@@jeans3490 He has a really good video that explains all of the science behind that. Check it out on his page. If I remember right it's 18 to 22 percent.
I've always heard great things about pecan, but never tried it. I'm going have to buy some from the big box store I guess just to see what I'm missing. It's hard for me to spend that kind of money because I live where hickory, oak, and such are so plentiful, matter of fact, I just finish processing and storying about 3 cords of black cherry. but I just gotta try pecan.
Not saying this is perfect but, the way I was taught about BBQ fire wood choice is that there are two categories: Fruit woods and Nut woods. Lighter foods like fish or chicken use Fruit woods, Heavier foods like beef or pork use Nut woods. 60-40% combinations are ok too.
I was practically born & raised on mesquite wood. It is fantastic on steaks, poppers, chicken and jerkey but I do prefer pecan for brisket and hickory for pork
Fortunate enough to live in the same small town as one of the few remaining full service lumber mills left in Indiana. So I get great, dried out wood to smoke with and support a family owned local business. Shout out to Quality Hardwoods lol
Mesquite is by far my favorite. I love that smell and flavor it gives. I have access to so much free mesquite so really like it or not it’s not much of a choice haha. More prominent in my area than any other woods
Is mesquite too strong of a smoke flavor? I just bought some mesquite wood and I want to use it on some briskets I'm planning on smoking labor day weekend. It'll be my first time using mesquite.
I've eaten a lot of mesquite smoked brisket my uncle in San Antonio cooked on those cheap oil barrel cookers and it was always delicious. He'd trim the mesquite around his property and stack those small twigs to dry and use them for smoking.
We had a big ice storm in Oklahoma a few years ago and a giant pecan tree in my backyard got destroyed. Cleaning up the fallen branches I decided to save a bit for my fire pit. I got into bbq like a year later and was pleasantly surprised to learn pecan is excellent for smoking meat. We like the flavor so much that its not used for the fire pit anymore and I cherish every piece.
My neighbor to the south. I'm sure you have plenty of silver maples around you. Use that to burn in your fire pit. It's sweet, and safe to use for cooking.
My dad used fresh pecan limbs with the leaves on for pork and chicken. He would start and finish with them and nothing in middle of cook. Fabulous! I have tried lots of different but keep going back to dad’s standby many times.
I started smoking with fresh hickory limbs. The flavor is unbelievable. My roommate got me hooked on smoking when I was 21 and that;s what he used. I'd like to try some fresh pecan. Just need to find a tree :).
@@USA__2023 you can get some pecans and plant it, when it sprouts just let it get 4’ and cut off what you need. They grow fast but you can keep it as a bush just for fresh smoking. What I did.
Living out East our oak tends to be from white or red oaks trees. For all practical purposes they are the same in the flavor they impart. Where they do differ is in their heat output with white oak burning hotter. This gets back to your comments on fire control having a big effect on the smoke's flavor. When I can't find oak I use hickory for brisket. Because it is stronger than oak and can cover up the beefiness I cut back on the hickory and mix it with some cherry wood. While it doesn't taste like oak the cherry lightens up the flavor of the hickory resulting in more of a medium smoke.
Love the color cherry gives. I love pecan also and have used it extensively. Sometimes a fire is too clean and the meat needs a little bit of a dirty fire to give it some smoky flavor. I prefer oak for that.
I like to use maple wood when smoking meat it gives a hint of sweet flavor and goes very well with every piece of meat. I got a lot of maple trees where I live, so I use it because it is what is available and it is fantastic.
I agree. Canada in the (not exclusive) land of maple and they grow invasively with storms of helicopter like samaras. Save for this bad manner, the maple wood make a great mild smoke for pork ribs.
Lot of Maple here in MN too. I like it more for grilling on coals and open fire cooking. But do agree with your comment about the flavor. I have just never tried to smoke anything with it.
I live in the southern of Mexico. Around from where I live there isn't many options. The best I can get around here is oak, peach and apple. Mesquite, pecan and cherry are pretty much impossible to get. Btw, in this part of Mexico mesquite is incredibly used for making charcoal.
I'm hr south of San Antonio. No post oak here. Plenty of Live oak. Don't recall seeing post oak there, but that's probably around the line where it starts growing. Never been a fan. Mesquite is my favorite.
In Mississippi there are a ton of deer processing businesses. Smoked sausage is usually a favorite choice of most clients.There is one guy who smokes his with just pecan and you are right it is the best. It is my favorite as well and ribs with a mix of cherry , pecan and ole hick is my go to. I have a bunch oh mesquite and now I know what to use it for. Thanks for that.
Pecan (flavor) and cherry (color) has been my fave combination. I cut my teeth on offsets and post-oak back home in TX, but that combo (which I've learned living in VA for 15 years now) has been amazing. Nice videos!
I'm getting Oak for my next 1/4 cord, but I've found Almond wood to be my favorite. It creates a color similar to Cherry, but with more smoke flavor. Good point about all wood being fine if you run a clean fire. I've even found Mesquite to be fine with a hot and fast 325+ cook.
Here in the Central Valley of California we use almond wood. Its great for grilling and so so for smoking. Very mild not strong like hickory/mesquite. We also have apple, walnut, cherry, olive etc.....
