# Smoking woods in Zambia



## bwinters (Sep 15, 2010)

Here's a challenge for someone: I live in Zambia and have just built a smoker.  Being from the U.S., I never paid much attention to tree species or anything of that sort when choosing smoking woods.  Hickory was my go-to wood for just about everything I smoked.  Zambia, unfortunately, has no Hickory, so far as I can tell.  There is little information about predominant tree species, and those that are listed are not familiar to me. 

So, does anyone have knowledge about smoking woods in sub-Saharan Africa?  It's worth a free meal and lodging at my place, if ever you're tromping through Lusaka, Zambia.


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## ak1 (Sep 15, 2010)

I wish I could help, but I am in no way familiar with sub saharan tree species.

Really, your best bet would be to talk to the locals and find out what types of wood they're using to cook with.

What the big issue is, Smoking as we know it is a North American method of cooking. Grilling over wood is different and is practiced all over the world.

If you want to do some "good ol'" smoking, I would think that any local fruit or nut wood would work.


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## justpassingthru (Sep 15, 2010)

Hi, and welcome to SMF, we would love to see a pic of the smoker you built.

AK1 is steering you in the right direction, any fruit or nut tree could be considered as a smoke wood, I'm like you, I don't have any American woods to chose from so what I do is find a fruit or nut producing wood and after it is dry do a test burn in a open pit to see how it smells. 

It was my dream to go to Africa and live so I have done a little reading on the subject and I seem to remember your local baobob tree produces fruit.  Surely they have open air fruit stands, you might ask the vendors to show you or even bring some wood from the tree that produced the fruit they are selling.

I hope that helps a little,

Gene


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## aeroforce100 (Sep 15, 2010)

Here's a possibility, IF shipping doesn't kill your budget.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/95338/sawdust-from-todd-johnson


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## bwinters (Sep 16, 2010)

Thanks for the responses.  I just spent the entire morning visiting local lumberyards and asking about woods.  Rosewood, teak, mukwa (also called mininga or kiaat) all seem to be in good supply, and are all hardwoods. I picked up some rosewood and mukwa scraps for a test burn.  So far, all is smelling good.  My biggest concern isn't the smell, though.  I've heard some species - evergreens in specific - can be harmful if used for smoking, and I'd like to avoid poisoning my wife if at all possible.  :)

If this doesn't work, I may go for the sawdust shipment.


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## Bearcarver (Sep 16, 2010)

Be very careful with woods there. I used to "reverse-turn" some exotic woods, such as "Cocobolo" & "Bubinga". I never wore a respirator with any of our American woods, but after reading about the exotic woods, I wore it for them--Highly Toxic.

Just be careful. You should be able to find a lot about woods there on the internet.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Sep 16, 2010)

Found this:

ZAMBIA is gifted with so many fruit trees, both exotic and indigenous, which have been used as food. Some fruits are crushed to form juices, drinks, and jams.

The tropical climatic conditions in Zambia provide opportunities for the cultivation of various types of fruit species such as Mango, papaya, bananas, guava, passion fruit, loquat, pineapple, avocado, citrus, apple, pear, peach, pomegranate, apricot, plum and grapes.

Source:

http://stanslousngosa.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/zambias-unxploited-horticulture/

Apple, Peach, & Pear jump out at me!

Bear


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## mballi3011 (Sep 16, 2010)

It sounds like Bear Carver has taken good care of you here on this subject. Now there is a list of by Dutch.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/50439/woods-for-smoking  this should help you or it might not but it's a list of good smoking woods.


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## ak1 (Sep 16, 2010)

Banana & pineapple won't work as they're not trees, so there's no wood.

What the big issue is going to be, is that there isn't much information out there regarding smoking (as is done here in North America), just because it is not a method of cooking that is widely practiced throughout the rest of the world. We have a good idea of what works in North America, but not what woods work good elsewhere.

As well, there are so many variables. Some woods may be OK for grilling, but not for long smoking, i.e. Cedar. It works great for planking, or open air smoking, but you wouldn't want to use it for a typical low/slow smoke.

Unfortunately, I think that you're on your own, as we here have no experience with the various woods you have available.


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## Bearcarver (Sep 16, 2010)

AK1 said:


> Banana & pineapple won't work as they're not trees, so there's no wood.
> 
> What the big issue is going to be, is that there isn't much information out there regarding smoking (as is done here in North America), just because it is not a method of cooking that is widely practiced throughout the rest of the world. We have a good idea of what works in North America, but not what woods work good elsewhere.
> 
> ...


That's why I underlined "Apple, Pear, and Peach".

We all know they are good to smoke with, and many have experience with them, and some of the others.

Nobody is alone on this forum, as long as they can access the internet, no matter where they reside.


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## justpassingthru (Sep 16, 2010)

I use mango, guava, passion fruit, dragon eye, logan, rambouton and others that I don't know the names in English, like I said, find a fruit stand and ask them, that's what I did, you'd be surprised what a couple pieces of smoked chicken will do to aid in your search for smoking wood.

Gene


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## ak1 (Sep 16, 2010)

Bearcarver said:


> That's why I underlined "Apple, Pear, and Peach".
> 
> We all know they are good to smoke with, and many have experience with them, and some of the others.
> 
> Nobody is alone on this forum, as long as they can access the internet, no matter where they reside.


I understand that, but the issue is, how common are those woods where the OP is?

It's one thing to say that this stuff can grow in your area, but another to say if it actually does grow there.

How common is Peach where you live?

In my area, if I go 5 miles west from my house, I'll never see peach, because it won't grow, but where I live, no worries peach trees grow fine.


