Just ordered my WSM - which woods?

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Barry

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After successfully smoking some ribs and brisket on my Weber grill and reading this website, I have just ordered my WSM (through this website at Amazon) along with a chimney and rib rack!! Cant' wait.

Can anyone suggest, as a beginner, which woods and in what quantity I should get? I plan to smoke ribs (pork and baby back) and brisket and will probably do it on average 2-3 times per month. I plan to stop at NYC Firewood this week to get the wood.

Thanks in advance.
 
I'm using hickory exclusively; mostly because that's all I have at the moment.

However, I'd recommend hickory, oak, fruit woods (apple, cherry, plum, peach, etc.), or any other hard wood you can get either real cheap or, better yet, free. Check with local orchards as a possible source of free fruit wood.

I've seen larger bags (20-30lbs) of hickory and mesquite chunks sold at Home Depot and Wal Mart, and, at least around here, can find bags of Weber Firespice wood chunks (hickory or mesquite) pretty much anywhere they sell charcoal.

You'll only need a 3-6 fist-sized chunks for each session, depending on the length of cook time and desired level of smokiness.

Joe
 
Oak goes well with beef, use in small amounts.
Hickory and pecan are great for pork, fruitwoods will work on everything.
It does not take much wood to get the desired results, a couple of fist size chunks will do the job. If you find you like more smoke than that add 1 more piece on the next cook and see if that gets you the desired level.
Jim
 
My smoking career consists of about 25 - 30 cooks so
far. Quite frankly, I can't tell the difference between the various woods (at least not yet)
I've used hickory, apple, cherry and I use between
2 and 5 fist size chunks depending on what I'm cooking. Less for fish/chicken. More for brisket. Everything has turned out great so far so I don't
worry about the wood type as much as the wood amount.
 
Hi Barry,

My favorite combination for beef and pork is oak and hickory. I typically use 3 fist size chunks of oak and 2 fist size chunks of hickory. I think the combination provides a nice balance.

When smoking poultry I tend to use fruit woods like cherry or apple. I've tried cherry on pork and it is good but with the sweetness of the rub I use and the sweeness of the sauce I use, the sweetness from the cherry wood puts it too far over the top for my taste. That's just personal preference.
 
Here are a few exotic things to try for a different smoke flavor and you might just like them? Hickory Nuts, Hickory hulls, Pecan hulls and shells, acorns (they pop), dried corn cobs (great for smoked fish) and green leafs from oak, pecan, hickory, most any nut or fruit tree. Use a smoke box or wrap in tinfoil ?( a few go a long way)? All make different smoke flavor and add to the mystique of backyard BBQ?LOL?

Your friends will think a corncob is your secret to success ? lol ? and you can find all you want around the outhouse? /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Cheers!!!

bugg /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
 
Thank you all for your input. This website and the people on it are the best.

Looks like I will start out with some hickory and oak, with maybe one fruit wood to experiment with.
 
Barry,

You can never go wrong with apple and cherry as they are very light and go with everything.
NYCwoods also has peach, which I'm gonna try this month...they probably get it from the peach orchards out here on the east end.
Have fun!
 
Depending upon your appetite and since you have a new WSM, I would suggest 1 full cord eacj of apple, oak, hickory and mesquite<G>.
 
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