Different Types of Woods

I'll just add my thoughts.

Hickory is pretty strong, good use for butts...way too much for ribs in my opinion.

Pecan is like a cousin to hickory, just not quite as strong. I like it better on butts.

Apple is my favorite...love to layer a little pecan and then apple on my ribs. Or, just use apple alone on the ribs.

Just be careful when you're doing ribs, chicken, etc. (anything but pork and brisket) that you can EASILY oversmoke the food. Especially using hickory.

C'Nooga

Here's a good link for wood:

http://www.barbecuen.com/wood.htm

Good reply C'Nooga.

I prefer apple, cherry or pecan (or any combination) with pork. They are more subtle flavors than the hickory. Now that my smoker is fully seasoned, I sometimes smoke chicken and ribs with no wood at all.

lovetocook, mix it up and try a small chunk of hickory with any other wood to see what you like. You can't go wrong with apple on ribs. Just take good notes so you can recreate the taste if you love it.

Thanks for the advice! I need to go shopping for some apple and pecan wood! I am doing the wood smoke as I am writing and OH MY, it smells too good! Too bad there is nothing in it! I am soo psyched to do my first real smoke! I think I am going to put the butts on tonight because I just can't wait any longer!!!! As for my inital wood smoke, I put 3 pieces in the smoke box. There is smoke coming out of the top as well as the sides of the smoker is that normal? Just curious!!!

yep, this is normal. it will seal up as you smoke fatty cuts such as pork butts.

Smoke out the top hole is normal

Smoke out the edges of the front door, especially the top corners and sometimes briefly out the bottom corners is also normal.

Mine still leaks smoke and occasionally drips out the bottom of the door. It must be very normal because the door latch is still very tight after 5 years and why else would there be a drip tray with a hole in it underneath the door!

I have the Smokette foiled and ready with 3 oz. apple wood in it for a 9 pound butt to go in Sunday night at 6 pm.

lovetocook, as JustADude alluded to, the more you use your smoker, the less wood you will need.

Remember to take good notes and experiment.

WELL, my wood seasoning went great! The inside is a beautiful carmalized and it smells fantastic!!! I just put on my very FIRST PORK BUTT in my smokette!! I seasoned it with garlic salt, pepper and caynne pepper and I also put in 2 and 5/8 oz of hiokory. I set it to 220 so I will wait and see how it looks ( temperature wise) in the morning. I am soo excited I can hardly wait for it to be done! is everyone this excited when using their cookshack????

Here is a copy of something I read on different woods...Maybe it will help you a bit?

Happy Smokin!

Phil

Hickory... You all know this one. Most frequently used with bacon. Works well with sausages, bacon and hams. Frequently used for cheeses.

Apple... My personal favorite for fish, chicken, pork, sausage, pheasant and quail. Nice smokey flavor with a very pleasant sweetness. I use apple for most of my sausages.

Cherry... This is great for steaks, red meats, venison. Stronger than Apple, but yet sweet. Doesn't leave a bitter taste like Mesquite. This is really excellent for beef based sausages.

Alder... Next to Apple, this one is my first choice for Salmon. Works well with the same meats as Apple, but is not quite as sweet.

Red Oak... Strong smokey flavor with very little sweetness. Frequently used for ribs and other types of pork.

White Oak... A nice wood to use for a more neutral flavor. Frequently used with other woods such as Apple or Pecan. Works well on most foods and is best blended with another wood. Oak is used as the base wood in many of the pellets used in the FEC

Mesquite... Bold and spicey, but if you get too much smoke, it can be bitter. Use sparingly and mix with another wood like Cherry, Alder or Pecan.

Pecan... This one enhances steak and other red meats. A nice addition with Apple if you want a bit stronger flavor. Till you've cooked a turkey with a Pecan/Apple blend, you haven't tasted great turkey.

Maple.. A lighter flavor with just a hint of sweetness. This one is really nice on game birds and pork loins.

Bourbon Barrel.. What can I say?? It has base wood of oak plus the aroma and taste of bourbon. It's the overall favorite of our staff when used to cook steaks over charcoal.

Wine Barrel.. .. Again, based on oak, plus the sweetness of wine. Works extremely well with turkey and pork. I don't like this one on chicken or quail. However, if you want something really special for duck or goose breasts, this is the ticket.

Persimmon... A sweet wood, with a hint of spice. I don't have a lot of experience with this one, but hope to rectify that in the coming year.

Yep, and it never quite goes away!

Oh MY!! I did not read anywhere on the Forum that said to soak the wood before using it. My husband said I was supposed to soak it in water first. Please tell me I did not need to soak it first! I am new at this and I want to have an awesome butt! Opps, that did not sound right! What I meant was I want to have an awesome pork BBQ Butt!

Nope, don't soak. One awsome butt coming up.

Just confirming for you that you do NOT soak the wood for a Cookshack. I went round and round with that one too, but UNLIKE most (every?) other electric smoker, put the wood in dry. (and, perhaps it goes without saying, don't use 'green' wood either...rosemary brushes and things like that are fine, but you want to use seasoned, dry wood for smoking)

Hope your butt comes out terrific!

Thanks for telling me that! I would have died if I made a mistake! hahahahaha I am sure I will have lots, the more I smoke! So, I can add springs of rosemary to my wood box with the hickory? Have you done that?? I love cooking with Rosemary but have not ever smoked with it!!!

