansas City and the Texas regional approaches.  It took me several years to adjust to Carolina style BBQ after I moved here in 1997 but I now have a grip on it 

Hub