Smoking meats on a grill infuses them with great flavours and adds variety to your barbecue menu. The following guidelines provide basic information on smoking meats, but don't be afraid to experiment with different woods.
The most popular meat-smoking woods are hickory and mesquite. Hickory has a strong bacon flavour and is good for smoking all cuts of pork. Mesquite wood imparts a sweeter flavour than hickory and is a great complement to most cuts of meat, especially lamb and beef.
Fruit tree woods tend to be slightly mild and can be used with most cuts of meat. The most popular fruit wood used for smoking is apple, followed by cherry. Others include apricot, blackberry, grapefruit, lemon, mulberry, nectarine, orange, peach, pear and plum.
Nut trees are also very popular smoking woods. Some people include the nut shells with the wood to enrich the smoky taste. Pecan wood is widely used for its adaptability to most meats, but it is especially good for beef brisket and poultry. Almond wood is very similar to pecan and can be used to smoke most meats and poultry. Walnut is the strongest of the nut tree woods and is often combined with fruit tree wood to soften its intense smoky taste.
Oak is a popular wood for smoking meats because it creates a beautiful colour, can be used with most meats and doesn't leave any aftertaste. Maple has a sweeter taste than oak and is great for smoking poultry, game birds, pork and salmon.
Don't use wood from evergreen, elm, sycamore, cypress, sweet gum or elderberry trees. Never use scraps of lumber, either, because you can't be sure of the type and don't know if the wood has been treated with chemicals. In the same vein, don't use stained or painted wood, furniture scraps or old pallet wood. These types of wood have probably been treated with chemicals that can be dangerous, and you don't want the fumes to be infused into your meats. Also, never burn any wood covered in mould or use very porous wood like balsa, which is inclined to rot.
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