Like the title says. I just now had a thought about the way smoking food makes a unique flavor that most people love. Everything I’ve put in my smoker was over hardwood and I’ve never questioned it. Now I am questioning it. So, what makes hardwood so much better than softwood in terms of cooking?
In: Chemistry
Softwood has a couple traits that make it not ideal for smoking. One big reason is softwood often has a lot of sap or resin. When this burns, it’s generally pretty stinky. Not the kind of flavors you want to add to food. The other reason I believe is that it can burn a little hotter and faster than you would like. Smoking is often about long duration and not intense direct heat. Softwood burning hotter or faster offers zero advantage for smoking.
Not all hardwoods are equal. Some will have irritants when burned or other reasons not to be popular for smoking, but softwoods as an entire category almost always have issues.
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