Beech Wood Substitute

[Evelein]

Hello, I'm new to the forum, but have been smoking stuff off and on for a number of years. I have a Bradley smoker.

Does anyone know what would be a good substitute for beech wood, since Bradley doesn't appear to make beech wood pucks? European beech wood is used to smoke Wesphalian ham and I'm trying to make something close to this ham. The recipe appears to be a secret in Germany. I will probably use one of the Bradley brand woods as a substitute. Wikipedia says, when beech wood is used in making barrels, it has a "tone between those of maple and birch". I'm not sure what that means. If nothing else, I'll start with maple or apple.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Evelein;

Welcome to the forum.

I would say maple is a very good choice. Or a combination of maple and pecan - such as for every 2 maple use 1 pecan.

[Evelein]

Super, Thank you. I guess I wasn't too far off the mark.

[Gafala]

If you really want to use Beach Wood then get your self a pellet smoker attachment, and use this link for the pellets.     


  https://www.bbqland.co.uk/1kg-beech-bbq-wood-pellets.html

[Edward176]

Welcome to the forum Evelein. I've been using Alder wood in place of Beech wood from my grandfathers recipes, seems to work well and he used it a lot on meats that he smoked.

[Evelein]

Belated thanks to those who replied. I was away for a month and now I'm smoking with the maple pecan combination suggested, and will try the alder wood next time around.

[Habanero Smoker]

Please let us know how each turned out.

[Evelein]

I did the maple and pecan this afternoon on pork tenderloin that was first dry cured with a salt pepper mix for 2 weeks. Smoked for about 4 hours and wow, really good. The salt was just right. The recipe used a quantity of salt related to the weight of the meat and that worked out really well. Not too salty. I don't know how I would improve it, other than to get the largest tenderloins I can get for more meat. I will try the alder next, because I want to compare.

[firedupbbq]

Hello, I'm new to the forum, but have been smoking stuff off and on for a number of years. I have a Bradley smoker.

Does anyone know what would be a good substitute for beech wood, since Bradley doesn't appear to make beech wood pucks? European beech wood is used to smoke Wesphalian ham and I'm trying to make something close to this ham. The recipe appears to be a secret in Germany. I will probably use one of the Bradley brand woods as a substitute. Wikipedia says, when beech wood is used in making barrels, it has a "tone between those of maple and birch". I'm not sure what that means. If nothing else, I'll start with maple or apple.

I just have bought bbq smokers for my family and honestly its pretty cool.

[badgerlanco]

I did the maple and pecan this afternoon on pork tenderloin that was first dry cured with a salt pepper mix for 2 weeks. Smoked for about 4 hours and wow, really good. The salt was just right. The recipe used a quantity of salt related to the weight of the meat and that worked out really well. Not too salty. I don't know how I would improve it, other than to get the largest tenderloins I can get for more meat. I will try the alder next, because I want to compare.

That sounds amazing! The maple and pecan on pork tenderloin must have been delicious, especially after a 2-week dry cure with that perfect salt and pepper mix. Smoking it for four hours sounds like it gave it a great flavor. It's great to hear that the saltiness was spot on, thanks to the weight-based salt measurement. I agree, getting larger tenderloins would definitely give you more meat to enjoy. Comparing it with alder next sounds like a fantastic idea—let us know how it turns out!

level devil

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi badgerlanco,

Welcome to the forum.