Had a friend, who's a wood worker, ask me my favorite wood. I told him for poultry I love cherry and for red meat either hickory or pecan. Pecan being similar to hickory but I told him that it's a little more mild and rounder with a nutty flavor. His response provoked an argument from me until I did research and found he was mostly right. He said "well not surprising since they are the same wood." I mocked him and he rolled his eyes. But once I did the research, I learned that pecan and hickory come from the same family of trees. And hickory trees have nuts as well. I had to take back my argument. But I love pecan! Thank you for the video!
I live in Vancouver BC Canada , and it’s very hard to come across oak . We can get Cherry , Apple , Alder , but recently I got lucky loaded up on some oak and Cherry . I often do a lot of Spring Salmon , Sockeye Salmon, but like many other smoke or bbq I cook up the usual suspects, chicken, ribs etc etc etc . I would love to get pecan . Great video. Cheers 🇨🇦
A hurricane where I lived about 20 years ago uprooted a lot of pecan trees. I had so much I used it for everything! Grilling, smoking, it quickly became my favorite.
I live in Northern Thailand. We have so many different varieties of fruit trees here in the sub-tropics it's not even funny, but the one wood here in Southeast Asia that is considered the Hickory of SEA is Lamyai. Will have to report back on the results.
@@crbcyouthman I Normally start with Hickory and once the fire bed is good and hot then i will add the pecan. from this point depending on the cook time I will add together.
As long as it is good season hard wood it's all just fine for me. I have transitioned to more hit n fast vs low n slow after about 20 years of low and slow.. hot n fast still is good but more enjoyable as I don't have to get up many times in the night .(edited to fix the stupid autocorrect spelling)
80 elk passed through my farm the other day, sheep were curious, got some great photos of them against the mountains. Your advice is invaluable for my first hams and bacons raised here on a our place, they deserve good treatment to honour their lives. Thank you for your help in making that happen with great smoking advice!
I've used mulberry, and hedge apple (Osage Orange). Mulberry is great for pork. Especially doing sausages. Hedge Apple burns long, and hot. I use hickory in my stick burner, but on cold days I throw in a log of hedge apple. Especially when first building a fire.
I think my # 1 would be a combo of Hickory and Cherry wood. Hickory logs with cherry chunks has always given me both great flavor and color. My number 5, that I didn't notice on your list would be Maple. I don't use it as much for smoking, but definitely a lot in open fire cooking and even grilling on the coals. And I think it adds a pretty good flavor as well. But that may just be because of how accessible it is here in MN.
I also noticed you did not include Apple wood on your list. I think a Hickory Apple combo would be my number 2 or 3. and while we have a lot of Oak in MN, I don't think I've ever grilled/smoked meat with it specifically.
Agree, my #1 is hickory/cherry. And I find the same log/chunk combo works great. Also think maple should have been on his list, I like maple for its light smoke, kind of like apple or peach but more readily available.
Love this list. It's spot on. I prefer Pecan for beef, and apple or cherry for pork, but will use pecan if cooking both at the same time. Another trick I use is I get my coal bed going then add mesquite for the first hour or so of the smoke, then go back to pecan. I call it a "mesquite kiss" and it adds a nice, subtle little flavor profile. Also, if I'm reverse searing some beef like a big steak or tri tip or even smoking a prime rib, I smoke it over pecan and finish sear it on a bed of mesquite coals. I haven't cooked with oak much, but will start in a few months because I had a huge pin oak tree fall in my backyard, so I have a ton of firewood.
You got me I'm a Fan now. I liked, subscribed and I turn those notifications on. I am 60 and been cooking all my life. You are absolutely correct about the information you just.put out there. Therefore I'm a True Fan. I'll back you 1000%. I build a BBQ Pit when I was 17 years.old. I could put 52 halves of chicken on it. I still cook on that same pit today. That's some good Ole Southern Cooking here in Georgia. We also cook out Turkey in the Ground. Been doing it like that I'd say 40+ years. No Turkey better than that. Dig a hole line it with Coal. Build a fire. Season Turkey. Wrap in several layers.of foil. Soak a sheet in Bathtub. Ring it out. Wrap Turkey with wet sheet. Put a wire coat hanger around legs. Lower it into hole with hanger out of ground. Cover with Dirt. Let cook til next day. Start to uncover Turkey and pull hanger to bring it up. Best Turkey you'll ever put in your mouth. Happy Eating
Had to remove a large mulberry limb last year. Just used some as a test to smoke a pork shoulder. It doesn't burn very hot, but the flavor was very nice. Very thin smoke ring was probably due to the temp. Next time I'll either mix in some pecan, or add coals.
I did a brisket with black cherry wood........the best brisket Ive ever done.....love the flavor that black cherry provides....found a lady on Facebook giving the black cherry wood away for free......gold mine!
I'm from El Paso Texas and I tell you what,,pecan wood is the way to go it's very plentiful around these parts and I I've been learning a lot from you Jeremy you got the T-Rex 🦖 and you my friend are the best when it comes to paying attention to detail !
I'm 22 and got into smoking last year grew up in the south west so I'm used to the mesquite wood which I love but lately been trying to broaden my horizons with different woods
I predominantly use hickory, mesquite, and pecan. Either just one or a combination, depending on what I'm cooking. Brisket - hickory and mesquite (about 60% hickory) Chicken - hickory, pecan, or both Salmon - pecan (also maple, if I happen to have some) Pork - hickory, pecan, or both Steak - hickory, hickory + pecan, or hickory + mesquite Burgers - hickory, pecan, hickory + mesquite, or mesquite + pecan There are so many other options, but I'm just trying to keep it simple.
