Pistachio Shell Smoke Experiment

[chefal]

So last week I was smoking some meat, drinking an adult beverage, and munching on some pistachio nuts. Mrs. Al came out to check on me and saw the pile of shells and said "can you smoke meat with those?"

I didn't know, so I did what I always do in these situations. Got out a chicken test subject and put some apricot mango jelly on it, soaked the shells, and put it on the smoker.

Here is a photo of the shells going in


And a photo of the shells after


The smell of the nut shells was good and I couldn't wait to taste it. Here is a photo of a pistachio shell smoked chicken!


The taste was quite good. It gave the chicken a very mild nut flavor. I didn't get any sweet taste from it as reported elsewhere on the internet, but it was darn good, and the shells were free! Try it if you get a chance.

 

[mballi3011]

I was curious about this one cause I never have heard of smoking with nut shell. But I do like pistachio and when I get some mor I will have to keep the shells. Thanks for the info. You have to love this place always new things popping up.

 

[travcoman45]

Nice lookin bird! But alas, I can't eat nuts no more, lessin I wanna spend a week in the hospital, But, maybe I can get the nieghbor fella to keep some shell's fer me!

Got great color an bet was tastey to!

 

[sumosmoke]

I just read something about smoking with pecan shells if pecan wood was not available, then saw this thread. The chicken looks beautiful (great color) and glad it smoked up well with those free shells!!

 

[the dude abides]

Thank God for people like you. I've always wondered about some people who have the ability to look at a plant, animal, whatever and go "Hmmm, wonder if that'll kill me if I eat it?"

LOL. Glad it worked out for the best!

 

[richoso1]

I've been smoking with pistachio shells, (the clear ones) for about a year, and I really like using them to smoke cheese. I never had enough to smoke a regular cut of meat, I might have to save up a mountain of shells for that smoke. Now that chicken really look nice, congrats.

 

[beer-b-q]

Nice Looking Bird ...

 

[chefrob]

my local bbq store gave me some pistachio wood to try......says it is good.

 

[raceyb]

Excellent coloring on that bird!

 

[Dutch]

Thanks chefal.

That yard bird looks great. Nice golden color; what temp did you smoke that bird at?

 

[chefal]

It cooked at 260-280 but I think the nice color came mostly from the orange colored mango/peach/apricot jelly I coated it with.

 

[pepeskitty]

Did you rinse the salt off the shells before using them?

 

[chefal]

No but I did soak them overnight which probably did remove most of the salt. Hope this helps.

 

[grampyskids]

Did you beer can butt it?

 

[chefal]

Of course!

 

[forktender]

That is one good look'in bird.
I have been using pecan shells for smoking ducks & geese for years.
There must be somthing about the nut shells that help with the coloring, because every time I use pecan shells on fowl they all come out of the smoke with a nice chessnut brown color to them.

 

[smoking snow]

i just finished a bag i will keep them thanks and nice looking bird

 

[grampyskids]

Here in CA there are a lot of Pecan farms. I called a local grower and was told that most of the shells are ground up for bird feed. They said that I could by the shells for $2/lb. Thinking about driving the 12 miles and buying some. They should be comparable to buying chips at the local hardware store. BTW it was Fiddyment Farms.

 

[assy mcgee]

Pistachio shells(dry) produce INSTANT SMOKE. In FLORIDA, hard wood is scarce. I highly recommend using pistachio shells to get quick smoke. 

Brinkmann Electric...which is also a nice piece of equipment for the $$. Smoked a pork butt using only shells, very good reviews from my customers. Soaking shells is fine, but for fast smoke just grab a handfull and toss them in.  

 

[flash]

Pistachio shells(dry) produce INSTANT SMOKE. In FLORIDA, hard wood is scarce. I highly recommend using pistachio shells to get quick smoke. 

Brinkmann Electric...which is also a nice piece of equipment for the $$. Smoked a pork butt using only shells, very good reviews from my customers. Soaking shells is fine, but for fast smoke just grab a handfull and toss them in.  

Well only if you are unfortunate enough to live in the big cities. I am surrounded by hard woods, plus you have to like Pistachio Nuts, which I do not. Long live Oak and Cherry and living in the country.