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I’ve always loved grilling. A few years ago, I received a smoker as a gift, which ignited a NEW passion. Creating delicious recipes with my favorite seasonings, marinades, and sauces, then adding layers of flavor by choosing different woods and wood blends to smoke with has proven to be a labor of love.
Through my many trials, I’ve discovered that some wood flavors lend themselves better to certain foods than others. Other woods are best for fish or veggies. But the best smoking wood will be diverse enough to use with ANY food, including pizzas or pies in a wood-fired oven.
In A Rush? Check Out Our Top Choice!
- The most versatile wood for all smoked foods
- Good price point for weight and quality
- Adds A LOT of flavors
DiamondKingSmoker has been in business since 1986. Born from a disappointment in how other products spark, pop, or flare-up, this brand aimed to create a comfortable grilling experience for ALL pitmasters. From those new to smoking to veterans who know precisely what they’re doing, DiamondKingSmoker wants you to feel confident in your craft by making the process easy.
Using DiamondKingSmoker wood versus other competitors creates a noticeable difference in heat, smoke, and food quality. Buying DiamondKingSmoker Hickory Smoking Wood Chunks is the first step you should take to deliver great-tasting food to the people you value most.
Top 11 Best Smoking Wood Reviews
Hands down, the best wood for smoking a variety of foods on is DiamondKingSmoker Hickory Smoking Wood Chunks. This selection of wood flavor compliments a variety of foods. Even your smoked and grilled veggies explode with flavor when using this hickory wood in your grill.
Smoke a full rack of ribs using it one weekend, or change gears and smoke fish or pork with whatever you have leftover. Smoking bacon-wrapped shrimp is a perfect way to delight your guests with DiamondKingSmoker Hickory Smoking Wood Chunks while getting the most out of it.
All you have to do is take these chunks out of the packaging and put them on your grill. There’s no soaking necessary. DiamondKingSmoker recommends not presoaking their wood chunks.
Who Should Get This?
You’ll want to buy these chunks if you can’t decide what’s for dinner. They’re excellent for a variety of foods and great for pitmasters just getting their feet wet.
Pros
- Does not require soaking before use
- Wood is harvested and stored indoors
- Moisture is preserved for ultimate flavor
- All-purpose wood good on all grill types
- 10 times more flavorful than competitor woods
Cons
- May contain trace amounts of pecans or nuts
- Not kiln-dried or pretreated before use
Western Alder BBQ Smoking Chips deliver on subtle flavor over various foods at a fantastic price point. Enjoy delicious smoked lamb chops or tuna steaks after grilling them over your Alder chips.
The reduced price point means you’ll get more bang for your buck every time you light your grill. While smoking is where these chips excel, you can use them on your gas or propane grill to add extra flavor to the sausages and salmon you throw on your racks.
Alder wood blends well with oak, cherry, and apple to create fantastic custom blends that will be unique only to your table.
Who Should Get This?
Pitmasters who thrive on poultry, lamb, and pork will find themselves stocking up on Alder wood for smoking, grilling, and custom blending. This unique flavor is mild and fruity.
Pros
- Blends with other fruit woods for custom flavors
- Adds extra flavor to your smoked foods
- Great for chicken, cornish hens, turkey, and fish
- Combines mild flavors with subtle sweetness
- Harvested from Northwestern USA
Cons
- Only good for some foods
- Requires clean up if used with gas grills
When it comes to smoking white meat and pork, nothing beats Western Apple BBQ Cooking Chunks. These wood chunks add a subtle sweetness to the already tasty flavor profile of your favorite recipes. Adding applewood to your smoker is sure to keep the fruity notes you want at the forefront of your foods.
This high-quality wood burns slowly, making this a great deal no matter what you end up putting on your grill. The smoke is mild but infuses directly into your food over the time it spends on your grill grates.
They’re great for use in both charcoal and gas grills for extra flavor and smokiness. The distinct taste is one that your guests won’t forget.
Who Should Get This?
Those grillers and smokers adore grilling white meats like cornish game hens, veal, or duck. Thanksgiving turkeys get an added layer of delicious flavor using applewood, too.
Pros
- Mild smoke has sweet notes for sensitive palates
- Ideal for chicken, turkey, or other white meat
- Apple smoked ham is a well-known favorite
- Great price points make them accessible to all
- Burns slow and steady compared to competitors
Cons
- Burning wood exposes you to carbon monoxide
- Unclear if pretreatment is necessary
When it comes to delicious, safe grilling of massive cuts of meat like brisket, you won’t find a better wood fuel than DiamondKingSmoker Post Oak Smoking Wood Chunks.
