Sugar Maple for smoking is an excellent choice to bring out sweetness!

Sugar maple for smoking, sweetness not sour! Share on X

There is no question, North Americans love maple trees! Although we don’t have as many as the continent of Asia, we sure have a good share with some 12 varieties available. Plus, the Sugar Maple tree is the official tree of New York State!

Maple is a very popular hardwood for wood-fired cooking, especially hot smoking. We are blessed at SmokinLicious® to have in our harvest Sweet Sugar Maple hardwood. This extremely versatile wood can be used to smoke everything from eggs to brisket. It is a very even tempered wood so it works with spicy rubs as well as fruity sauces.

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Maple cooking wood for smoking- Oh the mighty Maple tree gives the grill or smoker and nice subtle tasting smokey flavor

MAPLE WOOD COOKING: OH, THE MIGHTY MAPLE TREES! Share on X

Loyal users of our culinary quality hardwoods know the benefits of our woods but we still hear this one question a lot: what is the best hardwood to use with specific foods, especially meats?

Let’s start with a feature on the mighty maple tree which could turn out to be the best choice!

Maple hardwood is part of the Aceraceae family of wood. The scientific name for the variety we manufacture is Acer pensylvanicum L. but the common names for the varieties found in the Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania regions include: Black Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Rock Maple, Striped Maple, Moosewood.

Hard Maple is considered the king of all maples because it is stronger, stiffer, harder, and denser than any other maple variety.

Maple can be used with any food for natural wood flavouring/smoking. The flavour profile is on the mild side with a sweet undertone. Feel free to use the wood with any food: chicken, turkey, game birds, beef, lamb, fruit, vegetables, chocolate, eggs, etc.

Depending on the time of year the maple is harvested will determine the coloring to the food. Color range can be from a deeper brown to a lighter tan. Why so much color variation? Maple has peak periods for harvesting in order to avoid the heavy sap run in this wood which generally starts in December finishing in March.

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