Wood Types¶

Reference guide for smoking woods from Secrets to Smoking on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker and Other Smokers by Bill Gillespie.

Smoking Woods¶

Wood	Description
Alder	Alder is a mild wood from the Pacific Northwest that's good to use with seafood, poultry, pork and light meat game.
Sugar Maple	Frequently found in the Northeast and a staple on the competition scene. It's smoky and mellow. Try mixing with one or two pieces of fruitwood for interesting flavor combinations. Works well with poultry, pork and cheese.
Hickory	Hickory is a popular wood that lends a hint of bacon flavor to the food you are cooking. Goes well with pork, ham and beef.
Mesquite	Mesquite is traditionally associated with Texas barbecue. Works well with beef. Use a little at first, as mesquite can overwhelm other flavors.
Apple	Mild, subtle, fruit flavor. Perhaps the most common of the fruitwoods, apple lends itself well to pork and chicken.
Peach	Think of this fruitwood as a milder version of hickory. Great with white and pink meats.
Cherry	Cherry wood creates a sweet-tasting smoke flavor that is great with pork and poultry. Cherry wood also lends a great color to pork butt or pork shoulder.
Walnut	This is a heavy flavor that lends itself to beef more so than pork or poultry. Walnut can be bitter if used alone, and is best used with some fruitwood.
Pecan	All around good wood for smoking. It has a sweet and mild flavor that is similar to hickory.

Smoke wood quickly sparks debate, giving rise to barbecue lore:

Soaking: Soaking chips for about one hour helps prevent them from quickly burning. Chunks are usually large enough that soaking them doesn't make much of a difference.
Seasoned vs. Green: Some pitmasters use fresh, green-cut wood, while others prefer seasoned wood.
Size: Debate surrounds whether chunks or chips are optimal for different smoking setups.