In the NW, alder is popular. It's mild and good flavored. Whatever wood you use, use splits rather than small rounds (branches) because you do not want the bark. Splits also burn faster and cleaner. Apple is similar to mesquite. It's easy to overdo the smoke flavor, but it tastes great.
Maybe it's also a what you're used to issue? I always burned Hickory and that's "the" smoke flavor I love. I bought a 1/2 cord of post oak and honestly, I don't taste much smoke flavor at all using that. So I guess the message is to each their own. HOWEVER, seeing Pecan is your #1, I need to try that! The "grail" is always elusive! The type of cooker is also in play.. The smoke flavor using an offset vs. an insulated vertical cabinet smoker is very different! In my experience, the insulated vertical cabinet smoker (w/ lump charcoal and wood chunks) REALLY concentrates the smoke flavor.
Obviously to each their own. I watched this video when I first bought my smoker and, for some reason, I was never impressed with the food I made. I had a clean smoke, but the food was always a bit bitter and I didn't like the smoke flavor I was getting. Finally, someone recommended ditching pecan. So I tried it. Replaced it with a combo of apple, cherry, and sugar maple while using oak briquettes. And what a difference! I guess I just don't care for pecan. I still like my combo of cherry and mesquite for brisket, but for everything else, it's an even split of apple, cherry, and maple.
I love hickory mixed with cherry or apple! The absolute best taste in my humble opinion. My second favorite is mesquite with pecan. I find I like mixing woods. I have been smoking for 6 months, so I am not an expert. Good luck to my fellow beginners.
Totally agree, especially for pork. Hickory has the best smoke flavor as a primary wood but adding in the cherry gives the meat a nice hint of sweetness
Another awesome video. I know we are generally talking about meats and hardwood for slow smoking... but I really enjoy BBQing salmon over oak, but placed on a water soaked cedar plank over direct heat for an incredible smoke flavor. Very fast and delicious cook.
Patooey. Mesquite has a bitter component. It is popular here in TX because it is cheap and ubiquitous. Can't start to compare with the fruit woods or nut woods.
Post oak for me but I'm in central Texas where there's an abundance of it and it's not expensive to have delivered. Then I like Pecan and Hickory equally. Pecan is easier and less expensive here as a rule. Lately I've been using quite a lot of fruit woods like Apple and Cherry and even Maple and like them quite a bit. I also used to live in South Texas where Mesquite was plentiful and what most people used but today I'll only use Mesquite if it's all that I have. But the truth is, as long as you manage your smoke and don't overwhelm the meat with it, pretty much any hardwood will work just fine. People get too caught up in what wood for what meat and it simply isn't that big of a deal. No matter what wood you use, if you manage your fire it'll taste awesome and nobody can taste your meat and tell that you used any certain wood, well, except for Mesquite. Mesquite is very distinctive. But folks should seriously stop worrying about what wood they should be using. Use whatever is available and manage your fire well and you'll have great tasting meat. IMNSHO
Hickory or pecan are my choices for beef. For pork I like cherry or maple. Because mesquite is so strong, I only use that for very short smokes such as chicken wings or steaks.
I live in Pennsylvania and I love mesquite so dang much that I pay really good money to have it shipped ¼ cord pallets at a time! I can definitely agree that it is the best out of all of them for direct heat grilling, but for my preference I like it for slow smoking also. I love that in your face smoke flavor. Hickory and oak are a second favorite just because of its abundance where I live.
I've always preferred a 60/40 mix of either hickory and alder wood or apple and alder wood myself for pork. I have an 11.5lb brisket going on tonight and she's getting 100% oak since my rub is slightly sweet. I would like to add that your wood should either compliment or alter your taste based upon your desired outcome. For example....you bought a new rub to try and once you get home and taste test it you decide that it's slightly too sweet. Then definitely don't use a wood that adds sweetness to the flavor but rather one that would help reduce it slightly if you want to. Thanks for the great videos.
Loving the list format recently. I feel like I have watched you so long that I know where you are going before you get there! Keep up the great content!
Agree 100%. Still pretty new to smoking, just bought Brazos about a month ago. Pecan hands down best all around. You can tell too because I can’t find any right now.
SAME! ... Couldn’t figure it out at first until he made the comment. Hopefully that class he is taking will talk about Lighting as their first topic!! 😆
Post Oak or any other oak woods is your base wood for smoking meat then you build other flavor profiles on top of by using other woods like hickory Mesquite cherry apple maple and pecan and so on. Because the whiskey industry worldwide use oak for making their barrels to age their whiskeys in and most importantly oak woods are the cheapest woods to get and there's plenty of Varieties of oak out there to use and most barbecue restaurants use it not only for smoking meats but also to grill meats as well because of how well it burns to generate heat for grilling.
I use mostly Apple and Pecan. Another type I use (that I hardly ever hear about) is Orange. We live in an area with lots of orange groves, and it's easy to get your hands on it. Nice tasting product, on the mild side.
Oak with any combination of apple, hickory, or cherry are my favorites. Pecan is ok if it’s really dried. I’ve learned that mesquite is way too strong for my liking.
