Wood type question
I would like to cook more barbeque at home, but my wife, who does love barbeque, sometimes wants to pass because it "repeats" on her. Basically, she finds herself burping a lot the next day and tasting smoked meat. I was wondering if there were any woods that would be less likely to cause this issue. Any thoughts are appreciated.
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What wood are you getting that reaction from would be my question...
Probably should consider not using it anymore.
Hickory, mesquite... Are generally overpowering in smoke flavor while wood like apple and cherry are milder. -
Hickory, walnut and pecan wood do contain certain chemicals (juglone) that can cause reactions in certain people. While the chemicals are mainly in the leaf, traces can be found in the bark too. I would suggest trying fruit woods such as apple or cherry and then start by lightly smoking the meats to establish if, or what levels, causes the reactions in your wife.Last edited by Donw; January 4, 2023, 03:49 PM.Comment
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Hickory does that to me every time. I find the mildest to be oak, which also gives you the prettiest smoke color on light meats.Comment
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What everyone else said about using fruit woods, and I would add to that to cut back on the amount of smoking wood drastically on the next smoke, and see if your wife tolerates it better. I.e. one or two small golf ball sized chunks, and no more. I am making the assumption you smoke with charcoal and wood chunks here. If you use a stick burner, you are kinda out of luck, but I would expect oak to be the main fuel there. Pellets? I can't say as I have no experience there...Comment
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I agree with this. I used to get smoke burps myself, and I hate them. Now I use a little bit more wood than jfmorris does, but not much more; I use a couple chunks that I can close my fist around.
This might not be your issue, but it is worth considering. I’ve even done ribs with no extra wood at all, and y’know… they’re freakin’ ribs, they’re fantastic! If all else fails, that would be my compromise. -
Mosca I use 2-3 chunks, sometimes as big as fist sized, in the kamado or kettle. I was just regurgitating advice I've read on here from Meathead himself on where to start with your smoking wood, regarding size and quantity of chunks...
Fact is most of the bags I buy seem to have most of the wood either larger than I need, or smaller. I have an old hatchet I use to split the larger chunks as needed.
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Order yourself a small bag of bourbon barrel wood. The white oak is VERY mild and goes with everything. It’s actually my favorite wood to use for everything but brisket.Comment
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THIS IS NOT A PLUG, I AM NOT A SHILL.
I used to use a cheap offset grill which would do the same thing to my wife, but since getting a KBQ, she's now repeat-free.Comment
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I stoped using Hickory chunks because smoking meat with Hickory was giving me bad heartburn. Weirdly, I can eat barbecue from a local place that smokes with Hickory in their 1000G offsets, and I'm fine. Now I use apple for most things, pecan for large hunks of beef, or rock maple if I want a strong smoke flavor. I also like oak, but never seem to have any.Comment
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I think that the much higher airflow and usually cleaner burn of the wood in a large offset leads to different results than what you get with chunks of hickory on top of your charcoal in a small smoker. I get "smokier" results in my kettle with the SNS than I get in my offset if I burn just wood with a small hot fire in the offset firebox.
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I honestly cannot tell the difference in wood types. People claim they can and I do not dispute that, but I do question how much is real and how much is the placebo effect. For that I would have to smoke something over "strong" wood then tell them it was a "light" wood and see if they say "I think a stronger smoke profile would be better". Or the opposite.
But smoke type DOES make a difference. Thick white smoke is not what you want. Hot burning wood has a "thinner" smoke. This is what you want. And it is why running a pit is an art and science. You need a hot fire to get the right smoke, but not so hot that your pit temperature runs away on you. To get this you need to carefully balance fuel with heat.
What I do with my kamado is put the wood chunks in after the fire is going and the temp is climbing. Then let the wood burn until the temperature is almost there, then add the food and choke down the air. I get a little thick smoke, but it quickly settles down to what I want.
It took a bunch of cooks to figure it out. It was not intuitive.
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SmokeyGator, it's just a matter of training your palette to taste different wood smokes. I have 3 identical Weber Kettles (thanks to Uline!). I'll measure out charcoal briquettes, measure out wood and measure out the lit coals to get them all at about the same place at the same time. My meat of choice is lightly salted boneless, skinless chicken breast. This shows the coloration of the smoke as well as taste. I've even tested pellets vs. wood chips this same way. Measuring weight of each. -
I don't add the wood after I build the fire in my kamado, but I do bury the wood chunks at the bottom of the charcoal, which may have a similar effect, since I light the charcoal using starter cubes on top of the pile, before putting in the deflector and grates. I.e. the fire is burning hotter before it burns down to the wood at the bottom of the pile. -
The only wood I can tell in my own cooking is mesquite. All the others are about the same.
But, when I buy bacon, the difference between hickory smoked and applewood smoked is huge! Go figure. My guess is that I’m looking at the difference between a backyard operation and a professional bacon making operation.
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Thank you all for the insights and advice. I will try fruit wood and less smoke. As suspected, I primarily use charcoal with wood chunks, not a stick burner.Comment
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Make sure you fire is burning clean. The key to clean smoke is a hot fire, keep it small so the smoker temp does not spike. You can add almost any hardwood to a small, hot fire and get awesome light smoke.
Also, bumping the smoker temp up to 300 F is a good way to have a lighter smoke profile.Comment
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