A: The traditional woods for smoking are HICKORY, PECAN and OAK. Here is a list of woods suitable for smoking:

ACACIA – these trees are in the same family as mesquite. When burned in a smoker, acacia has a flavor similar to mesquite but not quite as heavy. A very hot burning wood.

ALDER – Very delicate with a hint of sweetness. Good with fish, pork, poultry, and light-meat game birds.

ALMOND – A sweet smoke flavor, light ash. Good with all meats.

APPLE – Very mild with a subtle fruity flavor, slightly sweet. Good with poultry (turns skin dark brown) and pork.

ASH – Fast burner, light but distinctive flavor. Good with fish and red meats. try with white fish or salmon
Ash charcoal has a very ‘comfortable’ and stable burn. Its mild profile is ideal for fish or subtler meats, that helps bring out their natural flavours.

BEECH- a sweeter flavour all-round. Beech is a bit of a treat. It’s a dense, long burning fuel that gives a clear, sweet smokey flavour. Give this a try with fish, chicken and the like. Pretty classic combo with a frankfurter too.

BIRCH – Medium-hard wood with a flavor similar to maple. Good with pork and poultry. Beautiful birch for beef or lamb

CHERRY – Mild and fruity. Good with poultry, pork and beef. Some List members say the cherry wood is the best wood for smoking. Wood from chokecherry trees may produce a bitter flavor. a flavour that holds its own Cherry has a sweetness as well as a darker cherry flavour. It is exceptional with a duck breast or venison. It won’t disappoint if you simply grill up some plain pork sausages either.

COTTONWOOD – It is a softer wood than alder and very subtle in flavor. Use it for fuel but use some chunks of other woods (hickory, oak, pecan) for more flavor. Don’t use green cottonwood for smoking.

CRABAPPLE – Similar to apple wood.

GRAPEVINES – Tart. Provides a lot of smoke. Rich and fruity. Good with poultry, red meats, game and lamb.

HAZEL – Not just for squirrel kebabs. Don’t expect any hazelnut flavours; think more of a kind of witch hazel. Light, spirity, nearly a little flowery, burns very cleanly and is very controllable and easy to use.

HICKORY – Most commonly used wood for smoking–the King of smoking woods. Sweet to strong, heavy bacon flavor. Good with pork, ham and beef.

LILAC – Very light, subtle with a hint of floral. Good with seafood and lamb.

MAPLE – Smoky, mellow and slightly sweet. Good with pork, poultry, cheese, and small game birds. give your burgers the all-American.

MESQUITE – Strong earthy flavor. Good with beef, fish, chicken, and game. One of the hottest burning.

MULBERRY – The smell is sweet and reminds one of apple.

OAK – Heavy smoke flavor–the Queen of smoking wood. RED OAK is good on ribs, WHITE OAK makes the best coals for longer burning. All oak varieties reported as suitable for smoking. Good with red meat, pork, fish and heavy game. for sizzling steaks! With subtle notes of oak smoke caramel!

ORANGE, LEMON and GRAPEFRUIT – Produces a nice mild smoky flavor. Excellent with beef, pork, fish and poultry.

PEAR – A nice subtle smoke flavor. Much like apple. Excellent with chicken and pork.

PECAN – Sweet and mild with a flavor similar to hickory. Tasty with a subtle character. Good with poultry, beef, pork and cheese. Pecan is an all-around superior smoking wood.

SWEET FRUIT WOODS – APRICOT, PLUM, PEACH, NECTARINE – Great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish. The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.

WALNUT – ENGLISH and BLACK – Very heavy smoke flavor, usually mixed with lighter woods like almond, pear or apple. Can be bitter if used alone. Good with red meats and game.

BBQ List members and other internet sources report that wood from the following trees is suitable for smoking: AVOCADO, BAY, CARROTWOOD, KIAWE, MADRONE, MANZANITA, GUAVA, OLIVE, BEECH, BUTTERNUT, FIG, GUM, CHESTNUT, HACKBERRY, PIMIENTO, PERSIMMON, and WILLOW. The ornamental varieties of fruit trees (i.e. pear, cherry, apple, etc.) are also suitable for smoking.

There are some lessons which I think take a long time to learn. For me it was ditching or almost nearly ditching non-stick frying pans. I guess I secretly wanted them to actually work like they claimed they would work, but they don’t. So the too long, didn’t read version is – just use cast iron. The more nuanced answer is you can use a non-stick frying pan and others but these frying pans are just used much more rarely.

So straight onto the list.

1. Large Cast Iron Pan

   
   This should be your most used frying pan. Like 80-90% of all frying can be done in a cast iron pan. The other pans while useful are nothing compared to these pans. If I had to do a dessert island cooking list this would come second right after a good knife. This is the real work horse of kitchen. There is no frying job it can’t do. Learn how to look after cast iron equipment and your cooking will be the better for it.

2. Medium Cast Iron Pan

   
   As mentioned above you’ll never not need a cast iron skillet so having one in a different size is very useful. Once you have learned how to care for cast iron you might find your collection expands rapidly as they’re cheap compared to other cookware and will last a life time. Even if cast iron gets badly rusted its still possible to restore it to nearly new condition without any complex equipment.

3. Non-stick Pan

   
   The dreaded non-stick pan does indeed need to be included in this list. While they are ubiquitous and the default pan in most households I find they’re usually terrible pans, mainly because the coating fails. These pans should not be used at anything more than a low to medium
   heat. They should be used for things like frying eggs, but even that task is better in a well seasoned cast iron pan. If you know your pans well the non-stick pan will be your most seldomly used pan.

4. Stainless Steel Pan

   
   Stainless steel frying pans are great for reducing liquids, cooking very acidic sauces that could damage cast iron seasoning and searing meats. Stainless steel obviously has no coating on it so food can quickly stick and burn. It’s important to know when to use this pan and how to use it because repairing a burnt stainless steel pan is very labour intensive. Always ensure you’re meant to be using a stainless steel pan and the correct amount of cooking fats with a stainless steel pan.

5. Other useful pans

   
   There are all sorts of pans but the next two most important pans would be a deep cast iron pan or deep frying or slow cooking, and a griddle pan for those all important searing marks.