# What's the deal with Pecan wood?



## rvachewlover (May 6, 2020)

I smoked some country style ribs last week with pecan and I just can't get over how horrible pecan tastes. Perhaps I laid it on to thick? Everyone says take it easy with mesquite but my goodness, pecan is the most overpowering taste on this planet.


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## TNJAKE (May 6, 2020)

Pecan is my favorite smoker wood. Maybe yours wasn't properly seasoned


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## rvachewlover (May 6, 2020)

TNJAKE said:


> Pecan is my favorite smoker wood. Maybe yours wasted properly seasoned



One of my old bosses recommended it years ago and just got around to trying it. I used chips out of a Cowboy bag.


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## flatbroke (May 6, 2020)

interesting.  I prefer pecan wood and it sells at a premium price here.


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## rvachewlover (May 6, 2020)

flatbroke said:


> interesting.  I prefer pecan wood and it sells at a premium price here.



It came out very campfirey, slightly spicy. I could pick up the hints of nuttiness but overall very gross tasting


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## forktender (May 6, 2020)

rvachewlover said:


> I smoked some country style ribs last week with pecan and I just can't get over how horrible pecan tastes. Perhaps I laid it on to thick? Everyone says take it easy with mesquite but my goodness, pecan is the most overpowering taste on this planet.


Sounds like you got a bum bag of wood, there is no other reason that pecan wood  would be overpowering. Pecan is one of the mellowest hardwoods, 10x mellower than mesquite wood, you got some tainted or miss marked wood.  I thought I hated hickory after trying it out of the same bag on a few smokes, it was nasty.
Years later I'm at a buddys house, and he's smoking a brisket using hickory, I'm thinking that it's going to be nasty seeing how much wood he's rolling through on his offset cooker. Nope I was way wrong it was the best brisket I ever ate. Since then I use hickory all the time and have never had that nasty taste like the first time I tried it. 

Also, have you checked the inside of your cooker to make sure it isn't covered in creosote? That could be another reason you'd get a funky taste off of pecan or any other wood. Get your smoker nice and hot and get in there and wipe down everything inside with some old towels then hose it out while everything is nice at hot. After you clean it out get it hot and reseason it again then cut a couple onions in half and rub down the whole inside of your cooker with them.


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## SmokinGumby (May 6, 2020)

I don't have much experience smoking with pecan or hickory, but I do think it's worth mentioning that Pecan IS a Hickory.  Same genus, different species.  In woodworking circles, there isn't generally a distinction made between the two, so I don't know if there's likely much difference.


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## rvachewlover (May 6, 2020)

forktender said:


> Sounds like you got a bum bag of wood, there is no other reason that pecan wood  would be overpowering. Pecan is one of the mellowest hardwoods, 10x mellower than mesquite wood, you got some tainted or miss marked wood.  I thought I hated hickory after trying it out of the same bag on a few smokes, it was nasty.
> Years later I'm at a buddys house, and he's smoking a brisket using hickory, I'm thinking that it's going to be nasty seeing how much wood he's rolling through on his offset cooker. Nope I was way wrong it was the best brisket I ever ate. Since then I use hickory all the time and have never had that nasty taste like the first time I tried it.
> 
> Also, have you checked the inside of your cooker to make sure it isn't covered in creosote? That could be another reason you'd get a funky taste off of pecan or any other wood. Get your smoker nice and hot and get in there and wipe down everything inside with some old towels then hose it out while everything is nice at hot. After you clean it out get it hot and reseason it again then cut a couple onions in half and rub down the whole inside of your cooker with them.



I think you might be on to something with the creosote; though I had just recently cleaned the MES 30 a few smokes prior to the ribs. Yesterday is what did me in on Pecan, smoking heavy cream for butter and turned out horrid. Perhaps I'll do deep clean tonight and a new bag of Pecan. Last bag was bought at the blue home improvement store, perhaps it got stale on the shelf to long


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## RiversideSm0ker (May 6, 2020)

I absolutely have to agree with bad wood. Pecan is also my favorite. It has a beautiful scent when you are smoking and that carries over to the meat for me. The nutty flavor is there and it always seems to me like the meat has been kissed by the smoke instead of beaten into submission. I would suggest trying a new package of wood before you give up on this wood. Good luck.
G


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## BourbonBladesBarbecue (May 6, 2020)

Before you give up on pecan, try it with seasoned chunks instead of chips...


