*Use hardwoods for cooking. Avoid soft woods such as pine, spruce, cedar, etc. These woods are very resinous and can ruin the taste of your food.
*Use dry, well-seasoned wood for grilling.
Oak:
Oak wood is one of the more widely used and most versatile hardwoods available for smoking due to its mild flavor and not giving off too bold of smoke taste to your dish, as well as producing a clean, consistent burn.
Recommended for use on all types and cuts of Red Meat, Poultry, and Pork.
Oak is the most versatile wood for smoking.
Produces a medium smoke flavor to your meats that is not overpowering.
For smoking in smokers, grills, fire pits, and camping fires
Gives off a great, long lasting heat output for fireplaces and stoves.
Hickory:
Hickory can have a very bold flavor when smoked and may be burned alongside milder hardwoods to even out the taste.
The most widely used smoking wood - The “King” of smoking woods.
Gives off a bold, smoky bacon flavor.
Can be used on all types of meats.
Highly recommended for pork, wild game, and ribs.
Gives off a great, long lasting heat output for fireplaces and stoves.
Pecan:
Pecan has all the taste of Hickory without the overpowering flavor that Hickory smoke can sometimes produce.
Mellow with an underlying nutty flavor and aroma.
Produces a mild, smoky bacon-like flavor.
Not as bold of flavor or taste as Hickory wood.
Highly recommended for Poultry, Pork Ribs and Pork Butts.
Works well for all types and cuts of meats.
Cherry:
As with most other fruit woods, cherry smoke produces a mild sweet flavor to your dish. Cherry also mixes well with most other cooking woods. Cherry is not as dense of a wood so keep in mind that the logs may burn quicker when compared to other hardwoods.
Produces a subtle sweet, fruity flavor.
Highly recommended for chicken, turkey, fish, and flavoring ham.
Combine with other smoking woods to add sweet flavor to any type and cut of meat.
Wood embers (and charcoal) burn hotter than the fire of the fresh wood itself. Therefore, for maximum heat for cooking, let a bunch of logs burn until they are embers before adding food. The embers give off much more heat than the fire itself. You can get coals faster if you use smaller pieces of wood to begin with. More can be added as needed to maintain the heat.