Apple wood cooked down to coals, over lump charcoal, adding alder wood, & old whiskey barrels. I’m in Washington State so peach is a rare wood at the local shops.
That's a great suggestion for mesquite. I decided years ago I didn't like mesquite because it's so pungent. But as a bed of coals to impart quick smoke flavor might be nice. I'll try it
This was a great video. Very informative and to the point. I will say though that a lot of this comes down to personal preference. I grew up with my dad cooking everything (a lot of brisket and ribs) on only mesquite because that’s what we could cut ourselves at the deer lease. That heavy smoke flavor became what I expect from barbecue and that’s what I enjoy. There’s not a right or wrong wood. Just try different things and find what works for you
I live in California and hickory is so easy to buy special big chunks off wood I get 40lbs for only 14.99 including oak, mesquite, apple, fruit and others...
It's funny, because we used mesquite on everything, growing up in AZ. It was just what we used. It wasn't until I was older than I even knew there were other options. I'm learning more now (tons through your channel), so I'm exploring other ideas. Using some of the fruit woods was "exotic" to me compared to mesquite. I would smoke something with apple and it was so cool because it was different. But mesquite has always been the standard for us. We'll see if I outgrow that with experience or if my mesquite-centric perspective will solidify. No preference is wrong. It just is what it is, a preference. Much of it is based on conditioning, sort of like spices. Thanks for your insights. We need to see more of Erica though. You're definitely more as a couple. :)
My uncle in San Antonio used mesquite, small twigs trimmed from the trees around his property, smoked brisket on those old oil drum barrel cookers, and it was always delicious 🤣
I use pecan for brisket Hickory and apple for ribs and pulled pork Hickory and cherry for ribs I haven't used oak yet. I want to try post oak on my next brisket. I use a Weber smokey mountain 22" which has been a great smoker for me. I can use the nice chunks of wood in a bag so I have access to every kind of wood you mentioned plus a few more to include apple and peach.I have never tried smoking chicken or fish yet haven't worked myself up to it.
Having being raised up on a large ranch and farm we had our choice for free. Living in West Texas later on I learned how to use mesquite properly. because that was the only tree growing there. Post oak is way over rated and surprisingly it isn't the only wood used in Central Texas as Franklin would have you think. We have mesquite pecan and many other woods we cook with too.
The first 1000 people to use the link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/madscientistbbq10201
What’s your ideal moisture percentage content? 👍🏼🔥🇺🇸
@@jeans3490 He has a really good video that explains all of the science behind that. Check it out on his page. If I remember right it's 18 to 22 percent.
Would love to get you some Australian wood like red gum, jam wood, or Aussie oak! Also, have you tried olive wood?
Thank you!
@Mad Scientist BBQ You are all wrong my brother, Almond Wood is hands down the bet Wood for BBQing, It's not even close
The aroma of burning pecan is simply incredible.
I've always heard great things about pecan, but never tried it. I'm going have to buy some from the big box store I guess just to see what I'm missing. It's hard for me to spend that kind of money because I live where hickory, oak, and such are so plentiful, matter of fact, I just finish processing and storying about 3 cords of black cherry. but I just gotta try pecan.
@@Moonshinedave1 it has a wonderful sweetness to it like a dessert, you’ll love it
@@Moonshinedave1 yeah man treat yourself. Pecan smells up my entire backyard and smells heavenly
I agree. It’s an incredible smell.
Pecan is a type of hickory.
Not saying this is perfect but, the way I was taught about BBQ fire wood choice is that there are two categories: Fruit woods and Nut woods. Lighter foods like fish or chicken use Fruit woods, Heavier foods like beef or pork use Nut woods. 60-40% combinations are ok too.
I was practically born & raised on mesquite wood. It is fantastic on steaks, poppers, chicken and jerkey but I do prefer pecan for brisket and hickory for pork
Fortunate enough to live in the same small town as one of the few remaining full service lumber mills left in Indiana. So I get great, dried out wood to smoke with and support a family owned local business. Shout out to Quality Hardwoods lol
Mesquite is by far my favorite. I love that smell and flavor it gives. I have access to so much free mesquite so really like it or not it’s not much of a choice haha. More prominent in my area than any other woods
Hell yea same here
@@boujiatexas1870 Texas fam for life ❤️
Is mesquite too strong of a smoke flavor? I just bought some mesquite wood and I want to use it on some briskets I'm planning on smoking labor day weekend. It'll be my first time using mesquite.
I've eaten a lot of mesquite smoked brisket my uncle in San Antonio cooked on those cheap oil barrel cookers and it was always delicious. He'd trim the mesquite around his property and stack those small twigs to dry and use them for smoking.
I use a mequite and oak mix. Love it. Works on all meats.
I've just got into smoking and you've been a huge help for me. Cheers mate. Love from Australia 💨👌🍺
We had a big ice storm in Oklahoma a few years ago and a giant pecan tree in my backyard got destroyed. Cleaning up the fallen branches I decided to save a bit for my fire pit. I got into bbq like a year later and was pleasantly surprised to learn pecan is excellent for smoking meat. We like the flavor so much that its not used for the fire pit anymore and I cherish every piece.
My neighbor to the south. I'm sure you have plenty of silver maples around you. Use that to burn in your fire pit. It's sweet, and safe to use for cooking.
