Bark or no bark

I'm lucky to have a small piece of wooded land with mixed hardwoods like oak, maple, cherry, hickory, and apple. I've always cut and dried my own wood for smoking and have always left the bark on the chunks I use. Just wondering what you guys think about leaving the bark on the wood.

I've never had any problem with leaving the bark on the wood. What I do, and have heard many others say the same thing, is leave the bark on any pieces of wood that have it, but if it falls off on its own then I throw it away.

The only time I've had trouble with bark is if there is mold or mildew on it. I normally trim those bits off because they can leave on unpleasant flavor on the meat. For the most part, leaving the bark on the wood is perfectly fine.

I agree with them. Some suppliers of wood chunk have bark on and others remove it. I don't notice a difference either way. If the bark falls off, I still use it. Just depends on the size. Smaller pieces are saved as chips for when I grille. Bigger pieces are used in the smoker.