School me on grapevine wood for smoking

[wahoowad]

I have decent quantities of oak, hickory, maple and cherry but keep seeing these large, shaggy grapevines in our woods. Grapevine is listed as a wood that can be used but I guess I am curious if it is worth the effort to harvest and use it.

Truth is my palate isn't sophisticated enough (yet) to discern which wood I have used to smoke different things... I usually use wood in moderation and it just tastes good when I eat my BBQ and I don't really think about the different flavors, I just enjoy that explosion of taste.

So is harvesting some of this grapevine worth the effort?

 

[hoity toit]

Well, try it on a small piece of meat and see. I would like to know as well.

HT

 

[wahoowad]

How do I know when the sap is down? Currently all the leaves have fallen. I can try and harvest some pieces further up the vine or possibly look for some sections that are already dead.

 

[bluewhisper]

I haven't tried it yet. You might be doing your trees a favor if you cut the vines, anyway. I've seen them kill whole stands of trees.

 

[motocrash]

I have wild fox grapes in my woods and have been thinking of trying it too.What I've read on grape is that you need to go light with it or it can get acrid quick.Here's what a place called deejays smoke pit has to say ( look that up,great list of woods)

Tart,aromatic,similar to fruit wood.The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.
Great on most white or pink meats,chicken,turkey,pork and fish

Bill

 

[wahoowad]

Check out the moisture these fresh cut wild grape vines are leaching out

 

[wahoowad]

I can harvest a good bit of this wild grapevine (specifically it is summer grape Vitaceae Vitis if you are doing your research) and would be interested in a smokewood swap with somebody who can provide me either pecan or mesquite. I'm doing pretty good on all the other smokewoods that I would want.