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Oak wood for smoking


 
S

Steven Simpkins

TVWBB Member
I have a fire pit at home and enjoy sitting around a fire at night. This may seem nutty but I have a maul and enjoy splitting firewood. All of the wood I split is oak and was wondering if any type oak would be good for smoking. Will there be different smoke flavors with the different types of oak say white oak as opposed to red oak.

Steve
 
The best steak I've ever had in a restaurant (George's Steak Pit in Sheffield, Alabama, in case anybody is in the Northwest Alabama area) was grilled over red oak coals.

Could have been the oak, could have been the meat, could have been about two stiff Crown Royal's, could have been that it was my parent's 65th wedding anniversary, but that steak was spectacular.

Pat
 
95% of the time when I'm cooking beef, it's over Red Oak. The other 5% is when I want a cahnge, and I'll grill a steak, or high heat a brisket over Mesquite. I can get all the red oak I want for free, so it works out good for me.
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I've done quite a few chuck roasts over oak, and it definitely goes well with beef. Mine is white oak currently, just because that is the tree that fell down. Don't think I could tell the difference though among the oak varieties.
 
I don't think you'll notice a difference between oaks. Perhaps with something like chicken, smoked lightly you could pick up a subtle difference, but I wouldn't think with a heavier meat like brisket you'd notice a difference. I have both red oaks and live oaks in my yard and interchange that wood all the time.

Paul
 
I go through a lot of red oak, love the stuff for beef. I usually cant tell a huge difference between smoke woods post smoke, but red oak really stands out to me, so I use it for everything beef, great stuff!
 
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