Scrub Oak for Beef?

[meatco1]

Hello:

Newby here, but have spent some time searching the forum for answers to this question.

If Oak works well for larger cuts, wouldn't Scrub Oak work just as well?

I have acre's of S.O on my property, and hate spending the $$ for packaged wood chips. If S.O. would work well in a gas smoker (I have a simple GOSM) it would save a lot of driving to & from town just to pick up more wood chips (I live way out in the sticks!)

Thank you,

Richard

 

[pineywoods]

First welcome to SMF glad you joined us. In Florida many people refer to Black Jack Oak as Scrub Oak and if that is what you have it is indeed good for smoking. Not sure what people in other parts of the U.S. refer to as scrub oak

 

[mballi3011]

Hey Richard you should be just fine using the scub oak as you call it. Will you please stop in to Roll Call and introduce your self properly and we culd give you the warm SMF welcome we like to give to the new people around here.

 

[txbbqman]

I'm not real sure what you are calling "scrub Oak" but I have never heard of any kind of Oak being bad for smoking

Maybe you can give us a Picture of said Oak and we can better help you identify it

 

[rickw]

It's my understanding that all oak is good for smoking. My main wood is red oak, love it.

 

[meatco1]

Sorry, I'm so new here I don't have a clue about "Roll Call". I will stumble around for a while, but I will find it.

Thanks for the answers.

Below is a photo of my front yd, with lot's of Scrub Oak (the shorter brush being "Scrub Oak").

Thank you,

Richard

 

[meatco1]

If all Oak is good (I like that answer!!), I'll just go out and cut down a few and give it a try. I have thousands of these things, and am sure happy to hear I can use them.

I simply didn't want to ruin the Tri Tips tomorrow.

Thank you,

Richard

 

[txbbqman]

If you go to the main Forums Forums

and look in the Announcements section you will find Roll Call, it is where we like everyone to introduce themselves and tell us a little about you

As far as the oak goes, it is real hard to tell in that picture, they are so far away, but I bet they are just immature ??? oak trees due to the Pine trees around them. Pine trees have a way of stunting the growth of just about anything near them.

 

[txbbqman]

I would be willing to bet money....as long as they are oak, then you should be OK.

There are plenty of folks that would kill to have that kind of wood at their disposal.

HOWEVER, I do not recommend using green wood of any kind for smoking.
When I cut wood for my stick burner I let it season / dry / cure for at least 6 months before I use it. This gets all of the moisture and other nasty stuff out.

If you need wood for a smoke this weekend I would ask around town or maybe craigslist and try to find some already seasoned

Good Luck

 

[pineywoods]

I agree there are some people that will use some green wood I'm not one of them. I would cut some of that up and store it to dry (it'll dry faster cut) and find other wood to use until its dry

 

[meatco1]

Finding dead scrub oak isn't going to be a problem around here, though with winter they all look dead.

I will go out with the chain saw tomorrow, and lop off enough for a years supply, and until they season (will be stored in the shop) will continue to use Mesquite & Apple wood.

Gotta love the fast response here!

Thanks again,

Richard

PS: Had to keep resizing the photos downward until they were accepted here. Sorry for the small size.

 

[pineywoods]

Oh looking at your pic I have another thing to say smoked turkey is good

 

[bassman]

The scrub oak has leaves shaped similar to regular oak trees and produces small acorns. If you could get some of it cut up and dried real good I say try it.

 

[hounds51]

Those shorter bushes seem to have 2 legs. They wouldn't happen to gobble also?

 

[meatco1]

Hounds, cute!!

Yes, those short bushes do gobble a bit, and the darn things won't leave the area until just before Thanksgiving. I don't have a clue why, but in any case, they do seem to get a little nervous starting in Sept.

I do love the smell of Smoked Turkey about then also!!

Thanks,

Richard

 

[flash]

There are ALOT of oaks out there. Mainly separated into the Red and White oaks group. Supposedly the Red group burns longer and has alittle better flavor. We use Blackjack and Turkey Oak the most around here in Florida.