# Which wood



## LT72884 (Apr 23, 2009)

I am having a hard time trying to figure out what woods to use with what meats and spices on the meat..

For example, what wood would go good with italian seasoned pork shoulder. I say apple because apples go great with pork. BUT then also not all my pork dishes have italian seasonings. 

Also same with flank steak. i want to stuff it with povolone cheese and monteray cheese, yellow pepper, garlic, basil, spinich, and bread crumbs. Would hickory work for that or should i use cherry.

This is where i need some education. Which spices for which wood and which spices on certain meats with which wood.

Thanx guys. i owe you one


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## Chef Munky (Apr 24, 2009)

LT72884 said:


> I am having a hard time trying to figure out what woods to use with what meats and spices on the meat..
> 
> For example, what wood would go good with italian seasoned pork shoulder. I say apple because apples go great with pork. BUT then also not all my pork dishes have italian seasonings.
> 
> ...



I'm not sure how you go about smoking your meats.Here's a link to this forum that just might help you to decide.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f36/types-and-uses-for-woods-for-smoking-36565.html

I have several methods in which I use to smoke meats.Electric smoker,webber,planks,or foiled packs.Depending on what type of meats,cheeses and such I then decide what chips will be used.
Smoking meats and using spices with it is to me a personal thing.

Hickory:Use it often for just about every thing,chicken.beef.pork.It's a staple for me.

Apple:It's ok,not my personal favorite.It's a sweet tasting wood,very mild.I did like it with Salmon.

Alder:Outstanding for Tri-Tips,all kinds of beef,fish,chicken.It's not an overbearing flavor.If you make jerky.Alder is perfect for it.

Cherry: I don't care much for it.To me it has one weird taste..

Missquite:It's right up there with Hickory,Alder and one of the 3 top chips I use.You really can't go wrong with it.

What spices to use for certain types of meats,is a personal choice.

Beef Tri-Tips- Garlic Powder.Onion Powder,Seasoned Salt,Salt & Pepper.
Salmon - Salt,Pepper,fresh Lemon,cooked on a plank.
Hams- Nothing at all.
Chicken Whole Split in Half- Same beef seasonings
Bacon- No spices,Hickory smoked.

Hope this helped you out a little bit.I'm sure others here would be more than happy to suggest other ideas as well 

Munky.


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## kitchenelf (Apr 24, 2009)

Well, I would NEVER do Italian spices when smoking a pork shoulder.  I would use simply salt, pepper, and olive oil and there is no other wood I would use except Hickory chunks (not those little chips either...chunks.)

If you have to put something on it I would look for a pork butt rub on the internet (sounds a little "iffy" searching that, I know! ).

I prefer no rub and then use my sauce as the added flavor.  You might try basting with a vinegar/brown sugar/red pepper flake concoction though.


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## jminion (Apr 24, 2009)

Beef can handle Oak and apple or cherry.
Alder is very mild works well on fish or poultry.
Hickory, pecan or fruitwoods for pork work well.
Grape vine on lamb is a good choice.  
Mesquite when grilling beef.


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## GB (Apr 24, 2009)

Unless you are smoking the meat for hours you will not be able to tell the differences in different types of wood.


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## Hoot (Apr 24, 2009)

I tend to use pecan and hickory for pork and beef. 
It is because I have a pecan tree that is quite large (it sheds limbs every time the wind gets gusty)and a number of hickory trees at the back of the field behind the house.
The pecan is in the front yard and if I belly up to it, I can't reach halfway around the trunk. I stand 6'2 and have arms to go with it..  One of these days I gotta measure that monster of a tree.


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## LT72884 (Apr 24, 2009)

The reason i ask is because from this new book i got on wood fired cooking. They took a flank steak and stuffed it with basil, oregano, fontina cheese, roasted red peppers and garlic and spinach. It is a Mediterranean dish supposedly. Then it says to start a hot fire using wood of choice and lump charcoal to grill the meat for about 35 minutes. 

The reason i ask what wood for what spices is because i dont want to make it taste all funky. I imagine with grilling and using the logs or chunks as fuel, it will give it a light smoke flavor because it will only be on there 35 minutes or so.

Goodwood BBQ company gave me 5 apple wood logs for free today so i want to try those out.

Im trying to grill with wood rather than smoke but i want the right flavor of wood to go with the spices. 

Thanx for the help.


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 24, 2009)

GB said:


> Unless you are smoking the meat for hours you will not be able to tell the differences in different types of wood.



Bravo!!! Truer words have never been spoken!! Not to diminish your questions, and concerns LT72884, but when you read or hear all of this pretentious puffery describing the different nuances, flavors, bouquets etc of different woods, what you are really hearing or reading (imo) is what I call "Smoke Blowing" --- Except for a few wood species...Hickory and Mesquite being two.. 99% of the palates in the world can't distinguish what kind of wood was used to cook the food anyway ---  Of greater concern (imo) to a rookie BBQer is the excessive use of smoke on foods regardless of species...Excessive smoke is offensive, bitter etc....Play with, use different woods? Yes by all means!! Have Fun! Just don't get so carried away....Leave that to the Smoke Blowers!!


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## LT72884 (Apr 24, 2009)

Will do Uncle Bob.. So the longer the smoke the harder to tell which wood was used is what i take from your post and GB's post. BUT if i use it to grill with you should be able to tell which wood was used?