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## rvachewlover (May 6, 2020)

BourbonBladesBarbecue said:


> Before you give up on pecan, try it with seasoned chunks instead of chips...



Is there an easy way to turn those chunks into chips to work in a MES 30?


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## BigTaelor (May 6, 2020)

I have used pecan in central Texas all my life to smoke. Sure, mesquite is around but held low and slow (no higher than 250) pecan gives a much better nutty and spicy taste.  Idk what happened with your wood, but I’d source it from a different place.  When the old folks at church would cut down their trees they would give me a call. I’d never use what I call ‘punky’ wood that isn’t uniform or healthy looking. Maybe that’s what happened here because pecan is one of the most flavorful woods to use.


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## fivetricks (May 6, 2020)

Remove some of the guts in the mes and just use the chunks. It's what I do.


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## rvachewlover (May 6, 2020)

fivetricks said:


> Remove some of the guts in the mes and just use the chunks. It's what I do.



Do you have a picture of your set-up?


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## BourbonBladesBarbecue (May 6, 2020)

rvachewlover said:


> Is there an easy way to turn those chunks into chips to work in a MES 30?



What's the max size of the chip it will accept?


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## gary s (May 6, 2020)

Yep, Here in East Texas Pecan is plentiful and just about all I use, Very mild,  Yours must have been mis- marked.  If it was that strong it was either another wood or maybe something spilled and soaked into it.

Gary


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## fivetricks (May 6, 2020)

rvachewlover said:


> Do you have a picture of your set-up?




This isn't mine, but it's the picture i copied from :-)


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## BourbonBladesBarbecue (May 6, 2020)

fivetricks said:


> This isn't mine, but it's the picture i copied from :-)
> 
> View attachment 444061


Try chunks in that pan.  They'll likely smolder well and impart good flavor...


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## rvachewlover (May 6, 2020)

BourbonBladesBarbecue said:


> Try chunks in that pan.  They'll likely smolder well and impart good flavor...



Interesting, is the heating element still below the ash tray pan?


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## GaryHibbert (May 6, 2020)

rvachewlover said:


> Is there an easy way to turn those chunks into chips to work in a MES 30?




Before I switched from chips to using an AMNPS, I often used to sliver chunks to put in my chip pan.  I'd make the slivers about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick.  Just used a wood chisel to split off slivers.
Gary


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## smokinstubbs (May 6, 2020)

rvachewlover said:


> Is there an easy way to turn those chunks into chips to work in a MES 30?


Can you say a Hammer & chisel and cut them down to size? ???


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## BigTaelor (May 6, 2020)

smokinstubbs said:


> Can you say a Hammer & chisel and cut them down to size? ???



Or mayhaps an axe? I believe axes were made for such tasks.


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## rvachewlover (May 7, 2020)

I think the culprit is creosote and bad wood. This was taken yesterday while smoking some salt. Notice the drip pan, lots of buildup in the corners. Ordered some pecan pellets from Jeff Bezos that come in non Saturday, we'll see then I suppose.


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## kmmamm (May 7, 2020)

Seasoned pecan is a mild smoke.  Sounds like maybe there was a problem with the combustion?  We’re you running the exhaust ent wide open?  I have heard similar stories when people tried running with the vent partially closed (Generally thinking they were “keeping heat in to raise temps”).   However, what actually happens is excessive moisture  builds up in the box, and imparts a bitter flavor onto the product.


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## rvachewlover (May 10, 2020)

So an update: I got a bag of pecan pellets and they are burning great in the MES! They smell delicious and can't wait to experiment.  In the MES they produce great thin white/blue smoke


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## K9BIGDOG (May 14, 2020)

I really like pecan with poultry.


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