Wood for smoked sausages

[Jeff S.]

I am going to be smoking some fresh sausages tonight on my WSM.
The recipe on the cooking topics calls for apple wood.
All I have is some hickory / mesquite / and wild cherry wood.
Can anybody help me determine which of these 3 woods to use?
Im leaning more towards the hickory or wild cherry, but thought I should ask and get some opinions.
Thanks

 

[Guest]

Cherry.

 

[Chet Johnson]

Out of curiosity and having never hot smoked sausage (my family cold smoked them when I was a kid), does the smoke penetrate the casing? Is it better to use synthetic or natural casings for smoking?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Jeff S.]

Chet,
I have no idea, as this is my first attempt at smoking sausages, but I will keep you posted on the outcome.

 

[Al Silverman]

Hi.
There is probably a real good reason why there is no such thing as Mesquite Smoked Sausage.
I wood go with the hickory.
Al

 

[Steve M.]

It sometimes depends on the type of sausage you are smoking. For example, traditionally, andouille sausage is smoked using pecan. I tried some earlier this year and it turned out well beyond my expectations. If you want to give that a try... Chef John Folse's Andouille recipe