pine wood curiosities. stump v branch

[meatjerker]

Give me a break when I say: I've been making jerky over pine. I've had success with half dry branches- but today I'm at odds with some 10 yr old stump I bucked up. It burns insane, but uunfortunately with a thiiiick black smoke. I'm curious about why. Branch v stump? Age issues? Wood chemistry? It is like I'm burning car tires over here. Can't put food near this.

 

[meatjerker]

Black, brown smoke. Stinks like burning plastic. Don't tell my neighbors.

 

[meatjerker]

Still smoking strong. I should note, it seems to be particularly energy dense pine! Still curious. Stump chem

 

[dward51]

Pine is the last wood I would recommend to use for smoking anything.  There are a lot of acrid compounds that are released when the pine sap burns (remember they make turpentine and pine tar cleaner from this stuff).  It's your call thought....

I suspect you have some stump wood with a lot of pine resin in it.  We call that "fat wood" around here and small sticks split from a "fat wood" stump make great fire starters as they burn well and tend to hold their fire starting ability for some time after harvest.

Not sure how that jerky will taste, but what wood you use is your call....

Here is the wikipedia page for "fatwood"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatwood

 

[foamheart]

            

   Naphtha, Fat wood, or lighter.  Cut it up split it small pieces like pencil size and use it to start your fireplace. It will never loss it's resin, I have some that's been in a baskets next to the fireplaces for over 30 years, still works every time.

I wouldn't cook over it though, its like concentrated creosote or asphalt. 

 

[meatjerker]

Thanks to you both. Acrid sounds about right. I'll use it for kindling. I burned down about 50 lbs of uke, and now it's burning clear and smells good (I guess good is the opposite of acrid). I'm still curious what compounds, chemicals, or creosote would be around after 6 hours burning. I guess now I mean: chem of charcoal

 

[meatjerker]

P.s. I suspect uke is as frowned upon as pine.. but I won't put food on until it's unrecognizable coals and hot rocks. Check out my bbq pit post- I have a feeling it's a little unique.

 

[meatjerker]

Terrible day (+) of jerking. Still haven't got the coals satisfactory. According to wikipedia, I can collect my fat wood smoke and make knife handles.

 

[foamheart]

Just to pass it along, had a friend who used pine 2x4's once...... he had to scrub his pit to get all the residue off because even when he did it right afterwards that creosote carried over on his future cooks. I don't know you'll have a problem, just a FYI.

 

[meatjerker]

Good tip. I also noticed a heavy buildup of black, powdery, greasy shit before the fat wood burned down to coals. Luckily, with my pit smoker, it's a lot easier to renew the walls... just enlarge it all a little with the hose.