I'm not a huge fan of pecan but I have tons of pecan trees around my house.
I absolutely love Cherry on Pork and Poultry.
Mesquite and brisket are the best to me.. Half and half red oak and pecan for pork... Great combo if you don't have hickory
My dad used fresh pecan limbs with the leaves on for pork and chicken. He would start and finish with them and nothing in middle of cook. Fabulous! I have tried lots of different but keep going back to dad’s standby many times.
I started smoking with fresh hickory limbs. The flavor is unbelievable. My roommate got me hooked on smoking when I was 21 and that;s what he used. I'd like to try some fresh pecan. Just need to find a tree :).
@@USA__2023 you can get some pecans and plant it, when it sprouts just let it get 4’ and cut off what you need. They grow fast but you can keep it as a bush just for fresh smoking. What I did.
Living out East our oak tends to be from white or red oaks trees. For all practical purposes they are the same in the flavor they impart. Where they do differ is in their heat output with white oak burning hotter. This gets back to your comments on fire control having a big effect on the smoke's flavor.
When I can't find oak I use hickory for brisket. Because it is stronger than oak and can cover up the beefiness I cut back on the hickory and mix it with some cherry wood. While it doesn't taste like oak the cherry lightens up the flavor of the hickory resulting in more of a medium smoke.
Being in Canada I thankfully have access to lots of maple sugar trees. I find it's amazing when mixed with hickory.
I just started smoking on the Weber kettle using maple grown on our property 🇨🇦
Love the color cherry gives. I love pecan also and have used it extensively. Sometimes a fire is too clean and the meat needs a little bit of a dirty fire to give it some smoky flavor. I prefer oak for that.
@Scriptures Only Interesting. I haven't had that experience, but thanks for sharing. Follow me on IG at daviddanbbq
White oak is and always will be my #1. Great video bruh!
I like to use maple wood when smoking meat it gives a hint of sweet flavor and goes very well with every piece of meat. I got a lot of maple trees where I live, so I use it because it is what is available and it is fantastic.
I agree. Canada in the (not exclusive) land of maple and they grow invasively with storms of helicopter like samaras. Save for this bad manner, the maple wood make a great mild smoke for pork ribs.
Lot of Maple here in MN too. I like it more for grilling on coals and open fire cooking. But do agree with your comment about the flavor. I have just never tried to smoke anything with it.
im jealous...maple wood is wonderful
Here in Québec i use Maple all the Time.
Is it a y body using yellow birch ?
I live in the southern of Mexico. Around from where I live there isn't many options. The best I can get around here is oak, peach and apple. Mesquite, pecan and cherry are pretty much impossible to get. Btw, in this part of Mexico mesquite is incredibly used for making charcoal.
Post oak is where it’s at here in San Antonio tx
In Florida, what is post oak and can I get some here?
@@robertper4102 Many oak tree species are protected in the state of Florida. Contact a local arborist for a good and legal substitute.
I'm hr south of San Antonio. No post oak here. Plenty of Live oak. Don't recall seeing post oak there, but that's probably around the line where it starts growing. Never been a fan. Mesquite is my favorite.
A lot of live oak and mesquite in San Antonio
In Mississippi there are a ton of deer processing businesses. Smoked sausage is usually a favorite choice of most clients.There is one guy who smokes his with just pecan and you are right it is the best. It is my favorite as well and ribs with a mix of cherry , pecan and ole hick is my go to. I have a bunch oh mesquite and now I know what to use it for. Thanks for that.
Pecan (flavor) and cherry (color) has been my fave combination. I cut my teeth on offsets and post-oak back home in TX, but that combo (which I've learned living in VA for 15 years now) has been amazing.
Nice videos!
Same here! I use that combo on my BGE and have NEVER been disappointed.
Pecan, cherry and post oak!!! Got that blend from B&B
Pecan and cherry are heaven
@@MostlyCloudy That sounds like a great combination.
@@brianmiller1098 I bet that gives off some amazing flavor.
I used 2/4 lumber and it taste good !!
Here in San Antonio we use both post oak and mesquite . Mesquite gets a bad wrap but we love it here brutha Puro South Texas Style !
Pecan/cherry/Apple is spot on for any pork IMO...Love my mesquite/hickory for beef though. Just me. I like a strong smoke on beef.
I'm getting Oak for my next 1/4 cord, but I've found Almond wood to be my favorite. It creates a color similar to Cherry, but with more smoke flavor. Good point about all wood being fine if you run a clean fire. I've even found Mesquite to be fine with a hot and fast 325+ cook.
as I set here drinking toasted southern pecan coffee, I can fully agree pecan is the best wood to smoke with. lol
Here in the Central Valley of California we use almond wood. Its great for grilling and so so for smoking. Very mild not strong like hickory/mesquite. We also have apple, walnut, cherry, olive etc.....
I'm also in Central Valley CA, and have been looking for woods to up my game. I just got some manzanita to try
Had a friend, who's a wood worker, ask me my favorite wood. I told him for poultry I love cherry and for red meat either hickory or pecan. Pecan being similar to hickory but I told him that it's a little more mild and rounder with a nutty flavor. His response provoked an argument from me until I did research and found he was mostly right. He said "well not surprising since they are the same wood." I mocked him and he rolled his eyes. But once I did the research, I learned that pecan and hickory come from the same family of trees. And hickory trees have nuts as well. I had to take back my argument. But I love pecan! Thank you for the video!
