Detecting taste differences between different woods


 
R

Rich_S

TVWBB Member
This post in the other thread about acquiring wood in Canada got me thinking.

Originally posted by Phil R.:
Maybe it's just me, but I have a real hard time telling the taste difference between woods anyway, other than when someone uses mesquite
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I agree with that 100%. I've used both hickory and oak in my own barbecuing and I've had BBQ that was smoked over apple, peach, and pecan as well. Honestly, I can't tell the difference. I know some people expend a lot of effort getting exotic fruit woods. Does anyone else honestly notice a difference?

I Also agree with the poster that mesquite is the obvious exception.
 
Rich,

Was experimenting this winter w/ smoking butts w/ no hickory. I definitely noticed a lack of that distictive smoke flavor. Same w/ ribs. Chased around trying to figure out what the missing flavor was for awhile. Finally decided to do a hickory smoke again, and realized that was it.

Try doing ribs several times with no hickory, using just apple or something like that then do a hickory smoke again. See if you notice any differences.
 
My friends all know that I smoke (they like eating the results). Of course, I keep a stock of numerous woods to use. Many of them grill and want advice on what types of smoke woods to use on their grill. My advice to them is always the same: after mesquite, it doesn't matter. Just pick one that sounds fun to you and go with that. The reason I give this advice is that I believe it is really hard for most "untrained" palates to tell the difference between the woods. They usually taste the complex flavors of the rub, the meat, and the presence of ANY smoke.

So, that is a long way of saying that yes, the difference can be very subtle. If you cook the SAME meat with the SAME rub over different woods, I'm certain you will taste the difference. Most people don't get to do that though, they just get one shot at someone's BBQ.

-Matt
 
I think I can tell some difference especially between the stronger woods like hickory or oak and the fruit woods like apple. Could I tell the difference between apple and pear - I don't think so. Between hickory and oak - maybe if I really tried. I use what I have. I have hickory, oak, apple and some maple. I use them seperately or combined - it's all good. Also, I don't like too much smoke so I go pretty light on whatever I use.
 
I usually use apple & cherry mixed for poultry. Yes there is a difference. Also if you use chery it tends to make your poultry a darker color.

I've used hickory (maybe too much smoke) and got some comments that it tastes a bit like ham. I guess bacon and a lot of hams are hickory smoked.

On pork I usually use hickory or a hickory apple (maybe cherry) mix.

Beef is either oak, mesquite or hickory.

For most people, they don't know what the taste is but they know when its missing.

Did you ever mix up your favorite rub and accidently leave out a small ingredient? Its kind like that if you don't smoke.
 
I was in a BBQ restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida a couple of years ago, and I swore to my dining companion that they had to be using hickory. I was right, but I have never been quite sure whether it was the smell of the hickory in the air or the taste of the meat. Either way, I still knew it was hickory.

As to meat I've done myself, I can't claim to be able to differentiate one from the other, but there are definitely some woods that are stronger than others. Grape vines, in my experience, leave a light smoke flavor which works well on chicken but does almost nothing for beef or pork. Oak and hickory, as well as cherry, are a heck of a lot stronger. I once oversmoked the daylights out of some ribs with hickory chips and ended up pitching them over the back fence into a creek!

I also use whatever I happen to have, but if I'm looking for a prominent smoke flavor I'll definitely try to get hickory or oak.

Rick
 
I can tell the difference between apple, mesquite, hickory and birch which are the woods I use.
 
Good comments. Keep 'em coming. I think I may do some experimentation this summer to find out conclusively. I also think that the rub will generally mask any differences in taste that different woods would have - the salt, sugar, hot pepper, onion and garlic, etc. combined with any smokiness at all will tend to obscure any subtle differences between types of woods. So any experiments should use a minimum of added flavorings.
 
Rick,

As I mentioned, my work this winter was supposed to be w/ the rubs etc I was using. I tweeked rubs and changed ingredients, but something was missing. It was the hickory. I guess to understand the nuances of the wood yeah your right. Have fun experimenting.
 
Shawn

What do you think of birch for smoke wood? Locally available wood here is spruce or birch which means only birch. I envy those guys down south with lots of hardwood choices readily available.

Griff
 
Griff, the birch I use I believe to be paper birch. Since I know birch bark is oily and can burn when wet I take the bark off.

I really like it. I think it's a little stronger than apple but not as strong as hickory. It took a cook or two to get accustomed to it but now I think it's great.

Try it with some salmon. Birch is supposed to be related to alder. I like it for anything. Two exceptions because I have not tried it yet, I use hickory for my my brined almonds and apple for cheese.
 
I'll chime in: I use pecan, apple, oak, and mesquite (in that order). I can definitely tell the difference without rub (like grilling). With rub (like pork butts or tri tips) its less obvious I think due to the spices. I use oak & mesquite on beef and pecan and apple on everything else.

I can say living in the southwest has for me taken the edge off of mesquite. It wouldn't surprise me to see Mesquite Smoked Frosted Flakes in a grocery store -- everything gets mesquite (over-) smoked.
 
Smoked some baby backs this weekend with Pecan and two big hunks of cherry. Absolutely, can tell that the cherry makes the ribs darker. Smoked spares last weekend with peach. Smoke smelled quite sweet and the meat wasn't as mahogany colored.

Very subtle differences in the taste but if you're keen towards it, you can tell.
 
I use (and have) all kinds of different woods and I can't tell the difference at all. I use the woods that I think I'm suppose to use! Someday I'll do the same meat with the same rub etc. a couple days in a row (or right after each other) and really see if I can detect the difference.
 
Except for mesquite, the only difference I've ever been able to tell is if there's too much smoke flavor. I couldn't tell you which wood it was, just that there had been too much wood. Since I like a little but not too much smokey taste, I use 3 chunks of whatever, except mesquite, and it works out fine.

Paul
 
I work around wood so I don't buy very much. Since I got my wsm I have cut some cherry, apple, maple, and oak. I have used all in some combination since I got the wsm. I smoked some ribs in September using maple. I don't know what happened but one rack tasted like someone poured real maple syrup on it. It was delicious. I just haven't been able to duplicate it.
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Like Rick above said I have oversmoked ribs with hickory and the flavor was very distinct and strong. It wasn't quite to the throw away level though. I also did some ribs a couple of years ago that I used hickory and cherry. The cherry flavor was so strong it tasted like someone poured marcino cherry juice on the ribs. It was delicious also. Haven't been able to duplicate that one either.

Anyhow I don't know why sometimes I can taste the wood and sometimes I can't. The only thing I can say is maybe the wood was still green. I cut the maple only a couple of weeks before using it last year. The cherry a couple of years ago as I can recall was fairly fresh also. The cherry was chips also. I told the guy running the chipper I was looking for some cherry. When I had my brinkman I didn't really know about using wood chunks. That was before virtual weber bullet.
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Anyhow I don't know what makes it so strong but I wish I knew. I would love to duplicate those 2 cooks. Especially the maple. I can't describe how good that was. I am really wondering if it is because it was green. The next time I find a sugar maple I will cut a piece off and smoke some ribs for an experiment. Gee, I wonder if that maple in my front yard needs trimed.
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