Read some other posts about what type of wood to use, so thought I would start this thread.

Mesquite, strongest smoke, but will burn the hottest, next comes Hickory. Before you say mesquite is not the strongest smoke, note that mesquite burns the hottest, more fire = less smoke, so mesquite may smoke less, but that is only because it burns hot, but what smoke is produced is very strong. That is why mesquite is good for steaks, it burns hot, but most importantly, because it is over open flame, there is little smoke, so with little smoke, you need strong smoke, that is mesquite.

When smoking with mesquite, and to a lesser extent hickory, you do have to worry about over smoking because the smoke is so strong, this is mainly on poultry and fish.

So smoking brisket, mesquite is best imo. Why? 1) it is hard to over smoke a brisket, and 2) mesquite burns the hottest, so just more energy for the buck. Brisket is really hard to screw up on a smoker.

Pecan is absolutely my favorite wood!! JMO, the best all-around wood, much milder than mesquite and hickory, hard to over smoke, the best for chicken, and excellent with pork, and I even use for steaks over open fire. I just like the pecan smoke flavor as well. But if I’m doing steaks over open fire or brisket in a smoker, I go with mesquite if given a choice, but pecan will getter done as well.

Apple/Cheery wood are your most mild wood, most suited for fish, but also good for pork. This wood is just kinda expensive and hard to find, but I recently smoked a salmon with cherry wood and it was nice.

I’m sure many may not agree with what I posted, lets here what you think! We never had a good debate in the cooking forum.