Click the link below to download a printable pdf.
People tend to over-worry this. For the most part, you're not going to ruin a cook with your wood choice. There are a few basic guidelines. But for the most part, it's simply a matter of personal taste. It's often based largely on what part of the country (or world) you were in as you were developing your taste preferences. And for everyone who loves a certain combination, there's somebody else who doesn't.
As an example. I'm from Texas, and I wouldn't normally pair apple wood with beef. But in the midwest and northeast, it's more common.
For quite some time I've promised people a pairing chart. But whenever I sat down to work on it, I could always come up with arguments for what I was putting in which boxes...
So I finally decided that the whole thing was more a conversation of "range" than one of a "grid." So I finally settled on the image shown here.
As mentioned initially, It's not an absolute rulebook. But I am confident that it's close enough to keep people out of trouble ; )
Happy Smoking! - W
Comments