When smoked over the correct wood chips, chicken on the grill looks gorgeous. It’s the greatest method for enhancing the flavor of your smoked meat. Your poultry can gain a whole new level of flavor from the addition of applewood, pecan, and hickory. In our guide to the Best Wood For Smoking Chicken, you’ll learn which ones to use and when.
Without including chicken, no list of the best meats to smoke would be complete. You can smoke a wide range of different chicken traditional parts, from gorgeous smoked chicken thighs to delectable BBQ quarters. Different portions of the chicken have different fat contents, meat densities, and compositions. This implies that from cut to cut, different types of wood will complement them.
Chickenqa.com outline the ideal parts of the chicken to smoke with each of the recommended Best Wood For Smoking Chicken in this guide. Therefore, let’s begin. Generally speaking, many individuals choose to pair sweeter woods with fruit trees, such as maple, cherry, or applewood. So what better place to start than with one of the Best Wood For Smoking Chicken in the BBQ community?
The 6 Best Wood For Smoking Chicken
1. Applewood
One of the most popular types of Best Wood For Smoking Chicken in this list, and for good reason. Applewood has a flavor that is slightly mellower than certain other fruit-based smoking woods (such as cherry, maple, and pecan). It is gently sweet and fruity. Although pitmasters who prefer something stronger may find its delicate flavor too delicate, its delicate flavor profile makes it ideal for pairing with a nice chicken BBQ spice.
2. Maplewood
You’d be excused for thinking that “maple” and “pork” go together, so you could assume that the taste of maple wood is heavy or sickly. I’m happy to report that this isn’t the case and that it goes well with smoked chicken.
BBQ enthusiasts who like something more robust and sweet than applewood but don’t need or desire something nearly as rich or heavy as pecan or cherry frequently choose maple. It gives the chicken a delicate, sweet aroma that doesn’t dominate the meat’s natural flavors.
3. Cherrywood
The sweetness that cherry delivers is comparable to that of the other fruit woods on this list, but what really makes cherry stand out from the competition is the stunning color that it gives your chicken. Cooking your chicken over cherrywood for a few hours will give it a gorgeous rich crimson color. Cherry tastes great when combined with denser, heavier hardwoods. To assist add a hint of extra smokiness, try blending it with a tiny amount of hickory.
4. Pecan
Pecan is the Best Wood For Smoking Chicken if you prefer a somewhat deeper flavor. Not only does it have a robust flavor, but it also has distinct nutty scents that are hidden behind its sweet flavor. Turkey is popular, but in my opinion, wood is just as wonderful as chicken.
- Warning: To give it a little more of an earthy feel, combine a lot of fruit woods with a little hickory or oak. I advise against doing this with pecan. It doesn’t really need it because its flavor is considerably more noticeable than that of any other fruit wood. If you combine it with a strong substance, like hickory, the meat could taste bad.
5. Hickory
If sweetness isn’t your cup of tea, an old-fashioned wood will do. Hickory has long been regarded as one of the Best Wood For Smoking Chicken in the world. It has a nutty flavor that complements a wide variety of meats, and chicken is no exception.
Hickory is readily available and a fantastic first wood to use if you’re new to smoking barbeque. It might not be as powerful as other earthy woods like Mesquite, but if you use too much, it can still be overwhelming. This can result in your chicken having a layer of bitter smoke caked on it. Not at all.
If this is your first time using Hickory for smoking, I would err on the side of caution and use no more than one or two chunks at first. Simply add a bit more flavor the next time if you undershoot the desired level.
6. Peachwood
Peachwood is another delicious and delicate alternative. Peach is a refreshing flavor that will elevate your chicken to new heights. The trick to working with peachwood is to use fresh peachwood chips. Using older peachwood chips won’t make your chicken taste better because they quickly lose flavor.
Conclusion:
You should now be able to see that there is no one Best Wood For Smoking Chicken. It depends on the sort of smoker or grill you’re using as well as your personal taste in flavors. Consult our free printable wood smoking cheat sheet when you’re in a jam. You’ll be able to make an informed choice more quickly and start smoking sooner! Don’t be scared to experiment with other flavors and change up your recipe; any of the smoking woods we mentioned today would go perfectly with chicken meat!
