Smoke wood question


 
R

Rod C

TVWBB Member
Back in our woods we have some maple, wild cherry, oak and hickory branches and trees that have blown down over the past year. Is any one of these woods good to smoke all kinds of meat or does each have a specific kind of meat that it works best with. How do you all store your smoke wood, piled up outside or do you keep it inside. Thanks.
 
Out of that group, I would say that maple is about the most versatile. Hickory would also be a good choice. Also, you can always use smaller amounts for something like chicken and more for something like a pork butt.

I store my wood in my garage in milk crates. They allow for air flow. I don't have much wood though so it works okay for me. Basically, fine a way to keep the wood dry.
 
Rodney,

For an overall smoke wood, my vote would be Oak.
I assume you have a WSM ... and that the wood is seasoned/aged ? so after it's chopped up into baseball sized chunks, I keep mine in a plastic tote (the size of a laundry basket) with a tight fighting lid that I keep on the porch (my porch has a roof), or in the basement depending on the time of year.

I would invest in a tote for each kind of wood. Make sure to label each.
 
Rodney,

Welcome to the forum!

As for those woods you have, all should be great for smokin'. I've heard some negative comments about the wild cherry, but I'm pretty sure there were equal good comments.

The maple is especially good if it might happen to be sugar maple. That's my personal favorite.

There are all sorts of tastes in the BBQ world, as you will soon discover. I like fruit woods with poultry and pork. With beef I prefer oak and hickory. I use some mesquite with beef once in a while, but I'm not from Texas so I don't have mesquite in my blood.

The sugar maple is especially good with pork and poultry.

As for storin' the wood, I'm a city boy right now, so I keep the store-bought wood in a large plastic storage bin inside.

You're sure to get some country folk to give you better answers on storing cut wood.
 
Welcome aboard Rodney!

Any of those woods are fine. I like cherry the best. As for the storage, I live in London ... it rains *alot* here, I keep what wood I can in a shed. Otherwise I stand long branches on end behind the shed, they get wet, but the wood is dry.

morgan
 
I store just as for firewood - keep it off the ground, preferably protected from rain & snow and with adequate airflow. A pile on the ground is OK but you'll find the bottom layer will rot and devlop fungal growth.
You'll find it's easier to chop while it's still green so I cut into lengths and store that way, then split down when I use it.
 
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