Oak with Pacan mix is the best! From South Texas!
I live in Vancouver BC Canada , and it’s very hard to come across oak . We can get Cherry , Apple , Alder , but recently I got lucky loaded up on some oak and Cherry . I often do a lot of Spring Salmon , Sockeye Salmon, but like many other smoke or bbq I cook up the usual suspects, chicken, ribs etc etc etc . I would love to get pecan . Great video. Cheers 🇨🇦
A hurricane where I lived about 20 years ago uprooted a lot of pecan trees. I had so much I used it for everything! Grilling, smoking, it quickly became my favorite.
I live in Northern Thailand. We have so many different varieties of fruit trees here in the sub-tropics it's not even funny, but the one wood here in Southeast Asia that is considered the Hickory of SEA is Lamyai. Will have to report back on the results.
Smoke is just another a spice. One ingredient of many. Doesn't take much to get great barbecue.
My favorite are hickory and pecan together. Cant go wrong with either.
I do this for my pork shoulders, comes out amazing every time.
I do oak and pecan mix...sometimes I'll throw in a piece or 2 of mesquite as well.
Do you put them in there together or one at a time? I’m really new to smoking and trying get a feel for what’s correct.
@@crbcyouthman I Normally start with Hickory and once the fire bed is good and hot then i will add the pecan. from this point depending on the cook time I will add together.
As long as it is good season hard wood it's all just fine for me. I have transitioned to more hit n fast vs low n slow after about 20 years of low and slow.. hot n fast still is good but more enjoyable as I don't have to get up many times in the night .(edited to fix the stupid autocorrect spelling)
Yeah man I was surprised that wasn't on there cuz that's all I use bro
80 elk passed through my farm the other day, sheep were curious, got some great photos of them against the mountains. Your advice is invaluable for my first hams and bacons raised here on a our place, they deserve good treatment to honour their lives. Thank you for your help in making that happen with great smoking advice!
I'm pretty sure it was 82 elk
No apple?, No peach? Wow never expected to see those woods left out.
Too bad it wasn't a top 7 lol
Mild fruit woods...not the greatest for long cooks of beef, but I do love them with poultry. Apricot and plum are also very good wood too.
I agree. The fruit woods are the best, and that includes citrus.
I use white oak and black jack
I've used mulberry, and hedge apple (Osage Orange). Mulberry is great for pork. Especially doing sausages. Hedge Apple burns long, and hot. I use hickory in my stick burner, but on cold days I throw in a log of hedge apple. Especially when first building a fire.
I think my # 1 would be a combo of Hickory and Cherry wood. Hickory logs with cherry chunks has always given me both great flavor and color. My number 5, that I didn't notice on your list would be Maple. I don't use it as much for smoking, but definitely a lot in open fire cooking and even grilling on the coals. And I think it adds a pretty good flavor as well. But that may just be because of how accessible it is here in MN.
I also noticed you did not include Apple wood on your list. I think a Hickory Apple combo would be my number 2 or 3. and while we have a lot of Oak in MN, I don't think I've ever grilled/smoked meat with it specifically.
Agree, my #1 is hickory/cherry. And I find the same log/chunk combo works great. Also think maple should have been on his list, I like maple for its light smoke, kind of like apple or peach but more readily available.
Love this list. It's spot on. I prefer Pecan for beef, and apple or cherry for pork, but will use pecan if cooking both at the same time. Another trick I use is I get my coal bed going then add mesquite for the first hour or so of the smoke, then go back to pecan. I call it a "mesquite kiss" and it adds a nice, subtle little flavor profile. Also, if I'm reverse searing some beef like a big steak or tri tip or even smoking a prime rib, I smoke it over pecan and finish sear it on a bed of mesquite coals. I haven't cooked with oak much, but will start in a few months because I had a huge pin oak tree fall in my backyard, so I have a ton of firewood.
You got me I'm a Fan now. I liked, subscribed and I turn those notifications on. I am 60 and been cooking all my life. You are absolutely correct about the information you just.put out there. Therefore I'm a True Fan. I'll back you 1000%. I build a BBQ Pit when I was 17 years.old. I could put 52 halves of chicken on it. I still cook on that same pit today. That's some good Ole Southern Cooking here in Georgia. We also cook out Turkey in the Ground. Been doing it like that I'd say 40+ years. No Turkey better than that. Dig a hole line it with Coal. Build a fire. Season Turkey. Wrap in several layers.of foil. Soak a sheet in Bathtub. Ring it out. Wrap Turkey with wet sheet. Put a wire coat hanger around legs. Lower it into hole with hanger out of ground. Cover with Dirt. Let cook til next day. Start to uncover Turkey and pull hanger to bring it up. Best Turkey you'll ever put in your mouth. Happy Eating
Had to remove a large mulberry limb last year. Just used some as a test to smoke a pork shoulder. It doesn't burn very hot, but the flavor was very nice. Very thin smoke ring was probably due to the temp. Next time I'll either mix in some pecan, or add coals.
I did a brisket with black cherry wood........the best brisket Ive ever done.....love the flavor that black cherry provides....found a lady on Facebook giving the black cherry wood away for free......gold mine!
HERE IT IS, EVERYBODY!!! Plum wood is phenomenal. Amazing smoke taste with a nice red hue.
