Hickory vs. Apple

[Matt Y]

I've primarily used apple (and a little cherry i think) in my cooks based on the articles on the VB Cooking Topics and my overabundance of apple wood but i was thinking about using some hickory smoke wood that I have laying around.

For Smoke Day 9 i was planning on doing a pork shoulder or PSB and I wanted to try it with hickory. Do people have any thoughts on hickory with pork? In all the VB cooking topics they typically use apple with pork.

 

[Mike Cosgrove]

Hickory goes great with pork, just don't use too much.

 

[Matt Heebner]

Hickory is actually my favorite smoke wood to use. Goes great with pork and beef. Can be heavy on chicken though. You definitely need to use less than fruit woods as it is a more dense wood and can produce a heavier smoke. But man o man, i am helplessly addicted to hickory. I love the smell. I sometimes add my bigger chunks to our firepit just so I can smell it sometimes when I am not smoking food.
Another idea would be to sustitute one chunk of hickory along with the fruit wood. Hickory gives a nice smokey flavor that pairs well with maple or apple, and cherry.

 

[Tony R]

Hickory goes great with pork, just don't use too much.

Ditto what Mike said....
After the cook if you feel it needs more smoke then add more wood next time.

 

[Matt Y]

Thanks Guys!

 

[Dave S]

I always use a combo of hickory and apple when i do pork

 

[Mike Taylor]

I agree that too much hickory is not a good thing. I use three chunks of apple and one chunk of hickory for beef and pork.