Cherry wood?

I've been given a big bag of cherry chunks by a friend. Have any of you used cherry for smoking? I'll be cooking for about 30 people tomorrow. Doing butts, chickens, and ribs. I'm trying to decide whether to play it safe and use hickory, or try the cherry, or maybe a combination. Any thoughts?

On September 1 I added a topic to the Web site called All About Smoke Woods that provides a brief description of various woods, including cherry, and the meats they go with.

Cherry goes well with almost any meat. It can be used by itself, but also mixes well with oak or apple. It is more mild than hickory. I like using cherry when cooking chicken or ribs, or mixed with oak when barbecuing almost anything.

I have cooked for 30 people using cherry, and they loved it. Should you? Well, you'll probably feel more comfortable sticking with what you know, so that would be my advice. But give the cherry a try some other time...I think you'll make it a regular part of your barbecue routine.

Regards,
Chris

Good afternoon Steve...I've recently purchased cherry wood and have used it with great success (judged by my guests and family, of course!). I tend to over-smoke but even with the more than generous number of chunks I used, I still got some of the best, sweetest tasting ribs and sausage ever. Although I haven't tried it yet, I think it might be pretty good with chicken also...I'll keep you posted....John

Cherry is mild and sweet, will go well with
poultry, beef, pork and most anything else you may want to smoke.
A little smoke goes a long ways, fruit woods, alder and the like are more forgiving than hickory, pecan or oak.
Jim

I've used my cherry chunks several times now; with chicken, ribs, bratwursts, and pork shoulder. You are right, Jim, the taste is mild and sweet, with much less bite than hickory. Today I did chicken and brats with cherry and a huge onion thrown right on the coals; it was delicious! The smell of the onion roasting all day was almost unbearable. Life is good...