Different woods produce different smoke. That smoke tastes different. And that difference ends up in your food.
If you’re cold smoking for 12 hours (like we do), the wood choice matters even more. You’re not cooking with heat, you’re flavouring with smoke. The wood is an ingredient. What works with oak may not be pleasant with beech, for example.
Common Woods for Smoking
In the UK, the most common woods you’ll find for smoking include:
- Alder
- Apple
- Beech
- Cherry
- Oak
Other varieties are also available, such as those more commonly associated with American barbeque, like mesquite, hickory and maple (I’ve got a bag of that- so we’ll talk about it below), and other fruit woods, such as pear, lemon and orange (I’ve seen orange wood chips, but not dust- the search continues) but they aren’t often used to cold smoke foods. Pimento wood is used in traditional Jamaican jerk cooking, but I’ve not seen that mentioned in cold smoking conversations either, so that isn’t getting covered here.
Apple
Flavour: Sweet, mild, slightly fruity
Smoke character: Light and clean
Best for: Everything, honestly
Apple wood is our go-to at Sussex Smokehouse. It’s versatile, forgiving, and produces a smoke that’s complex without being aggressive.
Works brilliantly with:
Nuts and seeds (our specialty)
Pork and poultry
Fish (especially trout and salmon)
Cheese
Salt and seasonings
Apple is a safe bet. It’s hard to overdo it, and it complements rather than dominates. If you’re new to smoking, start here.
Oak
Flavour: Strong, earthy, traditional
Smoke character: Heavy and assertive
Best for: Red meat, game, robust flavours
Oak is the classic British smoking wood. It’s what gives traditional smoked foods that deep, unmistakable smokiness. On its own, oak can be overpowering for delicate foods. But blended with something milder (like apple), it adds depth and backbone.
Works brilliantly with:
Beef (especially brisket)
Game (venison, wild boar)
Hard cheeses
Anything that can stand up to strong flavour
We use oak blended with apple to get the best of both – sweetness from the apple, depth from the oak.
Cherry
Flavour: Sweet, slightly tart, fruity
Smoke character: Medium, with a hint of richness
Best for: Poultry, pork, duck
Cherry wood produces a beautiful reddish tint on smoked meats and a flavour that’s sweet but not cloying. It’s fruitier than apple but less heavy than oak.
Works brilliantly with:
Chicken and turkey
Pork (especially ribs)
Duck
Mild fish
Vegetables
Cherry is excellent for cold smoking if you want something a bit more distinctive than apple but not as heavy as oak.
Beech
Flavour: Mild, slightly nutty, clean
Smoke character: Light to medium, neutral
Best for: Fish, seafood, cheese
Beech is a staple in European smoking traditions, particularly for fish. It’s subtle, clean, and doesn’t overpower delicate flavours.
Works brilliantly with:
Fish (especially white fish, mackerel, kippers)
Seafood
Cheese (especially soft cheeses)
Poultry
Vegetables
Beech is understated. If you want smoke presence without strong flavour, this is it.
Alder
Flavour: Delicate, slightly sweet, light
Smoke character: Very mild
Best for: Fish, especially salmon
Alder is the traditional wood for smoking salmon in the Pacific Northwest of the US, and it’s excellent for any delicate fish. The smoke is light but rich enough to balance with the natural flavour of the fish.
Works brilliantly with:
Salmon (hot or cold smoked)
Trout
Other delicate fish
Seafood- prawns would work well
Chicken
Game birds (like partridge)
If beech is subtle, alder is barely there. Use it when you want a whisper of smoke, not a shout.
Maple
Flavour: Sweet, mild, slightly caramel-like
Smoke character: Light to medium, smooth
Best for: Poultry, pork, vegetables – APPARENTLY
Maple is popular in North America. Apparently for good reason – according to the descriptions I’ve found online it’s sweet, mellow, and allegedly works with (almost) everything. It’s similar to apple but with a hint of sweetness that borders on caramel. I’m yet to use it myself, but that description is rather tantalising so it’s a matter of time before I do.
Works brilliantly with:
Poultry (chicken, turkey)
Pork
Root vegetables
Cheese
Nuts (we are experimenting with this at Sussex Smokehouse NOW)
Maple looks to be an interesting alternative to apple. We shall see.
Avoid Soft and Treated Woods
High resin content produces acrid, bitter smoke. It’s also potentially harmful to your health if inhaled. The food won’t taste good either. Just don’t.
Treated or painted wood should also be avoided. Do I have to explain why? You realise that ‘treated’ doesn’t mean taken out for ice cream, right?
Some woods are toxic when burned too. Use your head- if you don’t know what it is, don’t burn it.
Freshly cut wood is no good either. It needs to dry out (season) for at least six months, ideally a year.
Now, other folk would move on to tell you how to source and season the finest woods for smoking. I’m not going to do that.
Our time on this planet is limited and there are better ways for us to spend our time. Fire up your laptop or phone, slap a sensibly worded phrase into your search engine of choice and you’ll find wood for smoking.
What we’re watching: Finally getting round to seeing Weapons (2024).
What we’re listening to: Trapper Keeper by 88 Ultra (one of the fellas from Blue Sky Black Death)
