What’s the Best Wood for Clean Smoke When Cooking?

Seasoned hardwoods like oak, hickory, maple, or fruitwoods are the best woods to use for clean smoke when cooking. They burn hot and clean, producing stable, flavourful smoke.

All Wood is Not the Same (Even all Hardwoods Do Not Burn the Same)

Hardwoods are the go-to for cooking over fire (and in wood-fired brick ovens), and here’s why.

Softwoods and other resinous woods burn dirty and create off‑flavours in your food. Cedar may smell great, but it’s not good for cooking.

Hardwood that’s properly dried (under 20% moisture) ignites quickly and combusts efficiently, giving you that clean blue smoke that every hardwood-fire cook wants to see. This is why you should always ensure that the wood you use is properly seasoned and dry.

Always remember: good smoke starts long before the fire — it starts with the woodpile.

Read more in the Complete Guide to Smoke in Hardwood Barbecue.

By BBQ Chef Mike Belobradic