Best wood for chicken smoke?

[nickgutnick]

I use orange wood

[Huskee]

Thunder77 Did you find your favorite yet? I use whatever is there. Usually it's ash or apple. Have used grapevine stalk, oak, pecan, peach, etc etc etc and my personal favs seems to be ash & apple.

[Thunder77]

Huskee, Apple is my favorite so far. Cherry is second. I have yet to try ash, but I will if I ever get hold of any! Mesquite is good as long as you don't use too much of it. It's rather strong!

[Strat50]

I just use what I have, mostly. Apple is good. I also love mesquite. Alder is good too, just don't over do it. Pecan has an earthiness that is tasty too. For my rig, less is more. On long cooks, I'll just use one or two chunks. For shorter cooks, I'll use chips in a foil bag,or some such. I've even used our local birch in small quantities, as it's flavor is very assertive.

[clkq4]

Apple is my preferred wood for chicken and thinner meats.

[Steve R.]

If you can get your hands on some wild plum, it is excellent for poultry. I cut one down last year and it is my go-to for chicken.

[Gunderich_1]

Fruit woods in this order: Apple, Cherry, Plum, and then Pecan as a back up. MMM, MMM Good!

[ssandy_561]

I was given a bag of Jack Daniels oak wood chunks and I have used them the past two times I've done chicken and I have really enjoyed it. Not sure if I have just gotten some great chicken the last two times or if it has been the JD oak.

[W.A.]

I saw on TV Chris Lilly mention that he only uses a certain species of Hickory for the chickens at Big Bob Gibson. I'm thinking it was pignut.

[fuzzydaddy]

Apple and cherry are my favs..

[ecowper]

Depends, sort of .... For chicken breasts, I use apple only. For a full chicken or turkey, I use a mix of Apple and hickory. Pretty much 50/50 on how I mix it. Which is the same mix I use for ribs, come to think of it.

[Nuke em]

I like my apple and cherry also. But that being said, what kind of smoke flavor does alder bring to the table? I have some but don't know what to smoke it with.

[W.A.]

they use it often for fish, but I think that is because it is available locally in the NW.

[TheCountofQ]

Apple is my go to choice for poultry. Flavorful but not bitter in the least. Quite mild. I've used cherry also, but is a touch more pungent. Not bad though. I would still choose Peach or Pear over it though.

Red meat & pork...Oak, and I second the Jack Daniels Oak (again for red meat) especially on a fatty ribeye (try it in an Oscar). Have never had luck with Hickory on anything (very bitter unless you let it burn to total coals, from what I understand). Pecan is a bit bitter to my tounge too, and how mesquite ever got the reputation it has for BBQ is completely beyond me!!

[Huskee]

I've experimented some since this post was originally made last winter. I found that hickory was too strong for my personal taste with chicken, it gave it a smoked deli meat kinda vibe. Pecan wasn't much different....to me. Grape vine stalk chunks was strong also. None of it was bad, just not my personal fave.

I'm sticking with ash, apple, cherry, oak and peach. Don't really care which, I guess whichever pile is closer

[Baker Dan]

Apple or Cherry

[Spinaker]

In my opinion, Cherry is the best for everything except the Bovine cuts, then I prefer Oak.