Choosing the wrong wood to smoke brisket with can be a disaster. It’s easy to over smoke because large cuts of meat like brisket take a while to cook. It can dry out quickly and leave you with a flavor that’s far too bold for most people to enjoy eating. Instead, this wood is cured and stored over time to up the smoky flavor and reduce soot and ash, making clean up easier.
Enjoy your burnt ends and charred-to-perfection brisket by choosing DiamondKingSmoker Post Oak Smoking Wood Chunks. You’ll never dry out your meat.
Who Should Get This?
Die-hard brisket lovers will immediately appreciate a bag of these wood chunks. It’s great for holiday gifts for the griller, smoker, or pitmaster in your life.
Pros
- Used for the Famous Franklin Family BBQ
- No need for presoaking
- Smokes brisket perfectly each time you use it
- Harvested and then stored indoors for moisture preservation
- Has more intense flavor than competitors wood fuel
Cons
- Is not kiln-dried for easy lighting
- Could contain trace food allergens like nuts
Few things are as satisfying as smoking full racks of ribs for friends and family to enjoy. While grilling ribs with spices and sauces locks in flavor and moisture, adding cherry wood flavor to the rack during the cooking process adds an incredible extra layer that will keep lips smacking and diners demanding more.
Western Cherry BBQ Cooking Chunks is the perfect assistant to help you achieve the flavor profiles you want for your ribs. You won’t find a better slow-burning wood that infuses flavor into your meat anywhere on the market. Blend this wood with mesquite to get a unique taste that’s special just to your recipe, or just burn the cherry by itself to experience its flavorful impact.
Who Should Get This?
Pitmasters who dedicate themselves to the perfect rack of ribs love these cherry wood BBQ chunks. The chips are great for gas grills, but smokers can also indulge in the chunks.
Pros
- Blends well with other fruity woods like alder
- Great for seafood and venison, perfect for ribs
- Cherry notes are flavor-forward, packs a punch
- Smoke is delicate but infuses well into meats
- Excellent price point for amount of wood provided
Cons
- Unclear if soaking wood is required
- Can be difficult to ignite and keep smoking
If you’re looking to try a new wood for smoking, pecan wood might be the ideal choice for your next poultry and other white meat smoking adventure. Pecan wood is a delicious alternative to woods derived from fruit trees. The rich flavor is similar to hickory or mesquite but isn’t quite as strong, offering a unique, nutty flavor. Add your spices and marinades, and you’ve got a winning combination to delight your taste buds.
DiamondKingSmoker Pecan Smoking Wood Chunks is strong enough to smoke beef or pork butts, but you’ll get the most flavor intensity when infusing it into white meat like chicken or turkey. It’s a nice medium wood that can be versatile but shines with poultry.
Who Should Get This?
White meat lovers should rejoice with DiamondKingSmoker Pecan Smoking Wood Chunks. These fantastic pieces of wood add delicate but intense flavors, unlike any other wood. It’s unique and tasty.
Pros
- Pecan flavor is more intense than fruit woods
- Perfect for any white meat, especially veal, poultry
- Never needs to be presoaked making cooking easy
- Great value for flavorful wood chunks
- Not kiln-dried or otherwise pretreated
Cons
- May contain food allergens
- Can be difficult to ignite or keep smoking
The best wood for smoking pork is DiamondKingSmoker Sugar Maple Smoking Wood Chunks. This wood is harvested and stored without being kiln-dried or pretreated for insects or mold, so you know that your wood is the healthiest available.
It’s cured by storing indoors, which dries the wood over time while preserving all-natural moisture. This makes it easy to light, slow to burn, and gives you a lot of smoke to swirl around your cooking chamber, infusing your pork with all of the delicious flavors of sugar maple.
There’s no need to presoak this wood. DiamondKingSmoker suggests that you just take the chunks out of the bag and light it to harness the flavors in that well-preserved moisture.
Who Should Get This?
If you love a good smoked pork butt or tenderloin, you’ll love the DiamondKingSmoker Sugar Maple Smoking Wood Chunks. This sweet smoked flavor enhances the delicious taste of your meat.
Pros
- Not kiln-dried, wood cured and stored indoors
- Saves time with no presoaking required before use
- Great smoke production with mildly sweet flavor
- No pests in wood thanks to storage process
- Preserved moisture adds extra flavor to foods
Cons
- Wood burning creates carbon monoxide
- Could contain some nuts or pecans
Salmon is a very delicate meat to prepare in any method, not just smoking. If you decide to smoke salmon, use DiamondKingSmoker White Oak Smoking Wood Chunks to deliver the best smoky flavors without ruining your fish.
It’s easy to dry out salmon when you’re smoking it. Make sure to rinse it cleanly and pat it dry before lathering dijon mustard, salt, and pepper onto the flesh of the fish, then layer this delicious white oak smoke into it as well.
