wood for smoking meat

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 04:01

Somewhere Chuckwagon has a post about all of the many wood specie used for meat smoking. Fruit wood is among them and just this week I have had the good fortune to find some dry bradford pear wood on a tree that was knocked down a couple of years ago but somehow managed to stay off the ground. I burned some of it today to smoke a few links of sausage. It is very mild and after about three hours is a nice gentle hint of smoke.
Bradford pear is a rather common street tree that blooms white in the spring and whose leaves turn bright red in the fall and after it get to a certain size starts to fall apart.

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 05:16

It's named "pear" for its shape, not for fruit bearing. (There is none.)

That said, I'd be interested to hear how flavorful your smoked goodies turn out. There certainly are a lot of Bradford pear trees in the Carolinas where we are now, and they seem to split easily so there's lots of wood available.

...good research project, Ross. "You dah best!"

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 06:29

It is a true pear species. It was developed at Beltsville by those wonderful folks that develop plants to make our life better. it was thought to be a perfect street tree. Nice form, flower and foliage. Just two problems after twenty years it starts to fall apart and the fruits are about the size of buckshot and the birds disperse the seed. We have abandoned pastures that are completely invaded by these trees. The wood that I have came from a volunteer that another tree fell on.
The wood splits nicely with an axe, burns with a low ash volume, and is easy to light and slow burning in a smolder.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 07:55

Ross said:

Somewhere Chuckwagon has a post about all of the many wood specie used for meat smoking.

It's right here ol pal, in the tech section: http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=5154
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 15:33

Chuck. E. Wagon, thanks for the wood list. (What a guy!) Where do you come up with all this stuff? ...and, please, why don't you collect it in book form? I'd buy one. ...maybe even two.

I'm surprised at the entry for mesquite. In Texas, mesquite is THE wood for barbecuing, and folks (including me) burn it all day. I hadn't thought about it as particularly strong smoke, but it's probably true.

We prefer it to hickory, which they seem to prefer in North Carolina. (But then, they bury the meat in sticky sauce, so who can tell?) The oak in North Carolina is too strong. I think I mentioned earlier that an attempt to use oak when we lived in South Alabama resulted in our tongues going numb! Yet in Texas, the local live oak is fine, and I use it all the time. (Thank heavens mesquite hasn't invaded our area. Yet.)

I hear good things about alder, and will have to get my hands on some. We have trout in the Guadalupe River below Canyon Lake dam. Gotta try smoking 'em.

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 15:41

Well, Ross, once again I learned something from you. Thanks. I guess it's local legend that Bartlett pear trees aren't pear trees.

They sure are popular, especially in the spring. Way back when we moved to Charlotte, they (and everything else in town) were in bloom. Beloved Spouse was blown away! ...especially her nose. The pollen load in that part of the world is amazing. :dripping smiley:

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 23:06

Many years ago before I converted my fireplace to a gas log I had purchased a low form plastic trash can for holding my kindling wood. It is about 18 inches deep. I had kept it near the fireplace but a few years ago we decided to build some more bookcases in the space. So the kindling wood box got moved outside with the lid still on and the wood inside. The wood was just mixed shop scrap and twigs from the yard. With the Bradford pear wood needing a dry storage space I emptied the old kindling wood box. Everything was perfectly dry. So I can recommend this sort of a wood box for outside storage of dry wood. I recommend a loose cover for green wood.

unclebuck · Post by **unclebuck** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 03:35

We have an abundance of red willow here in the boreal forests of Northern Alberta. My father, an old German immigrant, used it to do all of his smoking. It was hard to roll and keep lit, but it sure gave a buzz!!!!!!! I still use it.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 04:42

It seems like I read somewhere once that willow charcoal was prefered for mixing with saltpeter and sulfer to make black powdery substance that would go boom.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 03:42

The burning characteristics of various species of wood. More especially the smouldering of the wood with a restricted draft. Hickory needs a lot of attention to keep a uniform level of smoke it distills rather quickly, oak even more so. Pear smolders slowly but tends to self extinguish, maple will smoulder in a single large chunk for hours. All of this only counts if you are using chunks.