Bourbon soaked wood good for smoking

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big woot

Newbie
Original poster
Mar 20, 2015
27
13
Louisville, Ky
So I live in Louisville Kentucky and have a ton of Bourbon Distillery's around here. Tonight a guy gave me two 20 pound bags of Bourbon soaked charred barrel wood that has been shredded to use for smoking. This came directly from a distillery here that he works at. Would this be good wood to use or would the heavy bourbon flavoring be too much or would this be just amazing flavor?
 
  I'm thinking Amazing Flavor  as long as the wood is mostly dry. Wet wood will cause steam before you get any smoke.

  Mike
 
Well they sell bourbon barrel wood for smoking, and people seem to like it, so that should answer your question. My guess, for what it's worth, is that it will primarily taste like oak. I read somewhere that the interaction between booze and barrel takes place mainly on the surface, and the wood actually soaks up very little of the booze. In addition, the flavor of bourbon actually comes FROM the wood. The raw liquor going in actually has very little flavor. It's the interaction with the charred wood that gives bourbon it's flavor. In other words, little if anything is added to the wood flavor wise.
 
Well they sell bourbon barrel wood for smoking, and people seem to like it, so that should answer your question. My guess, for what it's worth, is that it will primarily taste like oak. I read somewhere that the interaction between booze and barrel takes place mainly on the surface, and the wood actually soaks up very little of the booze. In addition, the flavor of bourbon actually comes FROM the wood. The raw liquor going in actually has very little flavor. It's the interaction with the charred wood that gives bourbon it's flavor. In other words, little if anything is added to the wood flavor wise.
I got a couple of whiskey barrel staves a few years ago from a distillery and cut it up and used it. It definitely had a bourbon flavor. No doubt about it. In fact it was pretty strong so I cut it with alder.
 
Good to know. Like I said it was a guess on my part. Just couldn't get my head around the fact that the flavor components in bourbon are 99% already in the wood, whether or not there is bourbon involved. Maybe there is some sort of chemical reaction between the alcohol and wood that changes things?
 
All the breweries around here hog up all the barrels and wood chips. use 'em in their beer.  They won't give/sell me none. :(

They will sell me the beer though. ;)
 
You can buy Jack Daniels chips on Amazon but they are pretty pricey.  Do they really offer superior flavor or is it just the allure of smoked bourbon?
 
I was lucky enough to get a bag of whiskey barrell chips last year. They were still wet as the barrell was freshly emptied when I got them. Used some to make some smoked eggs and they came out great. SInce you are not sure about them how about doing a test run on something cheap like chicken etc. to see if you like them.
 
I tried it this past weekend and the wood smelled amazing. It was so strong I have to cut it down with some hickory. The pork butt had an awesome flavor.
 
Never tried it , the cost is a big factor ( and I don't have a Distillery near me). So  , my smoker coast along with Cherry , Apple , Oak , Hickory , and

whatever good wood I get from the area.

I may be missing a good flavor , but I can't use chips or saw dust in my SFB and there are no sticks I can fid to use . . .
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Have fun and . . .
 
I did a ham a few weeks ago using half bourbon and half hickory pellets and it was really good. You can't taste the bourbon but it adds a nice sweet flavor.
 
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