Yes. You can add rosemary and other whole herbs and also garlic cloves. (dry)

Here is a link I found while I was chasing rabbits one night on different woods and what they do in the smoker.

http://www.eaglequest.com/%7Ebbq/faq2/8.html#8.1

As a side note, I just did a couple of racks of pork ribs cooked at 225 for about 4 1/2 hours. One rack was done using a dry rub and the second was put in "dry" and 2 hours into the cook, bathed in (no jeers please), Budweiser beechwood BBQ sauce. Both came out stupendous!

Good Memorial Day to one and all and please pause to remember those who are overseas wearing the uniform.

Michael

lovetocook:

How did the Boston Butt come out. I also did my first one Saturday 14hrs later (In a Electric Water Smoker)and a lot of hungry people later it was done. Everyone loved the taste.

Swede

If your in a hurry make a PB&J

The butt came out great! The hickory flavor was a bit heavy for me but everyone else LOVED it! The beef brisket has been my favorite thus far! I have come to the conclusion.... smoke it a day before you need it just incase it takes longer to smoke. hahahaha We are having a party this Saturday and I am putting 3 butts on Friday morning in hopes it will be ready by 11 Saturday morning! ( Party starts at 3 and I don't want to be waiting on the pork!!!)

LTC, Apple is my favorite wood for pork butt. It surprisingly makes a big difference, the woods you choose. I don't think you will get a heavy smoke taste from it. Also, 2 ounces of wood is a very small piece! If you've ever cooked over/with wood before you'll think that 2 ounces cannot possibly be enough. Your CS smoker box will be, by far, mostly empty with only a little chunk in the corner (front corner is hottest). So, don't use too much wood.

I did a 9 pound butt for Memorial Day. 12 hours on 200*, 7 hours on 250* to get to 195*. Foiled, toweled, and coolered 4 hours. Used 3 oz. apple wood and the smoke was just right. Everyone loved it.

I like cherry with pork, gives it a really good color and lighter smoke flavor.

Okie, do you think cherry is lighter/milder than apple? It seems the other way around to me. I know, everyone tastes smoke differently.

I just bought a box of cherry wood. I'm doing up some chickens (and pulled pork, I'm a glutton for punishment!) for a church choir party, and thought I'd do the chix with the cherry. Good idea, or no?

It will be ok if you don't use too much. If your smoker is seasoned very well like mine, an ounce will be plenty for the chickens alone. That goes for any wood.

GLH, I sense from your other posts that you'd stick with the apple for the chicken, yes?

I believe in experimenting. I like to try all different woods with all different meats.

I do think apple is milder and poultry needs a mild smoke. However, 1 oz. cherry will probably be good with the chickens. 1 oz is also all I would use of apple.

In my Smokette, I might do the chickens without any wood at all, especially the next cook after a long cook with alot of wood such as a butt or brisket.

Does anyone know why the CS uses dry wood only? What makes it different from the majority of electric smokers that use soaked wood?

Welcome to the forum, Placebo

Could it be because most of the electrics (that I've used) use chips which would burn far to quickly?

Also, green vs wet might be a symantic difference. I'd never use green wood in any smoker.

Wet wood, IMO, would take too long to dry out and get to the smoking stage for the chunks. It's very likely that by the time the wood began to smoke the meat might be too warm/hot to take on as much smoke as might be desirable.

Bet there are other reasons that folks would come up with.

Dry is best

quote:

Originally posted by Placebo:
Does anyone know why the CS uses dry wood only? What makes it different from the majority of electric smokers that use soaked wood?

I really don't have a clue regarding using soaked wood chips. But if you're talking about wood chunks, the chunks would have to sit in water a really, really, really long time in order to soak up the water equivalent to what wood chips can soak up. Probably due to chunks being a more dense material. The same rational is used when I use my off-set smoker. Ain't no since in trying to water soak wood chunks.

With that said, I know I didn't answer your question, so I'll let the more knowledgeable Cookshackers answer your question.

That could very well be the reason. Thanks Smokenque! I wasn't aware the CS's use wood chunks not chips.

Part of the reason for not using wet wood is the fact that the smoke box has holes in the bottom directly over the heating element.Water dripping on the element could cause damage and probable void your warrant coverage. Most water smokers use some type of pan between the wood and the heating element.And like mentioned before meat will only take smoke until about 140 degrees, the sooner the wood smokes,the better!

Almost forgot to mention, wet wood just add too much more moisture to an already moist environment.

I think Smokin' Okie will chime in on this, but so as to not let this line go too far astray, paraphrasing SO's previous posts (apologies for not quoting directly) 'soaked wood' will smolder and not provide the sweet, fragrant, bluish-clear 'exhaust' from good, dry wood that is heated to the point of 'smoking.' And it's the bluish-clear stuff that will provide the flavor that you are really looking for from smoked Q...not the bitter, ashy, smolder smoke from wood chips OR chunks that have been soaked.

You got it TO. See you guys don't need me around.

I think, like the SR, that soaking the chips is the way we "learned" to do it.

My theory is that people who invented that method felt that the wood smoke needed to be "seen" in order for it to work. They certainly never heard of clear/blue smoke.

The smolder to me is a sign of incomplete combustion and Cookshack's method without water has been working for 35 years.

I laugh when I watch Steve Raichlen on PBS talk about soaking wood and Smoke Ring. I know Steve and have had the discussion with him about this, but he's catering to the masses.

Smokin'