Do different woods really make a difference?

I use muscadine alot. It is a kind of southern wild grape. Sometimes hybridized. Cut them in 9 or 10 inch lenghths to fit inside the woodbox. With mesquite, get it smoking good for about 15-30 minutes, then put in the meat. The bitterness should be gone by then.

I like pecan and orange wood for chicken primarily because i find the color that it gives the skin gives it what my daughter calls "kewl Dad we got gold chicken". We are lucky
though as we have an orange tree and the neighbor has a pecan so I trade them oranges and they let me pick all the fallen nuts . They have also suffered thru 3 years of experiments and have really helped us finalize our recipes.
jack
2Greyhounds....SMOKIN!!!!
ps thats what sold us on cookshack and why we cant wait for the startup money to come in in 4 more weeks. I like the idea of being able to make my own blend of wood easily with the pellets.

Mesquite isn't so bad, if used in moderation. I took a chance today and used a 2 ounce chunk in a couple hour smoke of some chicken wings. The results were excellent.

http://www.lamaine.com/bbq/mayowings.html

I live in Ottawa, Canada where "Sam's Bats" are made, (the maple kind that Bonds and others use). My kid plays ball and we've bought bats from Sam too. I stopped by the shop and asked if I could have a chunk or two of their maple to try in my Smokette. They're a great bunch and they gave me a big box of cut-up bat blanks that look like two inch thick pucks. Each puck is conveniently about 2 oz !!
I used 2 pucks, a charcoal briquette, and about an ounce of apple chips for a six pound butt.
I was very happy with the results. Nice mild flavor and the pucks were still going when I pulled the butt at 9 hours.

So I am presently hooked on maple.

I would like to try some pecan.
If anybody wants to swap a pound of nice dry pecan chunks for a pound of the maple, drop me a line.
(I have a US PO Box and will mail your maple from the States too).

Thanks !

John