Found out Aaron Franklin only uses post oak in his smokers

I was watching a documentary on Franklin BBQ last night and learned that Aaron Franklin swears by post oak wood exclusively for brisket. That blew my mind because I've been mixing hickory and mesquite for years thinking it gave better flavor. Has anyone else tried switching to just one wood type like he does and noticed a big difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicebarnes19d ago

The documentary might make it look like it's just post oak, but he actually blends in a bit of other woods sometimes, especially when he can't get enough post oak. I tried switching to all post oak for a while, and while it's cleaner, you lose some of the deeper bark flavor from mixing. His method works for his taste, but it's not some hard rule you have to follow.

terry_mitchell19d ago

Is it really that deep though? I mean we're talking about wood chips here not some secret family recipe passed down for generations. I've used whatever leftover hardwood I had in the garage and nobody complained, they just ate the meat. People act like barbecue is this sacred science where one wrong log ruins everything, but honestly half the time you can't even tell what wood was used after enough sauce and rub. Sure Franklin's method works for him in his fancy pits with temperature gauges and all that, but for the average guy just trying to smoke some ribs on a Sunday afternoon it doesn't matter that much. I'd rather spend time worrying about the meat temperature than stressing over a perfect blend of post oak and whatever else.