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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Wood for Smoking Meats

Alder
The traditional wood for smoking salmon in the Pacific
Northwest, alder also works well with other fish. It has a
light delicate flavor.

Apple and Cherry
Both woods produce a slightly sweet, fruity smoke that's mild
enough for chicken or turkey, but capable of flavoring a ham.

Hickory
Hickory is the king of the woods in the Southern barbeque belt,
as basic to the region's cooking as cornbread. The strong,
hearty taste is perfect for pork shoulder and ribs, but it also
enhances any read meat or poultry.

Maple
Mildly smoky and sweet, maple mates well with poultry, ham,
and vegetables.

Mesquite
The mystique wood of the past decade, mesquite is also America's
most misunderstood wood. It's great for grilling because it
burns very hot, but below average for barbecuing for the same
reason. Also, the smoke taste turns from tangy to bitter over
an extended cooking time. Few serious pit masters use mesquite,
despite a lot of stories about its prevalence in the Southwest.

Oak
If hickory is the king of barbecue woods, oak is the queen.
Assertive but always pleasant, it's the most versatile of
hardwoods, blending well with a wide range of flavors. What it
does to beef is probably against the law in some states.

Pecan
The choice of many professional chefs, pecan burns cool and
offers a subtle richness of character. Some people call it a
mellow version of hickory.

Sassafras
Best for curing sausages & Qing hot dogs. Smoke cures meat
leaving a mild mustard flavor that holds well. And is superb
for the smoke flavoring of cheese by using an oiled sausage
sack that's been hung in your smokehouse during the smoking
of meat. Simply insert the cheese you want smoke flavored,
and hang in a cool spot in your smoke house for up to one
week, depending on the amount of smoke flavor you want your
cheese to own.

In using wood for curing meats, you'll find that by adding
dried herbs, the meat will also absorb the flavor of those
herbs in the slow smoking process, giving your meat its own
special flavor other curing processes won't have.


--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the 
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.