Using DiamondKingSmoker White Oak Smoking Wood Chunks is a sure way to get the most out of your salmon filets. This wood shows off your preparation methods without overwhelming your food.
Who Should Get This?
White Oak excels at smoking salmon, but it’s diverse enough to infuse into thick cuts of beef for delicious flavor. It’s great for fish but can do a lot more.
Pros
- Flavor intensity 10 times that of competitors
- Mild flavor doesn’t overwhelm, enhances natural meat flavors
- Medium smoke flavor like mesquite and hickory
- No presoaking needed before use on grill, smoker
- Excellent value for the price
Cons
- Does not comply with California Prop 65 regulations
- Smoking with wood causes carbon monoxide
The southern United States has a deep love for smoking any number of beef and meat cuts with mesquite wood, but smoking is excellent for cheese, too. This wood is flavor-forward and full-bodied. If not used properly, it can overwhelm a dish, making it perfect for smoking cheeses.
When you smoke cheese, you need to remember that the melting point is around 90°F, so save this activity when the weather outside becomes cooler. Ensure your cheese is at room temperature, so it doesn’t collect condensation, potentially ruining your cheese in the process.
With only two to four hours of smoking time, you need a strong flavor to infuse into your cheese chunks.
Who Should Get This?
All cheese connoisseurs will love cold smoking their cheese in the early morning or late evening hours during colder months. Mesquite wood does the job effectively.
Pros
- Available as chips for gas grills or chunks
- Sweet mesquite smoke is intense and flavor-forward
- Smokes perfectly for cheddar, brie, gruyere, and gouda
- Versatile enough for lamb, sausages, and veggies
- Rich, full-bodied, strong to enhance cheese flavors
Cons
- Hard to control temperatures for cold smoking
10. Western Oak Mini-Logs: Best Wood for Smoking Fish
Just as with salmon, smoking any other kind of fish is best done with oak. This mild flavor excels at enhancing, not masking or overwhelming, the filets you’ve chosen to grill. Prepare your fish in brine, pat it dry, and then put it on your grill grates with Western Oak Mini-Logs smoking slowly under them and you’ll be in for a treat.
Choose fatty fish like sea bass or salmon to get the best results. Other great options are tuna and shark. You can choose to leave the skin on and let it crisp up in the process of smoking or remove it before placing it on your grill grates.
Who Should Get This?
For those who have a deep love of smoking fish and a large smoker or grill to accommodate larger fish, the Western Oak Mini-Logs are great for adding flavor.
Pros
- Balanced flavor of oak doesn’t overwhelm
- Excellent for seafood, lamb, and veggies
- Authentic smoky taste is mild
- Mini logs great for larger grills and smokers
- Adds mellow flavor notes to any grilled food
Cons
- Dried, non-soaked wood may burn too quickly
- Cooking with wood exposes you to carbon monoxide
11. Barrel Proof Bourbon Barrel Bark Wood Chips: Best Wood for Smoking Beef
When it comes to smoking your favorite beef cuts using your favorite southern barbeque recipes, don’t stop short of flavor. Get that Kentucky Bourbon flavor infused into your beef by using Barrel Proof Bourbon Barrel Bark Wood Chips.
These chips work great in gas grills and wood-fired grills alike, giving you access to cooking in different ways. You can use them in your smoker with the knowledge that your cooking method has helped people with special needs earn a decent and dignified living while packaging sustainable fuel for your grill or smoker. That impact is beneficial to the entire world, not just your dinner table.
Who Should Get This?
Barrel Proof Bourbon Barrel Bark Wood Chips work best for smoking with gas grills. If you love to smoke or grill any cut of beef, you’ll love these wood chips.
Pros
- Creates unique, bold flavor in your smoked meats
- Great value for money spent on sustainable product
- Resealable bag keeps wood fresh and tasting great
- Sourced from recycled wood from Kentucky bourbon barrels
- Packaged in conjunction with a special needs non-profit
Cons
- Aged bourbon-infused white oak, not versatile
- Aromatic wood scent may be overwhelming
Final Verdict: Best Smoking Wood For Your Money
Overall, the best wood for smoking is DiamondKingSmoker Hickory Smoking Wood Chunks. This wood adds DEEP flavor to a wide range of foods, including ribs, fish, and brisket. While those foods are where hickory starts, that’s not where it stops.
Dazzle your guests with delicious wild game, cheeses, chicken, pork, or large beef cuts like Texas-Style brisket. With the versatility of hickory’s flavor, you can smoke anything when you’re using DiamondKingSmoker Hickory Smoking Wood Chunks as YOUR fuel.