I recently discovered alder wood. Wow! just Wow!
I'm from El Paso Texas and I tell you what,,pecan wood is the way to go it's very plentiful around these parts and I I've been learning a lot from you Jeremy you got the T-Rex 🦖 and you my friend are the best when it comes to paying attention to detail !
I'm 22 and got into smoking last year grew up in the south west so I'm used to the mesquite wood which I love but lately been trying to broaden my horizons with different woods
I predominantly use hickory, mesquite, and pecan. Either just one or a combination, depending on what I'm cooking.
Brisket - hickory and mesquite (about 60% hickory)
Chicken - hickory, pecan, or both
Salmon - pecan (also maple, if I happen to have some)
Pork - hickory, pecan, or both
Steak - hickory, hickory + pecan, or hickory + mesquite
Burgers - hickory, pecan, hickory + mesquite, or mesquite + pecan
There are so many other options, but I'm just trying to keep it simple.
I use a combination of hickory, apple wood and a few small chunks of pecan for my ribs
Mesquite and oak for beef , oak and hickory for foul , oak and apple for pork
In the NW, alder is popular. It's mild and good flavored. Whatever wood you use, use splits rather than small rounds (branches) because you do not want the bark. Splits also burn faster and cleaner. Apple is similar to mesquite. It's easy to overdo the smoke flavor, but it tastes great.
I like to use bamboo it gives it a tropical flavor. Try it works great
Maybe it's also a what you're used to issue? I always burned Hickory and that's "the" smoke flavor I love. I bought a 1/2 cord of post oak and honestly, I don't taste much smoke flavor at all using that. So I guess the message is to each their own. HOWEVER, seeing Pecan is your #1, I need to try that! The "grail" is always elusive! The type of cooker is also in play.. The smoke flavor using an offset vs. an insulated vertical cabinet smoker is very different! In my experience, the insulated vertical cabinet smoker (w/ lump charcoal and wood chunks) REALLY concentrates the smoke flavor.
Obviously to each their own. I watched this video when I first bought my smoker and, for some reason, I was never impressed with the food I made. I had a clean smoke, but the food was always a bit bitter and I didn't like the smoke flavor I was getting. Finally, someone recommended ditching pecan. So I tried it. Replaced it with a combo of apple, cherry, and sugar maple while using oak briquettes. And what a difference! I guess I just don't care for pecan. I still like my combo of cherry and mesquite for brisket, but for everything else, it's an even split of apple, cherry, and maple.
I like using a cherry and hickory mix
Oak is my jam. Perfect for everything
Pecan is all I use down here in west Texas best wood 🪵 in my opinion
I love hickory mixed with cherry or apple! The absolute best taste in my humble opinion. My second favorite is mesquite with pecan. I find I like mixing woods. I have been smoking for 6 months, so I am not an expert. Good luck to my fellow beginners.
Totally agree, especially for pork. Hickory has the best smoke flavor as a primary wood but adding in the cherry gives the meat a nice hint of sweetness
Pecan is my #1 go to wood as well. I also like to burn mesquite with my Santa Maria grill. Good video!
Another awesome video. I know we are generally talking about meats and hardwood for slow smoking... but I really enjoy BBQing salmon over oak, but placed on a water soaked cedar plank over direct heat for an incredible smoke flavor. Very fast and delicious cook.
peach and hickory. cherry and red oak. grape wood, pimento and plum for seafood and pork.
Pecan is the best. Cherry is awesome for salmon and trout,
I love pecan for beef and apple for poultry
Great video Jeremy! I love to use oak wood for my smoker that I built myself.
Oak, hickory, or pecan for smoking any order. Being from Texas though if I'm grilling beef or chicken I always add mesquite.
Patooey. Mesquite has a bitter component. It is popular here in TX because it is cheap and ubiquitous. Can't start to compare with the fruit woods or nut woods.
Post oak for me but I'm in central Texas where there's an abundance of it and it's not expensive to have delivered. Then I like Pecan and Hickory equally. Pecan is easier and less expensive here as a rule. Lately I've been using quite a lot of fruit woods like Apple and Cherry and even Maple and like them quite a bit. I also used to live in South Texas where Mesquite was plentiful and what most people used but today I'll only use Mesquite if it's all that I have. But the truth is, as long as you manage your smoke and don't overwhelm the meat with it, pretty much any hardwood will work just fine. People get too caught up in what wood for what meat and it simply isn't that big of a deal. No matter what wood you use, if you manage your fire it'll taste awesome and nobody can taste your meat and tell that you used any certain wood, well, except for Mesquite. Mesquite is very distinctive. But folks should seriously stop worrying about what wood they should be using. Use whatever is available and manage your fire well and you'll have great tasting meat. IMNSHO
Hickory or pecan are my choices for beef. For pork I like cherry or maple. Because mesquite is so strong, I only use that for very short smokes such as chicken wings or steaks.
My fave is plum. You can get similar with a cherry hickory mix. Not the easiest to come buy but it's my favorite on pork.
I live in Pennsylvania and I love mesquite so dang much that I pay really good money to have it shipped ¼ cord pallets at a time! I can definitely agree that it is the best out of all of them for direct heat grilling, but for my preference I like it for slow smoking also. I love that in your face smoke flavor. Hickory and oak are a second favorite just because of its abundance where I live.
