Smoke wood for pastrami?

[JimT]

The gerneral consensus seems to be pecan is the wood of choice, but I don't have any.

Here's what I have:

Apple
Cherry
Maple
Oak (red)
Hickory
Mesquite

Given these options, what would be a good choice for smoking pastrami?

Thanks,

JimT

 

[Doug D]

I'd use the oak, or a very light application of hickory. Definitely not the maple or mesquite.

 

[Josh Z.]

Jim,

I'm smoking a pastrami tomorrow night and I always used a 2-3 medium chunks of hickory and have been very pleased. I'm sure apple would be good too, but there is enough good flavor of the spices and cure that the bolder taste of hickory does well.

Josh

 

[Pete Z]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Josh Z.:
Jim,

I'm smoking a pastrami tomorrow night and I always used a 2-3 medium chunks of hickory and have been very pleased.Josh </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have had the pastrami prepared in this manner on the WSM - most excellent. I second the use of 2-3 medium chunks of hickory. Truth be known, I think that there isn't a huge difference between the hickory and pecan (I do admit to having much less experience with pecan than with hickory).