First butt tomorrow - best wood choice?

kthacher

I am going with Gibson's peach pork butt recipe, and will turbo it due to time constraints. Here are the wood choices I have.  I realize that some of them likely make no sense for pork, but I have listed them anyway.  Please chime in with your recommendation.

Hickory, Oak, Cherry, Apple, Sugar Maple, and Alder.  

SGH

kthacher said:
  Please chime in with your recommendation.

Hickory, Oak, Cherry, Apple, Sugar Maple, and Alder.  

To each their own, but of the ones mentioned above, I like oak, apple and cherry in that order for pork. I would save the alder for fish. The sugar maple I would use to compliment one of the stronger mentioned woods. Some folks love Hickory. I myself do not. It comes down to your own personal tastes. It's hard to go wrong with oak on anything when it's burning clean.  

SGH

I have cooked cornbread and biscuits over straight clean burning oak on the big units with outstanding results. Oak is a near perfect all around good wood. The key is just be sure that it's burning clean. But this is true of all woods. Oak is my very favorite. 

Chubby

Hickory/peach  Hickory/apple
Peach...or Pecan

Really comes down to what you have and what you like!

SGH

Chubby said:

Hickory/peach  Hickory/apple
Peach...or Pecan

He didn't mention having any pecan above. With that said, Pecan is one of my very favorites. More often than not, I use a 50/50 split of oak and pecan on everything.  

blind99

Oak is a safe bet. That said, I'm running with hickory today as I'm serving guests and want a really pronounced smoke flavor. I don't know what the peach part of the recipe is, but it may not stand up to a strong smoke flavor like hickory. I think hickory can get bitter sometimes too. 

kthacher

The peach part is an injection, where the peach syrup from canned peaches is combined with other ingredients and injected.  

biggreenrob

+1 on everything that @SGH mentioned above.  Since Peach is not in the mix of choices, then my vote goes to Oak/Apple.  Good luck.

Ragtop99

I normally use apple with pork.  It's not as strong as some woods so I'll add a little more to ensure lots of smoke.

tarheelmatt

Hickory and apple for me and my peeps. 

Carolina Q

For butts, I use hickory, oak or a combination of both. Only recently have I been using white oak and have about decided I prefer hickory. The oak is pretty mild, hickory has more of a kick!

SteelCitySmoke814

For Pork I typically use all fruit wood.  For me, that's usually Cherry, but have used Apple when I've not paid close enough attention to my Cherry supply...

bboulier

Hickory/apple or hickory/peach or maybe hickory/pecan.  My first exposure to pulled pork was in NC, so hickory was the standard wood.   I am still partial to hickory.   On an Egg, you want to go 1 part hickory and 1 part  apple, peach or pecan.  Do not add too much wood.  Alternatively, you could go 1 part hickory with two parts of the other woods.

johnnyp

SGH said:

I have cooked cornbread and biscuits over straight clean burning oak on the big units with outstanding results. Oak is a near perfect all around good wood. The key is just be sure that it's burning clean. But this is true of all woods. Oak is my very favorite. 

Can we get a zoomed out pic of your rig?

SGH

johnnyp said:

Can we get a zoomed out pic of your rig?

Absolutely my friend. Here is Unit #6. 

SGH

johnnyp said:

Can we get a zoomed out pic of your rig?

I have a bigger and nicer one that I'm going to start posting pics of soon. However you will have to view them on the BBQ Brethern. I have been informed that cooks posted on non approved smokers will be killed quickly. The title on the Brethern will be "Unit #8". I use the same SGH moniker on the Brethern as well. 

hoofaloos

SGH said:

johnnyp said:

Can we get a zoomed out pic of your rig?

I have a bigger and nicer one that I'm going to start posting pics of soon. However you will have to view them on the BBQ Brethern. I have been informed that cooks posted on non approved smokers will be killed quickly. The title on the Brethern will be "Unit #8". I use the same SGH moniker on the Brethern as well. 

Awesome!