Influential wood flavoring

[Shmokan]

Ok this may be a stupid question but because I'm a newbie I can get away with it. If one used mostly a more dominant wood (say hickory) in his or her smoker, Then switched to a lighter wood (apple) for a more delicate food such as fish or cheese. How much influence (if any) would the "seasoned" smoke have on the food being smoked ?

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[gregbooras]

If I understand your question, your first smoke without food was with hickory. On future smokes you would like to use a wood like apple or cherry.

Heck most of us change the kind of wood we smoke with and even mix woods, so I would not believe that your seasoned smoke would make any difference. I am sure others will also chime in.

Welcome Greg

[Shmokan]

No, If one smoked for example a year with hickory then decided to (once?) use apple, how much if any influence would the hickory have.

[gregbooras]

Unless you cleaned your smoker you would have the hickory residue, but it really should not impact the flavor of future smokes. Other wise every time you mixed woods it would also be a concern.

Just my 2 cents!

Greg

[swthorpe]

I would think very little influence.  When you use apple, only the apple wood would be producing smoke.   The sides of the box where I guess some hickory smoke residue would be found should not have an effect on the meat.

[gregbooras]

Here is a some info I found on another site, from my take, keep your grates clean and once in a while clean the inside of the smoker!

Keep your cooker clean. Sticky grease on your cooking grates can create black smoke and drip on the food. Grease smoke is not good smoke. Click here for more on cleaning your cooking grates. The black stuff on the walls probably has a lot of condensed creosote in it. A thin layer of neutral carbon is harmless, but black sticky goo is not. Many competition pitmasters power wash after a cookoff.

Greg

[SuperDave]

Seasoning like a pan or a wok presumes that everything cooked in it adds to the flavor of thinks cooked in that vessel.  Smoking in a well used smoker gets flavors from meat fats, smoke and other residues on the smoker walls.  Do I think it is measureable, no. 

[DivotMaker]

I agree that, if you clean your shelves between smokes, the "seasoned" smoke residue on the sides, top and door, will have no effect on the taste of your meat.  The inside of my smoker is pretty built-up, but my shelves are clean.  That's what contacts the meat - not the sidewalls.  With a clean shelf, the only influence on the taste will be a) your prep work on the meat, and b) the current wood you are using.  Different woods have a distinct flavor profile, and the vessel does not effect that. 

I will also add that wood smoke flavor is definitely very subjective.  You need to learn what suits you, through experimentation.  For example, I love hickory on just about everything, because that's what I grew up with in my area.  Hickory smells like BBQ, to me.  But, I also love cherry, mesquite, and several other woods.  Apple?  Hate it.  Not sure why, but apple wood smoke flavor is very unappealing to me.  Lots of folks love it, though.  See what I mean?  Some think hickory is "way to strong," but I don't. 

Bottom line - use the woods that you like, clean your shelves, and don't worry about the other woods that have seasoned your smoker. 

[Shmokan]

Thanks for your input guys, Pretty much what I figured if it had any influence at all it would not be enough to taste it. Which brings me to the next question. Has anybody mixed and matched type of wood (like some sweet maple with a touch of hickory).

[Barrel99]

Mix and match anything. Hickory and mesquite are very strong woods. You can cut it with a fruit wood like I do most of the time.

[jbauch357]

One thing which can impact the flavor of future smoke is if you leave the burnt drippings in the smoker after a particularly strong flavored meat smoke.  When we did deer one night and pork the next, you could taste deer in the pork.  Soon as I re-wrapped the firebox lid and bottom of the smoker with fresh foil the deer smell/flavor was gone.

[SuperDave]

Thanks for your input guys, Pretty much what I figured if it had any influence at all it would not be enough to taste it. Which brings me to the next question. Has anybody mixed and matched type of wood (like some sweet maple with a touch of hickory).

This is the only way to roll, IMO.

[DivotMaker]

I love mixing!  Hickory & cherry are two of my favorites, but I've also mixed oak & peach, oak and cherry, hickory and peach, ...anything's fair game for a try!  Be creative, and find what works best for you!

[mizzoufan]

I'm a fan of pecan and a fruitwood (currently only have apple, but that will change) for pork.  Since my first brisket was done with a shoulder, I haven't tried the mesquite on beef, but it's in the works.

On a side note to those that have done prime rib in the SIs...is mesquite too strong for a prime rib where you wouldn't want a lot of seasoning or too much smoke?

[SuperDave]

On a side note to those that have done prime rib in the SIs...is mesquite too strong for a prime rib where you wouldn't want a lot of seasoning or too much smoke?

It was for me.  A little fruitwood and some hickory or even a little oak for beef is my preference.