When it comes to barbecuing meat, there is nothing better than cherry wood for smoking. Why? Because cherry wood gives meat such an irresistible flavor.
Are you looking for the best cherry wood for smokers? Then you have arrived at the right place as throughout the course of this article I will show you 2 cherry wood chunk and 3 cherry smoke chip reviews so that you can choose the best chips or chunks to really add an extra kick of flavor to your meat this weekend.
Perhaps you are new to using different wood to flavor your food and are not too sure as to why it would be necessary.
Let me give you an idea of why cherry wood chips and chunks are so fantastic for cooking on.
Table of Contents
Cherry Smoke Chips Reviews
Cherry wood chips are the perfect size for smoking smaller cuts of meat such as sausage links, burger patties and small fillets of fish.
If you plan to be cooking on your smoker for an hour or less then add one of these cherry smoke chips to your basket in time for smoking away on your grill this weekend.
Your family will not be able to get enough of the sweet and powerful taste of your meat!
Western Premium BBQ Products
Overview
Here is a great bag of cherry wood chips for smoking by Western Premium BBQ Products.
Features
- These chips are ideal for use with a charcoal, electric or gas grill.
- Don’t worry about your wood rotting over the winter months as this wood has been treated to prevent rotting, mold and pests.
- These chips are great for smoking a variety of meat, poultry, and seafood on your barbecue grill this weekend, helping to enhance the flavors of your food.
- Excellent quality
- Doesn’t rot or mold easily
- Adds great flavor to the meat.
- Might take a little while to smoke up but it’s worth the wait.
Weber
Overview
Here is another great cherrywood bbq bag ideal for smoking a selection of meat, fish, and poultry on your grill.
Cherry Wood Chips Features
- These chips have a subtle fruity flavor that perfectly matches the flavors of meat and fish, giving them an extra special kick that your family will go nuts about.
- Are you keen to try different flavors? Then be my guest as these Weber wood chips also come in Apple, Hickory, Mesquite, and Pecan varieties, so that you can sample them all.
- Adds a great fruity flavor to the meat
- Smokes up quicky and easily
- The price is a bit too high in comparison to some other ones.
Oklahoma Joe’s
Overview
Are you in need of plenty of wood smoker chips? Then grab hold of this 2 pound bag by Oklahoma Joe’s!
Cherry Wood Chips Features
- These wood chips are ideal for use on electric, charcoal, and gas grills helping to enhance and give a slightly sweeter flavor to meat, fish, and poultry.
- Are you keen to try out new wood flavors? Then check out the other flavors also coming to you by the team down at Oklahoma Joe’s.
- Once you’ve had a taste of the cherry, you can also try out their Hickory, Apple, Mesquite, and Pecan wood chips to shake things up a little bit.
- Can be used on all types of grills
- Smokes up quick and easy
- Doesn’t tend to add much flavor and the smell might be too light
Best Cherry Wood Chunks
Cherry wood chunks are the perfect size for cooking large cuts of meat, poultry, and seafood.
Pick up a bag of cherry wood chunks if you will be cooking on your grill for an hour or more to really get the benefit of the slow burn of cherry wood chunks. Take a look at some of the best cherry wood suppliers below:
J.C.’s Smoking
Overview
If you love cooking with cherry wood then you will love these black cherry smoke wood chunks by J.C’s. Check them out.
Cherry Wood Chunks Features
- These cherry wood chunks are perfect for slow-burning and for adding a slightly sweeter taste to meat, fish, and poultry.
- The bag offers a generous 2.3 pounds of cherry smoking wood, perfect for you to get started straight away and smoke something on the grill for the family this weekend.
- These wood chips are nice and dry and uniform in size, making them the perfect accompaniment to a pristine grill.
- Great value for money bag
- Excellent quality
- Doesn’t add much of a flavor to the meat.
Weber 17142
Overview
I just love Weber products. If you are more of a wood chip fan then scroll upwards and you will find a link on this very page to a bag of Weber’s cherry wood chips. But for now, let’s stick with the chunks.
Cherry Wood Chunks Features
- Weber will provide you with a 2-pound bag of wood chunks, the perfect amount for slow-burning a large leg of lamb, beef or any other meat, poultry or fish this weekend.
- The cherry wood chunks will give your food the subtle woody and sweet flavor that everyone loves.
- The bag contains all uniformly cut wood chunks
- Adds very good flavor to the meat
- It is a bit on the pricey side considering the amount per bag.
