Title says it all which wood and what meat.

NEITHER is also a possible answer even though not asked that way.

Beef, Pork, Lamb, salmon, other fish including fresh water.

I have never had any persimmon. I have used plum on chicken, pork, and beef. It has a pretty strong flavor, so go light with it till you know what you like.

I run a mixture of Hickory, Apple, Oak, Maple, Cherry and Butternut. I use it on everything.

Curious to hear about cooking with persimmon wood. Lots of it around here, but never heard of it being used.

Pretty dense, I bet it would burn for a good while...

My mother-in-law has a persimmon tree, so I'd like to hear about that one, too. I might be able to get enough for a batch or two.

Y'all do what you want but I am not using anything except hickory or pecan. miles

Dang purists Miles you need to try some mesquite sometime if for nothing other than cooking a hamburger over it.

By the way hardwood in Wyoming is imported.......

None here. I got lots of the other two. miles

I understand most, if not all, fruitwoods are good for cooking.
I might think they should work for smoking, matched with the proper food.

For salmon, alder



IMO fish are best with milder smoke flavors. Once I got a bit carried away with hickory smoking some salmon and I swear it tasted like bacon. Not that bacon flavor is bad, but I expect to have some of the salmon flavor. Now I'll mix hickory and alder when smoking salmon, but only use alder when grilling salmon and I want some smoke flavor.

That is another thing, down South we mostly fry fish. miles

Growing up we had a bunch of peach trees. The peach wood was awesome for hams and butts.

Never tried plum or persimmon. Oughtta be good.

A limb off of one was the favorite of my Grandmother, for whipping my butt. Apple wood smoked bacon is common in stores here, but I prefer hickory. Currently a lot of them just say hardwood smoked, I avoid them too. miles

I watched a show on TV a while back and one of the big winners in barbeque cookoffs uses peach wood, or at least says he does. miles

I have never tried persimmon, or even heard of it being used for that matter. I have tried plum, but as Sean said it is pretty strong. For beef I pretty much stick with oak or pecan and for pork or poultry apple, cherry, peach or any combination of the three. I pretty much always include a piece of cherry as it gives the bark a nice dark color. If I had to stick with just one fruit wood it would be peach.

Mike

Just did some googling. Persimmon gets very good reviews. Mild smoke like apple is the consensus.

Also noticed a thread about mulberry. I've got a lot of mulberry that will need to be tried.

I have a big old male mulberry that needs to come down. I figure they will burn hot since the wood makes good fence posts. miles

I read the bark needs to come off mulberry, or it gives a bitter taste.
I've tried debarking some, it's tough.

I have smoked with many woods and my go to wood is alder. Alder has a sweet componet and does not get bitter on aged products such as cheese. Cherry is wonderful but in my experience it gets bitter over time so I do not use it for aged products. I like trying new woods. Burn both plum and persimmon. How does it smell? Do you like it? If so try it on stuff.

Pete,

I think alder bark can add a bitter component. And too much smoke is a bad thing as I've had salmon that tasted metallic due to excessive smoke.

Paul, True story about too much smoke. Smoke is, after all, a carcinogen(sp). I use it sparingly. I also do not debark alder but I do use dry wood. I think dry wood burns cleaner with less creosote. I control the temp with dampers. I smoke only when the air temp is not too warm. I cold smoke only.