Type of Charcoal and 'Other' for Smoking?

[WoodieSC]

I've got a simple, old charcoal/wood smoker that I've never used. I'm thinking about throwing a venison backstrap in there to give it a go.

What brand/type of charcoal do you use, or wood? And what type of flavoring wood is your favorite?

Any favorite pre-smoking recipes, etc?

[willk]

Pecan, cherry.

[willk]

I used to smoke hams a lot. Break them down to individual muscles, brine/rub/marinate/ whatever then smoke them to 140⁰ish then let cool. Letting it cool, not just rest is important. Slice and snack, throw on a sammich. I may have to kill a deer here soon. Also the eye of round in a venison ham is like a little bonus tenderloin.

[ecu1984]

Pecan, cherry.

What he said for pork
but I will use mesquite on a brisket once in a while, just
to mix it up and I have never had brisket better than I get when in Texas

[centurian]

I use pecan if I can get it or white oak. Cherry has no equal on ducks. No charcoal.

[WoodieSC]

I have some dead wild cherry trees on the property. Is that the same, or do I need to find cherry, pecan or mesquite at somewhere like Tractor Supply?

[willk]

Depends on how dead.

[WoodieSC]

Depends on how dead.

Anywhere from 1-5 years? I’ve got several to choose from, including still alive.

[willk]

Go cut some and split it. See how it looks.

[charlie horse]

Academy has the bags of BNB splits, cherry, apple, pecan, etc.

[trkykilr]

I used to smoke hams a lot. Break them down to individual muscles, brine/rub/marinate/ whatever then smoke them to 140⁰ish then let cool. Letting it cool, not just rest is important. Slice and snack, throw on a sammich. I may have to kill a deer here soon. Also the eye of round in a venison ham is like a little bonus tenderloin.

Come next Friday and shoot a couple. Bring brisket

[centurian]

The wild cherry works fine. You can generally pick up pecan from tree maintenance guys for little of nothing. Got a bunch of apple a while back neighbor cut down 8 apple trees, what a dumb ass.

[JimmyD714]

I've smoked a bunch of wild game on my Weber, and smoked some fish too. For fish I like fruit wood, typically apple and I have to buy it because there isn't a huge availability of wild apple trees to find wood from.

For smoking meats, I've got a big stack of firewood of oak and hickory to use for various fire-requiring tasks. Smoking meats being one of them. I just find the stuff in sections, take it home and split it myself. You don't actually need it in chips or ~3" chunks like you buy at the store.

When smoking wild game a good brine can go a long way. I will usually soak it overnight in a liquid brine of water, salt, a bay leaf, honey, peppercorns, chopped onion. Bring to a boil, let cool, put the meat in, put it in the fridge for 18-24 hours. Rinse off, pat dry, add fresh cracked pepper all over it, send it to the smoke. Every time I kill a turkey I do one of the breasts this way and it comes out great. I've also done deer, Snow and Canada goose, even squirrels.

For charcoal I only use hardwood lump coal, not the formed briquette style. Once I've burned down some of those I'll take a few thinner pieces of split wood and place them on top of the coals in my grill. Let them burn down really well then place a larger piece of split firewood on top of that. Right after that, meat goes on, grill cover goes on. The heat from the coals will smoke the big chunk of wood but it won't catch on fire with the grill covered.

[barrineau]

i am going to attempt smoking a whole turkey for the first time, along with the usual fried turkey

[willk]

Smoked turkey > fried turkey > roasted turkey

[SaltMuck]

I’ve got a BGE and a Traeger. I don’t think it really matters on the pellet grill, but I don’t really care for anything, especially chicken off of it anyways. On the BGE, I shoot for the biggest lump I can find. Started back making my own this year, made an oak run and a cherry run so far. I like them both.

[charlie horse]

I do smoked and fried turkeys each year, i end up making turkey stew with the smoked one, the fried one gets gone.

[MS31]

If you want the best lump charcoal - buy a bag of the FOGO I have in trading post.

[Kioti]

Academy has the bags of BNB splits, cherry, apple, pecan, etc.

That's what I usuall buy and they do OK but that stuff always seems real dry I guess from being kiln dried.I've thought about trying to get ahold of some fresher local stuff or just buying from one of those online vendors.

[centurian]

That's what I usuall buy and they do OK but that stuff always seems real dry I guess from being kiln dried.I've thought about trying to get ahold of some fresher local stuff or just buying from one of those online vendors.

I usually just ride by the wood mans place and see what he has. Pecan, white oak, and maple are common and all work well. Stay away from red oak for smoke as it is strong and will soot your meat.