Wood chips vs wood chunks
Cherry wood is one of the most popular woods to smoke on because it is a great accompaniment to a variety of tastes and flavors.
Cherry wood works well to enhance the flavor of poultry, seafood, lamb, pork, and beef.
Thanks to the sweet and mild flavor of cherry wood, it is the perfect match to many meals and helps to add an extra wooden sweet taste to your meal, giving it that authentic smoky flavor that everyone loves.
The only food that cherry wood doesn’t work so well with would be smoked veggies. Why?
Because the flavors on cherry wood are very mild, made to compliment the strong flavors of meat and fish whereas vegetables need a stronger tasting wood to really help bring out their flavor and goodness otherwise they end up tasting bland, no matter how long they’ve been sat on the smoker.
If you are looking for a wood to smoke specifically for grilling vegetables on your smoker then you will be best off smoking them with maple wood. Maple wood is a lot sweeter than cherry wood and is perfect for giving your vegetables a rocking taste.
Maple is also a great accompaniment to poultry and ham, so make the most of your maple wood to cook all three on the smoker at once and the juices mixed with the flavor of the wood will all work to complement one another.
If this is your first time cooking with wood in order to enrich the flavor of your food then you will need to make one important decision – whether you should cook with wood chips or wood chunks.
How can you know which one is better? Don’t panic as below I have mentioned a few scenarios where it would be best to smoke your meat on wood chunks and a few scenarios where wood chips would be preferable. Check it out:
Wood chunks
Wood chunks burn slower than wood chips. So if you are looking to smoke a large cut of meat for an hour or so, it would be best to use wood chunks as you will not have to replace them so often.
Wood chips
Wood chips burn a lot faster than wood chips, releasing flavor instantly. This makes wood chips ideal for burning smaller cuts of meat that cook quickly such as sausage links and burger patties or even cuts of fish.
You can also make wood chips last a little longer on the smoker if you are cooking a slightly larger piece of meat and do not have any wood chunks available.
Try soaking your wood chips in water for up to 30 minutes before adding them to your smoker. Drain the water away before adding them to your smoker so that they do not put the fire out. Damp wood chips will burn for longer than dry ones.
So now you know whether you should use wood chunks or wood chips the next time you fire up your smoker, what else is coming up in this article? Well, you will also find a section talking about the safety of cherry wood and why it is one of the best woods to smoke with! Take a look!
Safety of Cherry Wood
If you are looking for the best wood to smoke chicken, pork, lamb, seafood or beef then cherry wood is definitely your go-to match. Why?
Because there is something about cherry wood smoke that enhances the flavors of meat, poultry and seafood in a mild way, giving it an extra kick of flavor but without overpowering it completely.
Of course, when smoking wood you want to make sure that it is free from anything toxic that would be damaging to your health.
Make sure the wood you smoke is free from glues, paint, nails or anything else that would be damaging to breathe in when released into the air.
But it goes without saying that when you purchase your wood from a manufacturer it will be prepped ready for smoking and free from any dangers.
Just in case you are still a little unsure about whether smoking cherry wood is safe or not, take a look at the following factors that will definitely convince you that smoking cherry wood on your grill is perfectly harmless:
Cherry wood does not contain arsenic, meaning it does not let off any toxic fumes when burnt.
Cherry wood contains hydrogen cyanide. But hydrogen cyanide has to burn in order for it to be released into the air and become a health risk.
When smoking pellets or chips on a grill the wood doesn’t burn, it simply smolders, stopping harmful chemicals from being released into the atmosphere.
Feeling more at ease now about smoking a cherry wood on your grill for an extra special taste? Great then let’s dive straight into the review.
FAQ
Yes, Cherry wood is good to use with pork and also poultry. It has a sweet and very mild flavor which complements food well. This is one of the most popular types of wood used for smoking.
Cherry wood goes well for chicken, turkey and also pork, but is a bit too strong for fish.
Yes, as cherry wood gives off a mild sweet flavor it complements the flavors of the rub used in the BBQ sauce very well and goes well with the ribs.
Conclusion
I am sure that among the reviews mentioned above you have been able to find the best wood for smoking chicken, the best wood for pulled pork, seafood, lamb or whatever meat, fish or poultry that tickles your fancy.
Cherry wood smoking is one of the most popular woods to purchase because of its versatility and ability to enhance many meat and seafood flavors.
Regardless of whether you pick up a pack of cherry wood chips or whether you decide to go for a pack of cherry wood chunks I am sure you will be over the moon with the tasty results at the barbecue this weekend.
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