I've always preferred a 60/40 mix of either hickory and alder wood or apple and alder wood myself for pork. I have an 11.5lb brisket going on tonight and she's getting 100% oak since my rub is slightly sweet. I would like to add that your wood should either compliment or alter your taste based upon your desired outcome. For example....you bought a new rub to try and once you get home and taste test it you decide that it's slightly too sweet. Then definitely don't use a wood that adds sweetness to the flavor but rather one that would help reduce it slightly if you want to. Thanks for the great videos.
Loving the list format recently. I feel like I have watched you so long that I know where you are going before you get there! Keep up the great content!
I’ve tried a lot of different woods. Coastal dark red oak with the thick bark is amazing
Agree 100%. Still pretty new to smoking, just bought Brazos about a month ago. Pecan hands down best all around. You can tell too because I can’t find any right now.
I was like wtf? I kept checking my screen brightness. 🤣
SAME! ... Couldn’t figure it out at first until he made the comment. Hopefully that class he is taking will talk about Lighting as their first topic!! 😆
Oak is my go to
Hickory, hickory and hickory with some cherry or apple if I have it. Unless briscuit then oak/mesquite
Here in NC, we a lot of different woods..i love it.
Post Oak or any other oak woods is your base wood for smoking meat then you build other flavor profiles on top of by using other woods like hickory Mesquite cherry apple maple and pecan and so on. Because the whiskey industry worldwide use oak for making their barrels to age their whiskeys in and most importantly oak woods are the cheapest woods to get and there's plenty of Varieties of oak out there to use and most barbecue restaurants use it not only for smoking meats but also to grill meats as well because of how well it burns to generate heat for grilling.
I use mostly Apple and Pecan. Another type I use (that I hardly ever hear about) is Orange. We live in an area with lots of orange groves, and it's easy to get your hands on it. Nice tasting product, on the mild side.
I was curious about orange. I'd like to try it out at some point. Thanks for posting.
Black Cherry = Deadly!
Oak with any combination of apple, hickory, or cherry are my favorites. Pecan is ok if it’s really dried. I’ve learned that mesquite is way too strong for my liking.
Apple wood cooked down to coals, over lump charcoal, adding alder wood, & old whiskey barrels. I’m in Washington State so peach is a rare wood at the local shops.
That's a great suggestion for mesquite. I decided years ago I didn't like mesquite because it's so pungent. But as a bed of coals to impart quick smoke flavor might be nice. I'll try it
try olive wood. same taste, but aint harsh
I love this channel!! Mr Yoder you have so helped me with bbq and my friends and family are great full!
Post Oak is just a small Oak 🌳.
This was a great video. Very informative and to the point. I will say though that a lot of this comes down to personal preference. I grew up with my dad cooking everything (a lot of brisket and ribs) on only mesquite because that’s what we could cut ourselves at the deer lease. That heavy smoke flavor became what I expect from barbecue and that’s what I enjoy. There’s not a right or wrong wood. Just try different things and find what works for you
I live in California and hickory is so easy to buy special big chunks off wood I get 40lbs for only 14.99 including oak, mesquite, apple, fruit and others...
It's funny, because we used mesquite on everything, growing up in AZ. It was just what we used. It wasn't until I was older than I even knew there were other options. I'm learning more now (tons through your channel), so I'm exploring other ideas. Using some of the fruit woods was "exotic" to me compared to mesquite. I would smoke something with apple and it was so cool because it was different. But mesquite has always been the standard for us. We'll see if I outgrow that with experience or if my mesquite-centric perspective will solidify.
No preference is wrong. It just is what it is, a preference. Much of it is based on conditioning, sort of like spices.
Thanks for your insights. We need to see more of Erica though. You're definitely more as a couple. :)
My uncle in San Antonio used mesquite, small twigs trimmed from the trees around his property, smoked brisket on those old oil drum barrel cookers, and it was always delicious 🤣
I agree, pecan is my favorite, surprised Maple wasn't in there
Post oak or pecan is the Texas way, mesquite in West Texas.Pecan will 🔥 for a long,long time.
Here in Florida we get everything as far as cooking wood. Hickory and oak grows everywhere and citrus woods are good too.
I like pecan the best for cooking and heating .
Hickory and pecan are my favorite. Like he said cherry for color
I use pecan for brisket
Hickory and apple for ribs and pulled pork
Hickory and cherry for ribs
I haven't used oak yet. I want to try post oak on my next brisket. I use a Weber smokey mountain 22" which has been a great smoker for me. I can use the nice chunks of wood in a bag so I have access to every kind of wood you mentioned plus a few more to include apple and peach.I have never tried smoking chicken or fish yet haven't worked myself up to it.
White oak and cherry are my favorites...no pecan around here in New England. Always enjoy your vids, long time first time.
I can’t remember ever experiencing pecan wood smoked barbecue.... my mouths watering now talking about all this barbecue.
I just used a mix of pecan and cherry to smoke a pork loin turned out great
Having being raised up on a large ranch and farm we had our choice for free.
Living in West Texas later on I learned how to use mesquite properly.
because that was the only tree growing there.
Post oak is way over rated and surprisingly it isn't the only wood used in Central Texas as Franklin would have you think.
We have mesquite pecan and many other woods we cook with too.
In Finland we use alder its very good!!