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 24, 2009)

LT72884 said:


> Will do Uncle Bob.. So the longer the smoke the harder to tell which wood was used is what i take from your post and GB's post. BUT if i use it to grill with you should be able to tell which wood was used?



No!! Not at all. You have it backwards!! On short cooking times...Grilling etc you will not be able to discern the difference in flavoring woods at all..Period!!! Except for maybe strong woods.(Hickory, Mesquite Walnut) and that's probably a stretch --- What I said was even on long cooking times (BBQ) unless you are a licensed, bonded, and experienced smoke addict  or you fall into a very small percentage (less than 5% maybe) of the population you still aren't going to be able to distinguish the difference in the woods used to cook/flavor the food...

Have Fun!


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## chefkathleen (Apr 24, 2009)

From my experience and it's not a great deal, with smoke and wood, UB is right on the money. When I lived in Florida we'd use a lot of orange wood,(wonder why) in fish, etc. I have a friend that's a chef and he'd soak any wood he'd use first, even if it was for BBQing and then add the wood to the charcoal or other wood he was using. Cover the grill and have at it. But, personally, if you hadn't have told me it was there, I have to wonder if I would have known.


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## LT72884 (Apr 24, 2009)

Uncle Bob said:


> No!! Not at all. You have it backwards!! On short cooking times...Grilling etc you will not be able to discern the difference in flavoring woods at all..Period!!! Except for maybe strong woods.(Hickory, Mesquite Walnut) and that's probably a stretch --- What I said was even on long cooking times (BBQ) unless you are a licensed, bonded, and experienced smoke addict  or you fall into a very small percentage (less than 5% maybe) of the population you still aren't going to be able to distinguish the difference in the woods used to cook/flavor the food...
> 
> Have Fun!



OHH, so even grilling with hickory i should be fine cooking pork with itailian seasoning or any meat with whatever seasoning i want?

And even with long cooking times its hard to tell which wood was used. So why buy other types of wood if you cant tell? hahaha


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 24, 2009)

LT72884 said:
			
		

> OHH, so even grilling with hickory i should be fine cooking pork with itailian seasoning or any meat with whatever seasoning i want?



IMO... Positively Yes!!! I just grilled some Porterhouse steaks...Actually it was only one large one....DW ate the filet...I ate the strip...the "Kill Dawg" ate da bone! I would challenge anyone with the most discriminating palate to tell me what kind of flavoring wood I threw on the fire. There was a slight smokiness to the meat...some from the flavoring wood ...some from the fats that dripped onto the coals. In all fairness there are those who will claim to be able to disiguish/detect Mesquite smoke on grilled steaks...Ya know what? They probably can!! (IMO) That is some stinky stuff!! I can understand how some lonsesome cowboy, in an attempt to stave off stavation, built a fire out of Mesquite wood (that's all he could find) to cook his Jack Rabbit..What I cannot understand is why he would ever do it again!!!



			
				LT72884 said:
			
		

> So why buy other types of wood if you cant tell? hahaha



 Because it's fun.. is the short answer. Remember I never said there were not slight nuances in flavor from different types of wood..I just said that the vast majority of the populatin can't tell the difference. When they sit down to eat, they don't know what kind of flavoring wood was used...Who cares...as long as it taste good!!...

Fun!!!


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## LT72884 (Apr 24, 2009)

Ok thats cool. I know that with hickory and apple wood i can somewhat tell because goodwood BBQ company ribs taste different than mine and i know they use apple wood vs my hickory.  MAYBE its the charcoal flavor that i dont like about my ribs. The minion methode i must have done wrong because when the unlite coals lighted, maybe it gave off some funky gases...????

thanx guys


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 24, 2009)

LT72884 said:


> Ok thats cool. I know that with hickory and apple wood i can somewhat tell because goodwood BBQ company ribs taste different than mine and i know they use apple wood vs my hickory.  MAYBE its the charcoal flavor that i dont like about my ribs. The minion method i must have done wrong because when the unlit coals lighted, maybe it gave off some funky gases...????
> 
> thanx guys



It's possible the charcoal may have given you an off flavor...There are some brands that I don't particularly like the smell of....Which blends over into what I think I can taste in the food. The Minion Method is a solid method to use for fire/temperature control over long cook times...There are those who list as a "Con"(As in Pros and Cons) the fact that the unlit charcoal briquettes not being ashed over, give the food an off taste. IMO it is mostly "Much-A-Do about nothing"!! Start your first coals in a Charcoal chimney. I advise against using liquid petroleum based charcoal starters. 

Enjoy!


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## Uncle Bob (Apr 24, 2009)

LT72884 said:
			
		

> Ok thats cool. I know that with hickory and apple wood i can somewhat tell because goodwood BBQ company ribs taste different than mine and i know they use apple wood vs my hickory



Oops! Missed this part. Hickory is one of the stronger of the flavoring woods compared to say apple or cherry... However, often times it is not the type of wood used that gives foods a different...maybe an "off" taste. Rather it is the amount of smoke from the wood that's allowed to come into contact with the food/meat --- Suggest you start with small amounts of flavoring woods...Add more or less as time goes by to suit your personal taste!

Fun!


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