Best wood for ribs???

I like to use mesquite chunks on anything I smoke on the Weber. I will mix that with cherry sometimes when doing ribs.

Omar

Cherry

I like peach and pecan if I don't wrap. If I do wrap, hickory is my go to

I use whatever I get for free, right now I have a pile of cherry, which I mix with picked up maple and hickory sticks. I've sometimes just gone to the fire wood pile and picked out a piece of any hardwood. Frankly, I don't find any real difference in the finished product.

I use hickory for everything but fish, then its alder

I might try a fruit wood someday, but so far I've been happy with hickory

I like pecan and unwrapped all the way. Hickory as well.

That said we have apple trees and free wood is always best

For the ultra smoke experience try walnut and unwrapped all the way.

Mesquite

I like pecan and oak for everything but with ribs add a little cherry. Like the color it gives the ribs.

Another vote for straight pecan here. You can throw some oak if you want.

Better get to some experimenting. It's the only way to find what you like. Plus you get to eat all your test subject.

I agree with the general consensus...given the options you've mentioned, I'd go with cherry. My FAVORITE way to cook ribs, though, is over a mixture of pecan and apple.

I agree with CGH in that if I could "only" have one wood, I'd go with oak - BUT, it's fun to experiment with different flavors and wood selections.

Pork loves fruit woods, so try the cherry you've got in combination with some oak or pecan, or branch out and try some peach, apricot, apple, or plum wood - all awesome with pork, and all combine well with oak or hickory.

As mentioned numerous times before, the most important factor in cooking good ribs isn't WHICH wood you use, but HOW you use it. As long as you've got a clean-burning, cool, blue smoke, you're probably going to enjoy what comes out of your cooker.

Good luck with your rib cook!

Neil "Big Mista" uses Almond at his restaurant and had such a great following that he was recently featured on The Travel Channel for his GREAT BBQ.....

Considering what you have available they are both great...

Oak pecan or a mix of the two,and a little hickory for ham and bacon.

Im still a newb at this so I've limited experience with different woods. I've used mostly apple but recently tried hickory and find I really enjoy ribs with hickory smoke flavor. I'd love to try cherry an pecan. Need to find a place to get oak.

Decoy205 said:

Need to find a place to get oak.

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Check out your local "big box" outdoor retailer (Cabela's, Bass Pro, etc.) Most of them carry pre-bagged chunks - usually the "Western" Brand - of Oak, Hickory, Mesquite, and Apple. A lot of the bigger ones even carry chunks of Peach, Cherry, and Pecan, too! I even found a ten-pound bag of Jack Daniels Barrel Chunks on my last outing to Cabelas.

Both Lowes and Wal-Mart in this area also carry bags of Western brand wood chunks, though they appear to be largely spring/summer seasonal items and as such, are getting harder to spot nowadays.

Some "purists" might argue that Western pre-bagged isn't the best quality stuff, but there are plenty of us brethren that use/have used it with good results. And at $8-10/bag, it makes sense to go with this stuff as a "trial" to see if you like it. You can always plop down more money for the "premium" wood once you know you enjoy the wood flavor and cooking with it.

If you're not lucky enough to have access to a big-box store that sells wood chunks, check out the above-mentioned stores' websites online, or check out two of my favorite online wood retailers - Fruita Wood and Northwoods Smoke of Minnesota. Great folks at both, and a quick Google search will lead you right to them.

Cherry and some hickory go well.