Where to find wood for smoker

Purviance's personal favorites to smoke with are hickory and oak. Finally, there's the strongest wood of all, and it's in a category all its own: mesquite.

Which leads to the biggest mistake most people make: over-smoking their food. Though smokiness can lend a diabolic richness to food that can transform a decent hunk of flesh into a transcendent repast, too many grillers have forgotten that when it comes down to it, their guests want to eat meat, not smoke.

Otherwise, you risk overdoing it. People also tend to forget that smoking isn't just about adding flavor, it's also about adding an appealing hue to the meal. Hickory and oak are so popular partially because they lend a "really rich, dark, mahogany color" to meats.

And for the truly advanced, there's nothing wrong with a little mix-and-match. If you're willing to experiment, try simultaneously using different woods of various strengths. Also, where you purchase your meat can tell you a lot about the meat. To split the brisket into the point and flat, all it takes is a sharp knife and a little practice. How to Pick the Best Smoking Wood. Facebook Pinterest Instagram Print.

Show Photos: On. Step 1 Of Wood Types. Apple — Mild and fruity, apple wood complements pork well. However, it can overwhelm poultry if smoked for too long. Cherry — Sweet and fruity, the flavor of this wood blends best when smoked with hardwood-flavors, like oak. Both give me blow downs and limb trimmings for free. BIL had a huge red oak die this summer and I'm in the process of working on getting that cut up now.

I will chunk up a straight grained section for smoking when needed. I'm out of white oak which has a milder flavor so I'm looking for a local freebie of white oak right now. I've will also use Western brand chunks from the various local big box stores when I'm out of any of the above, I've used whiskey barrel stave pieces also love those, but they are expensive. If you don't have the time, equipment or knowledge to cut your own trees and process them into firewood or chunks, you might talk to a local arborist or tree removal service.

If all you want is a log or two to split up and cut into chunks for smoking, they may just give you some. If not, I'm sure they will sell you any quantity you want for a reasonable price. It will probably be green and need to dry for at least 6 months before use in food smoking though. That is how a lot of the local BBQ joints get their smoke wood around here. Also our local landfill accepts logs and trimmings for free.

They usually set the logs and bigger limb portions off to one side as they are available for anyone to take and split up for free also. Might call your local landfill, especially if government run, as they love to see stuff used. Before I owned my own equipment, I used to get logs there and split them up for free firewood.

Last edited: Nov 25, Yeah I've got the word out to some people that I'm looking for some fruit woods as well as nut trees etc. Tree Services are a good place to ask. I have two companies that know i will take any hardwoods, and they just dump it in driveway. I cut out the glue joints and burn a chunk on the propane grill just to make sure it smells ok untreated.

I get lots of alder that way which is hard to come by here in Utah and my favorite for fish Good Luck! Never though of cabinet companies. Good advise. Recently i found a source of charbroil wood chunks, they were massive chunks and i cut them up to maybe six or eight smaller pieces, I was limited to apple wood or mesquite, they also have some whiskey barrel and tabasco chips, The chunks were awesome, i started a small fire in the corner of my smoker then stacked the smaller chunks on top and along the front of my firepan, four chunks lasted me eight hours that way, my smoker is a simple setup, 6 feet tall, witha door that has a four inch opening at the bottom for a firepan.

As for the whiskey barrel and tabasco chips, i used the tabasco chips yesterday to smoke some ribs at high heat. Anyway, am sure the others advice is better to suit your needs, i just thought i would share my experience. Well I called around to a bunch of tree companies and they all said they don't give away any wood.

What the heck?? They all wanted to charge me by the log. I really hate all the douche bags in this state.