What to smoke with pecan wood?

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a neighbor a bag of applewood chunks. A few days later, he tossed a bag of pecan wood chunks over my fence. I had never used pecan wood before. I used a couple of pieces to smoke some chicken legs which were very tasty, but I thought the smoke flavor was a bit subtle (the leftovers did make a delicious smoked chicken salad). Anybody have any ideas for things that might go well with pecan smoke? GWiv's Sunday breakfast pix have me thinking about salmon.

In the lumber trade, pecan and hickory are pretty much interchangeable. I would guess they smoke about the same but have no appropriate experience.

I use pecan, oak, and apple since those are the most commonly-available hardwoods around here. Where I used to live, I could get cherry, plum, apricot, alder, hickory, etc. So I've been using lots of different woods throughout the years and used to accept the conventional wisdom that different woods were better matched to different meats. You know, after all this time I've come to the conclusion that most people, including myself, can't really taste the difference. Often, the perceived "strength" of the smoke flavor has more to do with the how well the wood is seasoned and - this I have found to be the very most important factor - how expertly the fire is managed. I did a blind taste of salmon using alder and oak and no one could tell the difference. Yes, some woods like mesquite can definitely add an acrid flavor, and cherry can give chicken and fish a darker coloring. I just use whatever is available and well-seasoned.

Thanks, Bill. The pecan definitely smells different than hickory when burning, but I am not sure I could tell the difference in the end product. Sometime, I would like to try your Red Alder vs Oak test on my Uncle. He is in his 70s and lives on Vancouver Island. He has been catching and smoking Salmon for most of his life. If anyone can tell the difference, it would be him. BTW, he usually uses a cardboard box as a smoker (take that Weber), although for big loads he uses an old refrigerator he modified.

Dave,

I will guess your Uncle is cold smoking, which is quite different from the WSM's smoke cooking.

Regards,

I used sycamore a few times. It has a *really* distinctive, oily flavor that I'm ambiguous about: some days I like it, some days I don't.

But I'm with Bill, I can't tell much of a difference, whether (to take C2's point) cold or hot smoked, in various woods. Probably that says more about my sensory limitations than it does about the differences in the woods!

Hey, Happy Grilling tomorrow all you Yanks celebrating Memorial Day's official start to Summer!

Geo

I've found it has a much lighter smoke flavor than hickory or oak and is a little lighter than cherry or apple. You'll always get more smoke flavor in a food by smoking it for a longer period of time - i.e. salmon grilled over wood for 5-10 minutes will never get the same smokey flavor as ribs done for 4-6 hours or brisket done for 12-16. I've only been able to get pecan chunks or chips (not logs) and so I generally use it for direct and indirect grilling, not for long smokes.

I've found it works well for foods I only want to add a little smoke flavor to - usually lighter chicken, fish, and shellfish recipes.

I made some chicken tonight on my Weber kettle (didn't plan ahead sufficiently to enable me to use my WSM). On the second half of the cook, I threw on some hickory nut shells I bought in Madison last summer -- the shells lent a soft, hickory-ish flavor that I thought worked quite well with this mild meat. With pork ribs or shoulder, I'd go with the wood chunks, but for chick (and or other lightweight protein like fish), the nut shells were kind of nice.

I can def. tell the difference with some woods. Applewood, for instance, really does do something different to my tastebuds than hickory or mesquite (and I do like mesquite). But I haven't tried applewood on ribs, only on chicken, turkey, fish. I have not had pecan, almond, etc.

d4v3 wrote:Anybody have any ideas for things that might go well with pecan smoke? GWiv's Sunday breakfast pix have me thinking about salmon.

Dave,

I view pecan wood as hickory lite, not quite as strong and a little 'sweeter' smoke flavor. I've been playing with pecan a bit, Colleen brought a bag up from her last trip to pecan territory. In general I've been using pecan for shorter cooks, 'lighter' meats and slightly higher temperatures. For example, chicken pieces, sausage, vegetables or fish on a Weber kettle indirect.

I'd also agree with Bill SF/NM in that unless you have a clean burning fire nuance of smoke flavor is basically a moot point. I've also found, as a general rule, the shorter the cook the easier it is to differentiate smoke flavor at the table.

Enjoy,
Gary

leek wrote:I can def. tell the difference with some woods. Applewood, for instance, really does do something different to my tastebuds than hickory or mesquite (and I do like mesquite). But I haven't tried applewood on ribs, only on chicken, turkey, fish. I have not had pecan, almond, etc.

I can definitely tell a difference too. Applewood is great for ribs, I primarily use a mix of Applewood and Cherry for ribs (or any pork really).

A clean burning fire is really important too, otherwise the main taste will be a bit like creosote no matter what wood you use.

G Wiv wrote:I view pecan wood as hickory lite, not quite as strong and a little 'sweeter' smoke flavor.

"Hickory lite" is exactly what I called it, but it does have a distinctive odor when smoking.

G Wiv wrote:I'd also agree with Bill SF/NM in that unless you have a clean burning fire nuance of smoke flavor is basically a moot point.

Thanks to your expert tutelage, my fires now burn clean. (which one is the ass-kissing smiley )

G Wiv wrote:I've also found, as a general rule, the shorter the cook the easier it is to differentiate smoke flavor at the table.

Now that is an interesting observation. One would think it was the other way around. Are you saying that the smoke from different types of wood all starts tasting the same when applied in greater quantities?