 How do you decide what kind of firewood you use for your barbecue? Well, today we're going to talk about different types of wood on barbecue with Franklin. So, let's talk about firewood. There are a lot of different types of wood to use. Generally, with barbecue, you kind of typically use whatever is around. Here in Central Texas, I've got a lot of post oak, and that's what I like to use. Oh, well, look at here. A nice piece of post oak. I could tell by picking up this piece of wood that it's pretty green. That means it hasn't been cured very long. It's got a lot of moisture in there. What that tells me is that it's going to be really smoky. It's going to give me a really slow heat. It's not going to get up to temperature very quick because it's heavy. It's kind of like the empty milk carton syndrome. You pick up an empty milk carton. It feels, it looks like it's going to be heavier than it is. You probably know there's not a lot of moisture in there. Maybe the wood's dead. Maybe you're not going to get much heat or smoke out of it. This one, on the other hand, feels really heavy for what it looks like. I know it's got a lot of moisture. It's going to have a lot of smoke. It's going to burn slow. And this is what oak looks like. This is my preferred wood. Even though my preferred wood is post oak, there are a lot of other kinds of woods. We've got hickory, mesquite, becon. You could use really anything that's available to you in whatever region you're cooking in. Around here, it's typically post oak. And that's why I use it. Oak burns really clean. It's a nice even heat. It's not overpowering. And then you go up from that a little bit. And then you've got hickory. Hickory's a little bit stronger than oak. It is kind of my second favorite. I think it's a real nice wood. It burns pretty clean if you do it, right? It's got a nice mildish flavor, although a little bit more than oak. And then you go a little bit above that and you get into pecan. Pecan's got a much stronger flavor. It's kind of sweet. It's really smoky. I don't suggest it for a long cook. I think it maybe just becomes a little too overpowering. On something that might be good for chicken, it might be good for ribs, something a little bit shorter than say 12 hours. Next up from that is mesquite. And mesquite is a really strong wood. It burns really hot and fast. It's got a lot of smoke to it. If you're not careful with it, it'll get really accurate. It'll be super overpowering. Typically, it's best for burning down to coals. You could grill with it if you want. It's good for steaks. It's good for grilling chicken, stuff like that. I really steer clear of that stuff for barbecue. I really do prefer oak, maybe hickory. And if you live around it, maybe a region's got a lot of peach trees, a lot of cherry wood trees. You could dabble a bit in fruit woods. For competition stuff, fruit woods tend to be pretty popular. Around Texas, we mostly have hardwoods. But that kind of also gets into how you would cure or season, if you will, firewood. A lot of times fruit woods, you can use green. That means they're fresh. They still have a lot of moisture in there. They're going to be real smoky. Still going to, most likely, be a pretty mild wood if it's fruit wood. But if it's green, that means it's fresh. And as you season wood, that it becomes cured. And I prefer two different stacks. I like stuff that's about 12 months old. Leave it out in the field, stack it up, let the air circulate through it, let it dry out. And you want the moisture to eventually just dry out of the wood. It'll burn a little bit cleaner. I prefer really cured oak or seasoned, if you will. I also like something that's maybe about six months old. Like this stuff right here is about six months. And it's got a lot of smoke and it's got a good round heat to it. So kind of play around. If you buy stuff at the store, likely it's going to be kiln dried or air dried. It won't be very smoky. It's going to ignite really quickly. It's going to burn really fast. If you're cutting it down yourself, or if you're getting it off a Craigslist, or something fell down in your backyard, you're going to want to age it probably six months to a year, depends on the weather and the climate that you live in. But either way, you'll kind of get a feel for what you're looking for after a while. You know, one of the things about doing barbecue is that you have a lot of time to think. You have a lot of time to experiment. Part of that experimentation comes in to learn how to work a fire, go inside making sauces, playing around with different firewoods. It's a creative process. It's a craft. The main thing to have in that much time is actually sitting there, drinking some beers, watching the fire, putting a piece of wood on, watching the temperature gauge, watching the smoke stack, learning how not to choke off the fire, learning how to control the fire. The better you get at that, the better your barbecue's going to be. Did you happen to see our episodes on trimming a brisket or modifying your spoker? Well, if not, they're right here. Watch them right now.