For years people have been using mesquite to cook, giving meat a nice, roasted and smoky flavor. What you may not have known is that mesquite is a southwestern type of wood. There are other types of wood that alter the flavors of meat in very delicious and tempting ways. The following types are definitely worth a try. 

Cooking on Cherry Wood

Want to add a rich, fruity tone to your grilled and smoked meats? Cherry wood, as well as the wood from lemon, apple, and orange trees, add just the right amount of flavor. Cherry wood itself is especially nice for a pig roast, as it will make the meat both sweet and a little salty. Use these fruit woods in smokers or over open flames with spits.

Cooking on Maple Wood

Who does not love the taste of maple wood smoked bacon? Bacon is fine by itself, but when cooked over maple wood, it is sweet and maple-y, the perfect breakfast bacon. This also works quite well with chicken when you want to make a maple-pecan chicken dish. For a really interesting treat, roast peeled apples over the maple wood and then put the apples into baked fruit tart shells.

Cooking with Hickory Wood

Do not forget about cooking with hickory! Along with mesquite, hickory is a very popular cooking wood. Just think about all of the hickory-smoked recipes that are so popular. Glazes and BBQ sauces using the smoke essence of hickory wood are doing quite well on the market right now.

Cooking with Pecan Wood

Down south, another type of wood that has been popular with wood cooks is the pecan tree. Pecan wood adds a nice, subtle nutty flavor to whatever you grill over the top of it. In lieu of having actual pecans in season, the wood is used to add the same flavor so that the flavor of the recipe remains the same.

Learning More about Types of Wood and Alternative Methods of Flavoring Meat

Since many Americans cannot have sugar or salts in their diets past a certain age, it becomes very difficult to flavor meat without using sugar and/or salts. Cooking with different types of wood can provide lots of flavor without all of the health risks. You do not even need permission from your doctor to cook with wood because it is that safe for people with special dietary needs.