Woods For Smoking

[smoke alarm]

On another note, what do you guys do about bringing wood home that may have destructive insects living in it? Especially if it needs more curing.

My personal method is to put it in a large plastic container and dump a bunch of CO2 snow (dry ice ) over it, and cover. It's non-toxic and packs a double punch in that it will both freeze to death and suffocate any insects. Plus the wood doesn't get wet, change, or soak up anything undesirable. And it only takes about 8 hours, then you can stack outside as you please.

 

[welshrarebit]

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• smoke alarm
• Apr 16, 2015

Acacia Coa is what he said it was. Perhaps he's mistaken. Here's a pic of a couple pieces. Very dense and heavy. Looks like Mesquite right?

I'd put my money on that is kiawe... Nobody in their right mind would use koa to smoke with!!! I'm not saying it's not a suitable smoke wood, it probably is, but koa is VERY expensive.

your quote of everybody there smokes with it reinforces that it's kiawe because 90% of people here will only use kiawe, the other 10% use guava and ohia. I've lived here my entire life and have NEVER heard of anyone using koa wood to smoke with!!!

I do have some koa trees on my property. I also have lots of furniture in my house made from koa. This is a wood I'm familiar with.

I'm 99.99 positive that that is kiawe!!! Think about it: if that were koa you could make a matching pair of candlesticks that would be worth $50, If they were "curly" you'd get $100, who in their right mind would put koa in a smoker???

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I'd put my money on that is kiawe... Nobody in their right mind would use koa to smoke with!!! I'm not saying it's not a suitable smoke wood, it probably is, but koa is VERY expensive.

your quote of everybody there smokes with it reinforces that it's kiawe because 90% of people here will only use kiawe, the other 10% use guava and ohia. I've lived here my entire life and have NEVER heard of anyone using koa wood to smoke with!!!

I do have some koa trees on my property. I also have lots of furniture in my house made from koa. This is a wood I'm familiar with.

I'm 99.99 positive that that is kiawe!!! Think about it: if that were koa you could make a matching pair of candlesticks that would be worth $50, If they were "curly" you'd get $100, who in their right mind would put koa in a smoker???

I'll throw my two cents into the pot. As said Kaiwe is what most use for smoking/cooking in Hawaii.

From the picture though it appears (correct me if I'm wrong) that the splits are about 4"+/- from the bark to the pith? If so that would be a 8" diameter tree which could fall inline with a growing Koa tree. Most of the Kiawe I have seen was around 4"-6" in diameter, but it may get bigger. Also the red wood is very similar to Koa. Also the splits you show are relatively straight which would be more like a Koa tree and not Kiawe. Note that Kiawe also has a reddish wood.

A Really a good picture of the bark would be helpful. As for density, both woods are dense woods. The density of Koa is similar to black walnut. I have no idea what the density of Kiawe is. I do know one thing that Koa is highly prized and it's frowned upon to use it for petty things like cooking!

 

[smoke alarm]

Yep dirt sailor, 4 or 5 inch splits.  My friend has property on the Island that he has been clearing and building on.  I sent him a bunch of smoked fish and he sent the wood as a thank you.  He said it was Acacia Koa, but it could be either. . . who know's he's a Haole boat captain who has only been on the Island for 15 years.  Certainly from what you all are saying, it's more likely Kiawe than Koa.  I'll ask him if the tree had thorns, that should clear it up (Kiawe = Thorns).

Either way, from what I can gather reading on the web, the flavor profile for both woods is similar to mesquite, but not quite as strong.  Maybe Welshrarebit can comment on this?  Thanks to all!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

 
Yep dirt sailor, 4 or 5 inch splits.  My friend has property on the Island that he has been clearing and building on.  I sent him a bunch of smoked fish and he sent the wood as a thank you.  He said it was Acacia Koa, but it could be either. . . who know's he's a Haole boat captain who has only been on the Island for 15 years.  Certainly from what you all are saying, it's more likely Kiawe than Koa.  I'll ask him if the tree had thorns, that should clear it up (Kiawe = Thorns).

Either way, from what I can gather reading on the web, the flavor profile for both woods is similar to mesquite, but not quite as strong.  Maybe Welshrarebit can comment on this?  Thanks to all!

Is he on Hawaii? Up north or down south or in between. That may help identify too. If he was clearing property it could be Koa. I know that there is still a good quantity of Koa up in Kahola and near Waimea. We ran into a bunch up there when we were looking at some Ohia that we needed for project we were building.

The Kiawe does have a mild mesquite flavor. I cannot comment on the Koa as I ave never had anything smoked with it.

I was a boat captain, but in Oregon not Hawaii. I have two freinds one on Kauai, the in Oahu that run boats. The one on Kauai runs a small dive boat. The other on Oahu runs a mega catamaran booze cruiser.

 

[welshrarebit]

Kiawe trees can get very big. This is a kiawe tree growing in the backyard of a friends house. She wants me to cut it down and remove the wood!

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• welshrarebit
• Apr 17, 2015

If a kiawe has access to water it will get quite large. Also some kiawe don't have thorns. The question is ask your friend would be what elevation his house is: kiawes tend to grow from sea level to about 500 ft; koa usually grows 1500 ft and above.

 

[welshrarebit]

This is kiawe wood I'm using today to smoke some pork for a friend who's havibg a party tomorrow:

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• welshrarebit
• Apr 17, 2015

 

[gary s]

Nice 

Gary

 

[smoke alarm]

Hey dirtsailor, my friend Brett captains a sportfishing boat out of Oahu and has won some pretty big tournaments!  Anyway, talked to him last night and he says the tree had thorns so definitely Kiawe like many here  have opined. 

 

[welshrarebit]

This is my breakfast room : mesquite hardwood floor, koa table and chairs and cherry wood cabinets...

The joke when I was building my house was if it ever caught fire it would be one nice smelling smoke!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[welshrarebit]

Oops missed the pic...

Edit: mesquite floor, cherry cabinets and koa table and chairs.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[smoke alarm]

Hope you saved the scraps!

 

[joe black]

Looks nice Welsh. What is the view from the bay windows?

 

[welshrarebit]

Looks nice Welsh. What is the view from the bay windows?

My patio, fire pit, my smokers and then my garage... It really wasn't about the view but having space for the table...

 

[smoke alarm]

Just found out my buddy was not yanking my chain.  Hican is indeed a real thing.

"Hican trees are a hybrid cross between Hickory  and Mahan Pecan. The trees look and grow much the same as pecan trees but are more cold tolerant, like Hickory. Hicans have a distinct flavor which might be described as 80% Hickory and 20% pecan, but they look similar to a large pecan. The nuts are rare and highly prized. The wood, like both of its parents, is valuable and useful for smoking meats or for wood-working. Hican trees pollinate with both pecan trees and hickory trees."

 

[remmy700p]

In other words, their branches swing both ways?

 

[smoke alarm]

Yep. A polygamous pollinator!

 

[thefireman]

Just picked up 80 lbs of hickory for 25 bucks from academy sports

 

[welovepork]

Great post... I mostly smoke with apple and pear...

 

[cedar eater]

Very informative post. I live in Michigan and have an interest in smoking with woods from my own property. I plan to have seasoned pieces of all my good woods for smoking next year, but I really want to smoke with two of them, red oak and red maple, next week. I cut some of each into 1-2 inch thick disks and dried them in my homemade electric smoker at about 240 degF until they stopped steaming plus one additional hour. Aside from the energy cost, what are the downsides to this? The maple was branch wood from a tree cut down in December. The oak was branch wood from a branch that fell last year.