Which charcoal and wood chunks would you choose?

[Jessterr]

OK…I haven’t been cooking as long as many of you all and am still experimenting, with ribs in particular to find my "perfect rib" cook. I do have a few smokers to choose from but this week plan to do a rib cook on my Good One Open Range for the first time. Will do one rack each of baby backs and St. Louis, and my lump charcoal stash includes B&B Oak, B&B Hickory, Black Diamond (which I understand is made from birch wood), and FOGO Premium. I do have a selection of briquettes on hand as well, but want to stick with lump for this cook. As far as wood chunks, I have cherry, apple, oak, maple, pecan, and mesquite to choose from. So, interested in what you all would do. Thanks.

[glitchy]

Fogo with pecan and/or cherry. Fogo only because I haven’t used the other lumps.

[smokin fool]

+!
I'll add Jealous Devil along with Fogo and a big yes to pecan/cherry chunks.
Like to add some maple also.

[Michael_in_TX]

I've really settled in for a 50/50 split of cherry and hickory for my pork cooks, either ribs or butt. (For some weird reason, I just have terribly luck with apple wood.)

[smokin fool]

I like to put a split of woods too, usually 3-4 chunks of pecan or cherry and a handful or so of Maple chips.
Really like the results.

[bbqLuv]

Traeger Pellets, sorry, no help.

[Potkettleblack]

Charcoal is charcoal, by and large. I think people overthink that.

think I'd go with a mix of cherry and pecan. Folks like hickory and cherry for pork, and pecan trees are a species of hickory. I might throw a small chunk of maple in there, because MHC is one of my favorite blends.

[Mosca]

THIS. Wholeheartedly and without reservation, THIS. Pick a charcoal. Or mix them all together. It won’t matter. Same with the wood. I defy you to tell me which one I used, either by smell while cooking or by taste when it’s done. It’s like trying to tell Coke from Pepsi. The only one that’s really different is mesquite.

That being said, yes, it’s fun, and since we HAVE TO pick when we’re buying wood and charcoal, I pick hickory because it’s everywhere and it’s consistent.

[Potkettleblack]

I will note that Cherry makes a smoke ring a bit more pronounced and reddish. And plum wood tends to make a darker smoke ring. But otherwise, you have to be a fairly sophisticated taster to tell the difference.

[Panhead John]

I know this isn’t your arsenal, but I really like the B&B Charcoal Briquettes for long cooks. They seem to burn cleaner and longer for me than the Kingsford. I’ve never been a fan of lump and rarely use it. I’ve always liked using Hickory chunks with my cooks, the smoke profile is just right for me, followed by mesquite…..

[StrikeBBQ]

I bounced around with charcoal and IMHO blue bag Kingsford is my favorite. Lump is good for hot and fast, but it is inconsistent with longer cooks. As far as wood, I’m big on using apple for pork.

[Dadof3Illinois]

I've used the B&B Lump for low and slow cooks with great burn times and very low ash make. I've tried the FOGO premium two different times and had horrible issues with limited burn times and heavy sparking.
IMO the charcoal doesn't impart a ton of flavor so either of the B&B lumps would work and i've been a huge fan of nut woods as of late so I would use any of the Oak, Maple or Pecan you have.

[Murdy]

I use Pecan about 90% of the time. I've been using Kingsford Pro almost exclusively for a few years, but based on what I've read around here, I'm planning on trying something else soon.

[smokin fool]

I can't find pecan up here anymore, been looking for more than 18 months.
Even specialty BBQ shops have no idea when they may get some.

[Murdy]

smokin fool -- they are available on Amazon, not sure how that works north of the border.

[smokin fool]

I took a look on Amazon Prime and its double the price over BBQ Galore up here.
I can still get cherry at the normal price so I will make it thru this shortage.
Thank you, I never think of Amazon since they hoofed me outta on of they're D.C.'s a few years ago....we kinda don't like each other....

[Oak Smoke]

As long as you’re using a "good" charcoal I believe you’ll be fine. There are a few out there that look like they were made from scrap lumber that I won’t use. B&B will be fine. As far as smoking wood, for ribs I use apple. Any mild wood will do. By mild I mean pretty much all you’ve named, just don’t use something like mesquite.

[jfmorris]

I use both the B&B oak and B&B hickory here, and to be honest - once the fire is burning cleanly, your wood flavor smoke comes from your chunks, not the charcoal. I buy the hickory version when my local Academy is out of the oak version, and can't really see much difference between the two.

For wood chunks, I like nut and fruit woods for pork ribs. Pecan and cherry, or apple. I don't see much difference in smoke flavor myself between species of fruit wood smoke flavor though. There are definite flavor profile differences when you go fruit/nut to oak, hickory, or mesquite. I have actually gone lately to using hickory chunks with most of my pork BBQ, as it has more flavor than the fruit woods, but I still have those on hand too. I tend to use post oak with my beef BBQ. And no wood with my chicken, just straight charcoal, as I am either direct grilling that or doing it with the Vortex.

[RlsRls]

Agree with Mosca above, I could never tell what's burning at any given time, except for mesquite. However I've been a lump user for 20 years and am about to convert to briquettes! I'll let you all know what I think later this Summer!

[Jessterr]

Thanks to all for the great input and discussion! Decision made, I’m going with the B&B Hickory lump since I had two bags of that on hand, and the general consensus here is that charcoal type doesn’t really matter much anyway. Based on your general recommendations, going with a mix of cherry and pecan as smoke woods, and might throw a chunk of maple in there as well since I have a good bit of that. I must say, I’m very impressed with the size distribution of the B&B Hickory, mostly nice large pieces and good medium sized. I was impressed with the one bag of B&B Oak lump that I’d used previously, and had later read somewhere to expect that the Hickory version would have smaller pieces, but not the case at all, at least with this one bag. Perfect for this particular smoker with a good sized fire box.

[Finster]

I like B&B for both lump and briquettes.. and recently getting to know their charlogs.
I use mostly hickory chunks mixed with cherry for color. Apple is too mild, and I cant stand mesquite.

And I definitely can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi..

[Panhead John]

Coke and Pepsi…not even close. I hate Pepsi.

[Steve R.]

I hate both Coke and Pepsi. But they're terrible in different ways.

[Old Glory]

FOGO and Cherry/Apple or Maple