Top 8 Woods For Smoking And Grilling
Smoke wood is what gives your BBQ, flavor. You use your charcoal for heat and wood to give flavor. Here we will guide you about top woods for smoking and Grilling.
If you are doing a longer cook like ribs for 6 hours and brisket for 10-12 hours then the chunks are the better way to smoke. They are going to give you a longer burn a little bit more smoke for the bigger pieces of meat.
For chicken or seafood which takes an hour or so and you want some smoke flavor into it, you can use the chips. Because chips are scraps and shavings that burn out pretty fast.
What is Smoke Wood?
Meat is pretty essential to BBQ but you can’t make smoke without wood, and not all woods are created equally. There are certain types of woods that you can’t use at all and they are just not suitable.
You want to make sure that you are using seasoned wood when you are BBQing. That means that wood has been dried out a little bit and some of the moisture taken out that results in a cleaner burn and that means better tasting food.
Types Of Smoking Woods
There are hundreds of things which you can use in the world of smoking but there are few that we really like. Smoke woods are one of the best that we like. There are different types of woods available for smoking.
These can be categorized in 3 parts; Mild, Moderate and Strong. They each have different levels of imparted Flavor and smokiness. The general idea is to match the intensity of the woods with the intensity of the food.
Top 8 Woods For Smoking & Grilling
MILD:
1. ALDER: This is a wood with delicate flavor that is particularly nice with fish and poultry. It is extremely light and mild flavor with a slight hint of sweetness similar to scented herbs. A slight hint of this wood can give a refreshing taste to the meat.
2. APPLE: Slightly sweet but also dense, fruity smoke flavor. It is an excellent choice if you want to have mild and sweet flavor incorporated to your smoked rib or other heavy meats. It’s a good choice to use for poultry, game bird and beef.
3. CHERRY: It has a Slightly sweet ,fruity smoke flavor. It is best for beef grilling. They often give your smoked meats that vibrant color similar to mahogany when used in a great combination with oak, pecan and hickory especially when you are grilling or BBQing smoked ribs.
MODERATE:
4. MAPLE: No prizes for guessing that this wood imparts a wonderful sweet flavor to the meat while smoking. While the flavor is a bit too mild for red meat and lamb to absorb. It goes really well with salmon, trout, and seafood. It also gives a great flavor to vegetables.
5. HICKORY: It is pungent and smoky. It is the most popular type of wood used in smoking ribs, BBQ and cheeses. Hickory is usually found and used in the Southern and Midwestern parts of the states. They are known for their strong Flavor that adds taste to the meat you are smoking, but if this wood is too much the meat could come out bitter.
6. OAK: It has an assertive but pleasing flavor, sometimes a little acidic, which blends well with sweeter woods. Red Oak is the most popular type as this is used for briskets and other heavy meats. It is considered to be the choice of wood if you are going to cook lamb or beef.
7. PECAN: It has a rich flavor and is more subtle than hickory, but similar in taste; burns cool, so is ideal for very low heat smoking. Pecan is a good substitute when you can’t find hickory. It may also be pungent and is a good choice to mix with other types of wood. The only thing you need to remember is that you should use pecan in moderation so the meat you are smoking does not acquire its pungent smell. Goes great with poultry, lamb , fish and cheeses.
STRONG:
8. MESQUITE: It is the smokiest of all the smoking woods this should be reserved for stronger meats like some beef (particularly tenderloin) and lamb. It is used in a Texas style BBQ or grilling. That’s because hearty meats can hold their own against the intense smoke flavor it delivers.
Woods To Avoid When Smoking Meat
There are plenty of options to take, you must avoid some types of wood when smoking meats. Which are:
- Elm
- Cedar
- Cypress
- Pine
- Fir
- Redwood
- Poison Oak
These woods are pungent and can also destroy the flavor of the meat you are smoking or cooking. While using woods you should also know how to control flare-ups. You should also know the different types of meats and how long they should be cooked.
Helpful Tips for Smoking Wood
Besides lighting up and watching your wood burn, you need to remember these tips too:
- Always remove the bark of the wood chunks as they can emit acrid taste when burned.
- Use a little amount of wood when starting and gradually add as you go. This helps in overpowering the flavor of meat.
- Treat your smoke wood like you treat your any other ingredient like salt sugar or cayenne pepper. Put just enough smoke wood in there to give it a nice smoke flavor but not over marrying
- Don’t allow the wood to burn a long time. This may produce bad smoke that will ruin the meat’s flavor.
- If you are going to use woodchips always protect them with foil pouch with small holes.
- Wood chunks are great to use because you don’t have to replace them often.
- Don’t use any of the woods too much.
Go Ahead!
Now that you know what the best wood for your meats are, go ahead and pick your choice. Always be open to experimentation as combining two kinds of wood can create something unique and wonderful taste for the meats you are cooking.
Happy Grilling And Enjoy!
