Tree Identification

Dont use willow, makes everything smell like dog urine, and fouls the grill. I dont know what it tastes like because I wouldnt eat it

hey guys i didn't follow all links but do u guys smoke with the wood still green i live in NH alot of maple around here!!

Tank, I only use seasoned wood for smoking. The water in green wood can result in a lot of heavy black smoke that you don't want on your food. Plus, a lot of energy goes into driving off that water. Energy that could be used for cooking instead. You want a clean buring hot fire that results from burning seasoned wood.

Since you have a ready supply of wood, my best suggestion is to start collecting some now so it can be drying for future cooks. Cut the logs to length, then split them. Stack in a place with good air flow and is protected from the rain. For example, set a wooden pallet on cement blocks to get it up off the ground. Lay your split wood on the pallet in a criss-cross pattern, so here's good air flow between the pieces. Cover the top of the wood stack with a piece of plywood, sheet metal, or even a shower curtain liner. Weight down the covering with more blocks so the wind doesn't blow it off.

A little rain hitting the sides of the wood stack won't hurt anything. Depending on your weather conditions, size of the wood splits, etc. in a few months, you'll have some well seasoned wood for your pit.

BTW, winter is a good time to collect wood for future use. Sap is down, so the wood contains less water. Weather is cooler, so it's more comfortable for you. Splitting wood will actually keep you warm. And, with luck by the time the summer grilling/smoking season sets in, you'll have some mighty fine wood to use.

Hope this helps.
Longmill

PS: Cutting to length.... if you want smoking chunks, wait and cut the wood in shorter lengths after it's seasoned. Using longer lengths now for green wood will make stacking easier. Without knowing how you plan to use the wood, (chips, chunks, logs) for cooking, I'd suggest cutting in fireplace lengths for the seasoning process.

LM

There are many folks who will use green wood, but to my knowledge its mostly the really light fruit woods like apple. I think I'd let maple season a bit first.
I love using maple myself. Its great with hams, turkeys, and pork in general.

Have to agree with GS, age the maple first. The only green wood I've ever used has been apple. I did a pork t-loin once on a piece of split green apple buried in hardwood coals that was incredible. Served it with an apple,cognac,cream reduction.

Is pear wood any good for smoking? I have a pear tree in my yard with a few dead branches. I am new to smoking and to wood, so sorry if this is a stupid question. But what would I need to do prepare it for smoking? How long do I dry it for? Thanks for the info

Welcome to the board biggenius29!

You can certainly use pear wood to smoke with, even if it's from a Bradford. It is similar to apple. Fruit wood has a much lighter smoke than nut wood so it is good with pork & poultry.

I have smoked meat with green (unseasoned) apple wood with great results. Stronger hard woods would have billowed bitter smoke if used green. Since pear is lighter you can use it sooner, I would let it dry for 3 months or so and then give it a try.

What about bark? Have always thought that to much bark makes the smoke bitter. Just got some nice oak that hasn't been split yet - can I leave the bark on or am I better trying to strip it? Have found in the past that this is a tough process - even tougher with maple & most fruit woods - dang bark just does not want to come off.
Have a brother-in-law that has 11 acres in the Texas Hill Country. Had to com-ment on all the mesquite growing on his land. He said that he's probably cleared & burned 50 tons of it over the years. I live in the Chicago suburbs & have to pay about 8 bucks for a 10 lb. bag.

Putz

I used to try to remove as much bark as possible after hearing the same thing. (even cut my hands a couple times doing it) Then I found out that competition BBQ cooker don't remove the bark at all. At cook-offs everyone does everything possible to produce the best quality product ... yet none of them remove bark from their wood, so I stopped bothering with it and can't tell the difference.

If the bark is moldy, or soft and falling off I would remove it and carefully inspect the wood for mold or insects. If I can knock two logs together and the bark stays on then it goes in the fire.

its said not to use cedar but ive found places that sell cedar grilling and oven roasting planks. go here http://les-nsk.com/barbecue-tongs/ and then type in Grilling Planks into the search and it brings up the ceder planks, it says that it gives a sweet spicey flavor, has anyone tryied cedar before?

I believe that there is a difference between straight out burning cedar and only slightly charring it. Because the planks don't combust they are considered safer to use than burning cedar outright. But I'm not a scientist.

Sorry for hitching a ride on this thread gang. I know this isn't directly related to the thread however I got a question.

Awhile back I got some mesquite wood that was already cut and bagged. 2, 50 lbs. bags. I set them in the garage (above the floor) still in the bags with a few loose pieces on top. The garage is pretty airy as the doors aren't exactly in the best shape.

Anywho, I hadn't grilled in awhile but was moving stuff and noticed this white stuff growing (or what seemed to be growing) on the logs. I checked inside of both bags and the same thing is happening in both on all the split logs.

Is this a natural occurrance? What is it? Should I be tossing this out?

thanks.

does it look like moss or mold? and is it on the bark only or is it on the cut or spit sides also?
if its on the bark probly moss you could knock the bark off
if its on all of it, toss it or use it in a camp fire

it comes down to being safe then sorry
steve would probly agree if you want a good reputation as a grill master you dont want people throwing up after they eat

got a cataloge from L.E.M. products they have a sale on hickory chips 1/8 to 1/4 in size 50 lb bag for 29.99
www.lemproducts.com

chrish wrote:

does it look like moss or mold? and is it on the bark only or is it on the cut or spit sides also?
if its on the bark probly moss you could knock the bark off
if its on all of it, toss it or use it in a camp fire

it comes down to being safe then sorry
steve would probly agree if you want a good reputation as a grill master you dont want people throwing up after they eat

Thank you for the reply - question, what can I do next time to prevent this? Should it have access to more air?