Raw Materials

For the very best products, you have to start with the best ingredients.

That is why the QST facility that creates the liquid smoke products is located in Middle Tennessee. The hardwood source materials in the region are excellent. There is also a wide variety of hardwoods in Tennessee, such as hickory and oak. Because of the high number of mills in Tennessee, natural hardwood sawdust is plentiful.

QST burns different varieties of hardwood to create different flavors, such as mesquite, cherry, apple, to name just a few. About any type of flavored hardwood can put through the process and make that flavor of smoke. Many of these hardwoods are readily available in Tennessee, but others can be imported in order to create just the right blend. Further south, you will find the pine regions, while maple is to be found in the north. Mesquite is a very popular flavor so mesquite wood is imported from Texas. There are a lot of people in the southwest who want that mesquite flavor so it’s something QST can do.