So my thing here is that there are different woods I like for different meats. Alder for most fish, especially salmon. Oak and mesquite - but gently applied - for beef. Hickory and nearly any fruitwood for pork ... apple, cherry ... yum! For chicken, I like oak and a fruitwood.
Hickory, I'll restate, calls to mind bacon. For that reason, I leave it aside for beef, fish and chicken ... but it's top o' the heap - with a fruitwood - for pork.
As a completely different option in Australia we do not have access to a great supply of the traditional woods like hickory and mesquite, I have tried a number of stoned fruit woods. Plum, peach, apricot still working with the flavour profiles of the rubs to create my unique flavors.
As a completely different option in Australia we do not have access to a great supply of the traditional woods like hickory and mesquite, I have tried a number of stoned fruit woods. Plum, peach, apricot still working with the flavour profiles of the rubs to create my unique flavors.
I've never had a drama with getting chunks of Hickory here in Aus (mesquite holds no interest for me). So much so that I gravitated away to fruitwoods a good year or so ago. There's quite a lot of good online smoking supplies places online as well as few specialist shops around like BBQ Aroma. I've shifted to GMG pellet grill now so its more about sourcing various pellet blends by various manufacturers for me.
The Texans in my family have prevailed: I'm a sworn advocate of mesquite chunks for beef. The key is to use it very sparingly - just a chunk or two early in the cook. It's a strong flavor and too much is tragic.
I use 2/3 Oak and 1/3 mesquite speitz with red wine mopping sauce every hour for the first 4 to 6 hours. Best brisket ever in my opinion.
White Oak is easy to get and I like the flavor profile. Usually get 1/4 cord delivered 2-3x a year
Hickory and mesquite are too strong for my taste for smoking; however, direct grilling steaks over hickory is a good choice in my book,
I like cherry or pecan but usually more $$. I have never used any other fruitwood.
Texas goes post oak or mesquite, but that's because it's what grows there. If you're in Michigan, you should have ample opportunities for apple, cherry, maple, peach, and a few others. The fruit trees of Michigan make special fruit, so seem likely to have good smoke wood.
But really, the wood flavor matters less than getting a good clean smoke profile, and all these
wood-food pairing guides are put out by people who want to sell you more varieties of wood. (says the man with mesquite, maple, guava, pecan, and sth else that I can't bring to mind in his basement right now).
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