I compared applewood to hickory on my last brisket cook and hickory just won hands down

I smoked two briskets side by side last Sunday using different woods in my offset smoker. The hickory gave this deep, bacon like flavor that penetrated all the way through the meat. The applewood brisket tasted more mild and kinda sweet, almost like it was missing something. I used about 5 big chunks of each wood and kept the temp steady at 250 for 9 hours. By the time they hit the stall, I could already tell the hickory one had way better color on the bark. My buddy Tom who eats brisket like every week said the hickory one was night and day better. Has anyone else had a similar experience testing wood types on the same cut of meat?

3 comments

3 Comments

karenh567d ago

Did you wrap them differently too or keep it the same? Because I had a similar thing happen with pork ribs last month, except I used cherry and mesquite, and the cherry one actually came out better for whatever reason. @nancyn69 I think your theory about hickory living in his head is funny, but honestly once you taste that bacon flavor it's hard to go back to anything else. My neighbor swears by pecan for everything now, says it's the perfect middle ground, but I told him he's just scared of committing to a wood. That brisket color thing you noticed is real too, hickory just gives this dark crust that apple can't match no matter how long you cook it.

nancyn697d ago

Sounds like Hickory is living rent free in your head now. Your buddy Tom must be the official taste tester for all your cooks.

the_jake5d ago

My grocery store started carrying chunks of peach wood last month and I tried it on a pork shoulder, 8 pounds, 6 hours at 275. That smoke ring was almost pink, way lighter than hickory, but the sweetness hit different when I pulled it apart. Nobody talks about how fruit woods change the bark texture too - hickory gets that crunchy almost brittle layer while peach stayed kind of tacky and soft. Tom would probably hate it since he douses everything in sauce anyway.