Which Wood Chips to Use?

mybubbles65

Hi there, smoking ribs today for the second time.  The first ones were great.  I think they were as good as any ribs at a ribfest  I used Jack Daniels wood chips to smoke them.  Thought I would try something new today.  What do you use to smoke your ribs?

Mighty_Quinn

Cherry, hickory, apple, pecan...

Brownie

If you like JD chips a lot, you can add a small portion of a fruit wood to it. This will keep that flavor you like, while adding a new element to you flavor. I like to use a measuring cup when mixing chips, even though the chips may not all burn or burn equally, it helps me keep track of portions I enjoy.
ex: 1/2 cup of apple, 1/2 cup cherry, and 1/4 cup of mesquite chips. then mixed up in a bowel and spread in my coals. works for me.

A2Z

We really prefer Cherry, although all the fruitwoods seem to be mild, which we prefer

Chubbs

Apple for butts and pork spares is my favorite.

gdenby

Oak or hickory for ribs. The JD chips are oak, btw.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Oak, pecan, hickory, mesquite (some find mesquite too strong).

FxLynch

I"m a big fan of Pecan wood for ribs, sometimes a mix of pecan and apple wood.

mybubbles65

I bought Apple and threw in a handful of JD chips.  We'll see what a combination of both will do for the flavour.  They're on there now.  Can't wait to eat

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Booze and apples: what could go wrong? Should be tasty.

Duganboy

I always use apple.  The one thing about Q is that it is full of individual preferences.  You will drive yourself crazy trying to find THE way to do them.

Taste is personal, so go with what you like.

Buckdodger

Last time I did BB's I tried pecan chunks...used 3 pieces about half the size of my fist. Put them at 10, 2 and 6 o'clock.Tasted really good...kind of on the sweet side.

Mattlock

How long does fresh wood need to dry out before being used?

Chubbs

Depends on who you ask. @stike will tear a piece of siding off his house and throw in there. )

Mattlock

Branch wood just as good? I'm pretty sure I have access to pecan branches, .5 - 2 inch thick.

Mattlock

Or my hardy plank siding if I get desperate ;-)

FxLynch

How long does fresh wood need to dry out before being used?

There was a post about this a while back. Last December I was in Texas and some family cooked brisket and turkey on their BGE using pretty new pecan. Their neighbor cut down some trees to put in a pool.  I was surprised to see this, because I always heard wood needed to be dry.

Someone here mentioned that the competition bbq teams would bring their own woods because they worried they might not find green/fresh wood near the competition.

I brought a box of it home, and love the flavor and aroma.  Seems better to me than the dried wood chunks I buy at the store.

Frank

The Cen-Tex Smoker

We cook over green mesquite down here (TX) all the time. Not sure it the same as using chunks as flavor (we actually cook with the green mesquite with no lump in the big offset smokers).

Brownie

Just re read the post and realized I wrote "mix them in a bowel" For the record I'm not mixing them in intestines.........I'd prefer a bowl to mix.

stike

won't tear siding off, but will certainly use siding.  wood doesn't know what shape it is
>-

cedar shingles are great for planked salmon and steelhead.  and i had some cedar claps (1x10) from 300 year old cedars, and they were great too.  that stuff isn't cheap though.  the shingles are.

ribnrun

Thankfully redwood yields poor smoke, so my house will be safe from stike's advances.

stike

red wood would be fine for salmon or another fatty fish.  cedar is resinous too.  just don't want a lot of smoke.  just a tinge.
but i don't use anything that's been on a house (i.e. painted, etc.)

Brownie

@stike Your knowledge intrigues me. (it's a compliment)

Ragtop99

I lived in Texas for a while, so when in doubt, use mesquite. 
I will use apple for ribs too if I want a milder smoke than mesquite.