Homemade Sausage Making

We have all sorts of oak trees in Wisconsin. Does it matter what type of oak wood you use for smoking meats?

There are two answers. The one from New England: " not to me it don't". And the straight answer. The primary difference is red oak or white oak. Red oak dries and seasons more quickly than white oak. I like the smell of freshly cut red oak better than the small of freshly cut white oak. Just on that basis I would use seasoned red oak.

Here in Manitoba we have three types of oak Red, White and Scrub. The Scrub oak grows in the most inhospitable places and grows very slowly and is simply beastly hard and is the preferred wood for smoking in these parts as well as for fence posts. As far as the white and red oak I would tend to go with the red, just remember to peel the bark.

Swallow

Why peel the bark? (just wondering)

We have those scrub oaks here too. Most are in the red oak family but like you say they grow on the worst soils imaginable. Wonderful wood for smoking. Great for grilling steaks too.

In some countries and cultures those scrub oaks and pines are prized as Bonzai. Southern live oak is one of the larger oaks but inland on poor soil it is a very poor specimen. All oaks will be stunted by poor soil and water conditions.

At present I don't have any oak in my shed. I have some hickory, about a good wheel barrow full and about that much mulberry that needs to season. I have some maple and some bradford pear. If I come by some oak I will take it but for now I believe that I have enough for a couple of years.