I use apple for salmon and bacon. I find it milder than hickory. I like cherry for my duck, just a little stronger. BBQ calls for hickory.
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A former boss of mine gave me this bottle of wine 10 - 12 years ago. I pulled the cork this evening with classic steak bearnaise.
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If you're getting it for free, like my brother used to, you might as well give it a go. I stay away from mesquite. Mesquite is great for grilling but the flavor is overpowering for smoking. Its very strong. Pear is also great when you want an even milder smoke flavor. Its one of the lighter ones. In Germany, they use something that is very intense with a creosote aroma. I'm not sure if its alder or what but damn its strong.
OCDshaver that steak looks real tasty. Perfect doneness! I use hickory chips quite often although their not true ozark chips but a couple hours north is where I live.
Tonight is nothin special need to use up some sketty sauce before it goes bad in the fridge.
I'm with you with mesquite as I was at a friends for a BBQ and even with the beef it wasn't a pleasant taste for this Yankee/must be a Southern Thing.
Alder (in my experience) isn't a strong tasting smoke. In fact the NW First Nations used it for smoking salmon. My dad said that his father used Alder for smoking the dry cured hams, bacons and sausages (they were dry cured and cold smoked)
I really need to go out to our old homestead and take some pics of the smoke house/I may just do that tomorrow.
Here is a short but good read on what is probably one of my all time favorite dishes. I make this often and suggest you do too. My method of making it is different but I'm sure this one will suffice in a pinch.
https://food52.com/blog/19847-a-trad...ign=La_Baleine
Maybe the Walla Walla tribes used alder, but here on the coast the go to wood for smoking was Vine Maple. That was the wood that all the old Native Americans I knew used. Exclusively. And so it's what I use. Exclusively. As a wood with which to fire the smoke house, the stuff is elegant. I just went out and cut a load of it. Because of the way it grows, loggers hate the stuff so finding an enormous supply is never a difficult proposition. Vine Maple......for a wood with which to cure various flesh, it's incomparable