Did you ever wonder what to smoke with maple wood? If the answer is yes you are at the right place! I will explain the flavor profile of maple and give you ideas for smoking food with it while also providing tips & tricks on how to use this type of wood to its full potential!
in general rules, cheese, vegetables, shrimp, scallops, pork, venison, turkey, fish, chicken, beef, lamb, grouse, quail, pheasant, duck, and cheese. Pork especially Ham pairs well with maple wood so as you would guess it’s great with maple since it gives it a sweet and smoky flavor. Another great one is bacon from pork, maple bacon is a staple of Canadian food. maple is perfect for venison since it helps balance out the natural earthiness of this type of food and it also counterpart the gaminess of the meat by giving it a sweeter taste. Chicken is a great vessel for the flavor of this wood if you want a sweeter than a fruity alternative to savory chicken. Strong cheese benefits well from maple since it counterbalances the strong flavor with a little sweetness as you know a lot of sweet and salty things are good. It goes well with salmon if you want to give it a distinctive sweet to balance out the fat content of this type of fish. Lamb is another great one, maple wood subtly overpowers the grass taste of this meat giving it a pleasant alternative.
Maple wood comes from the maple tree, mostly native to Asia, though some originate from Europe, northern Africa, and North America. Maple is the tree that is responsible for maple syrup and is a popular tree for that production notably in Canada. Most maples are deciduous trees. there are more than 100 species of maple around the world 10 of which are native to Canada. sugar, silver, black, red, bigleaf, striped, mountain, vine, Douglas, and Manitoba. Maple wood is not a powerful tree for smoking but does have a long-lasting property and the smoke is clear and sweet giving a subtle, mild, and sweet smoky flavor. the flavor of the maple tree is one of its best properties. If you need a little sweetness that is not fruity maple should be your go-to wood for smoking meat, seafood, cheese, or even nuts. The longer you cook the food the more flavorful the food will be. The aroma of the smoke will be sweet while not too intense it will be subtle and smell delicious. Color range from a deep brown to a lighter tan because maple has a peak period for harvesting which will modify the coloring of the food depending on the time of harvest.While your food will still darken I would propose mixing it with wood that produces much more smoke to provide a better coloring of the food. Like most hardwoods, Maple can burn long and slow for many hours making it the perfect candidate for a long and slow smoking process. The best maple to use while smoking is the sugar maple the one responsible for maple syrup production since it will give a sweeter aroma than the other one.
maple wood is one of the best to give a sweet taste to all types of food while not being fruity, continue to read as to why it should not be used with the type of food below.in addition, I give some tips and tricks proven to be used by pitmasters! I also provide a list of great smoke for this type of wood.
12 things to smoke with maple wood!
- Venison is a great choice since the sweetness of maplewood fight the gaminess and bitterness of the meat giving a subtle sweet flavor.
- Pork is a perfect candidate for such wood, ham & bacon pairs well with the sweetness that maple gives without it being fruity.
- White fish pair well with maple since its mild smoke doesn’t overpower it and still give a great taste.
- Chicken is a nice vessel that would be enhanced greatly from this wood if you want a rich and sweet alternative to common savory chicken.
- Salmon with maplewood is another great choice, which will add some subtle sweet notes, couple that with the fact that it’s a fatty fish you get a winner.
- The scallop is another food that starts a little sweet, maple wood would only double on the sweetness and the flavor.
- Cheese from all types is the perfect vessel with Maple since it will only power the flavor adding a sweetness that is not fruity.
- The scallop is another food that starts a little sweet, that type of wood is also great to give even more sweetness to the scallop.
- Lamb can handle strong smokey woods but does pair well with a milder type of wood, the sweetness added from maple counterbalance the grassy taste of the lamb.
- Vegetable is best smoked with this wood, any vegetable is smoked to get the sweet treatment of this type of wood.
- Wild boar’s strong rich and nutty flavor, pairs well with maple giving it a sweet taste.
- Small game birds mostly taste delicate and a little sweet which makes them a solid candidate to smoke with maple, they all taste good smoked in that type of wood.
Should I smoke pork with maplewood?
Maplewood is one of the great, if not the best for smoking pork. give every type of cut of pork a go with this type of wood and you get a wonderful combination of fatty, sweet, and salty flavor which make it a delicious choice to have on the plate. Bacon is one of the best vessels in that category, maple flavored bacon is a staple of Canadian cuisine and will stay at the top of maple flavored leaderboard.No matter which cuts of pork you choose with maplewood it should be a winner with family and guests. maple-flavored pulled pork is a favorite of mine, and goes well in a sandwich.
Should I smoke beef with maplewood?
Maplewood’s strong suit is its unique flavor being an enhancer for most types of meat. Beef is an interesting choice but is not the most popular one out there. if you want to smoke beef with it. I would prioritize bigger cuts and prepare for a long, long smoke with it. Getting the flavor into the beef is a daunting task and needs to take a long time. Do remember that maple produces little smoke. for brisket smoking time you should consider 90 minutes per pound if you have a 10 pounds brisket it would take 15 hours to get the good stuff. Keep that in mind.
Tips & Tricks to using maplewood!
whether you use sugar maple or simply maple should not be important but do keep in mind that the most popular one is the sugar maple for a reason! Almost all the rest will do nearly as well but still, sugar maple is the way to go. You really should try every cut of pork with this wood it would do wonders for anything.