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## Bearcarver (Sep 16, 2010)

AK1 said:


> I understand that, but the issue is, how common are those woods where the OP is?
> 
> It's one thing to say that this stuff can grow in your area, but another to say if it actually does grow there.
> 
> ...


Did you check the link I furnished?

Do you think I got it from a US media?

I got it from a journalist who lives & writes in Zambia.

I would think he knows more about Zambia than a Canadian or a Pennsylvanian,

Do you think I'm an idiot?

Why do you like to argue all of the time?


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## dick foster (Sep 16, 2010)

Don't know if you knew this or not but smoking, actually what we call barbecue is believed to have first been done in the Caribbean. The word barbecue comes from the Caribbean native Taino  word barabicu, then translated to barbacoa for Spanish tongues then on to today's barbecue in American English.

It wouldn't be much of a stretch of the imagination to find that it may have actually gotten to the Caribbean from Africa along with the slave trade or perhaps even earlier.

People have been cooking meat with fire for thousands of years, that practice, most likely starting in Africa too, along with the development of Homo sapiens or even earlier species. Even Neanderthals are known to have cooked meat with fire.

Where ever it may have started in the world, way back in history when ever it actually got started, in this country at least, it began in the South. Some even say that smoking meat originated in the American South. However, as much as I'd like to believe that, I seriously doubt it. As I said, fire and meat have been used together for far to long in the history of man, even way back in prerecorded history, for it to have taken any where near that long for smoking to have come about.

http://www.oscarenterprises.f2s.com/bbq_history.html     

If nothing else it could have been and probably was entirely accidental and it's not to hard to imagine how. Many types of lodging in the form of tents, tee pees, cabins, lodges etc. though out time all used to have central fires inside for warmth and for cooking. There was little facility made for the smoke from the fire to escape as to allow too much of it out whould have lost too much heat. Often a single simple hole in the roof had to suffice. To me that constitutes the makings of a smoke house right there. Add a little time and a fresh kill and walla a few hours later you have yourself a nice batch of smoked meat. I've gotta think that someone somewhere has been smoking and barbecuing meat, even in Africa for a long long time indeed.  

'


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## meateater (Sep 16, 2010)

OK I gotta say cavemen were burning flesh as soon as fire was discovered. Not the best flavored or the best smoke ring (then again) maybe better, they were free range meat at it's best. Anywho, whenever you think you done it, it's been done better before you.


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## bwinters (Sep 17, 2010)

Again, thanks all for the replies.  The list of toxic woods was helpful, but I am not sure how reliable it is.  Oak was listed, but it has been widely used in other venues (i.e., alcohol, smoking).  I don't really want to take cues from what the Zambians use unless it's been cleared elsewhere.  Public health awareness and/or planning is low out here, and I'd rather keep my life expectancy somewhere north of 45.  I might give Guava a try.  We've got a lot of that out here.  Lemon too. 
 

I completed my first test-run smoke last night using Mukwa wood and a pork shoulder (picnic). Mechanically, everything was perfect.  I sampled a small amount of the pork for a 'trial-and-error' toxicity test and, 10 hours later, all seems to be fine.  Plus, the pork was fantastic.

Also, by request, I've attached a pic of my smoker.  The fire is underground, feeding smoke to the chamber through a tunnel.  The walls of the chamber are staggered (not clearly visible in the pic) to create two layers of shelves inside.  The shelves are removable and were welded together by a local shop using rebar.  Cinder blocks are hand-made out here, so consistency is low but we've done our best.  The fire is far enough away to allow for cold-smoking, but it can be built up for hot smoke as well.  Also, you can put rebar across the top for hanging purposes: sausages, hams, etc. 

Comments are welcome.


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## ak1 (Sep 17, 2010)

Wow, talk about being misunderstood.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Upon reading my post, I can see where you're coming from. My fault and for that I apologize.

My post was in no way meant to be argumentative.

I was trying to make the point that although certain species may be able to grow in an area, they may not be common there at all, and therefore may be difficult or even impossible to find. When I mentioned Peach, it was the first wood that came to mind, because of the issues growing it where I live. West of me, it is not reliable at all, but go east, and it's quite easy to grow. There may be similar issues for the OP with the various woods available. Also given that smoking as we know it here in NA, is not a common cooking method elsewhere, there may not be a lot of information available as to what woods work and what woods don't.
 


Bearcarver said:


> Did you check the link I furnished?
> 
> Do you think I got it from a US media?
> 
> ...


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## Bearcarver (Sep 18, 2010)

bwinters said:


> Again, thanks all for the replies.  The list of toxic woods was helpful, but I am not sure how reliable it is.  Oak was listed, but it has been widely used in other venues (i.e., alcohol, smoking).  I don't really want to take cues from what the Zambians use unless it's been cleared elsewhere.  Public health awareness and/or planning is low out here, and I'd rather keep my life expectancy somewhere north of 45.  I might give Guava a try.  We've got a lot of that out here.  Lemon too.
> 
> 
> I completed my first test-run smoke last night using Mukwa wood and a pork shoulder (picnic). Mechanically, everything was perfect.  I sampled a small amount of the pork for a 'trial-and-error' toxicity test and, 10 hours later, all seems to be fine.  Plus, the pork was fantastic.
> ...


Nice!

I have a picture just like that in an old meat smoking book. That'll do fine.

Don't know what list you got that said Oak was a toxic wood. It's one of the top smoking woods.

Thanks for the great picture,

Bearcarver


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## dick foster (Sep 18, 2010)

With the number of different species of Oak around the world, I wouldn't doubt it. Some oaks look to be entirely different from other oaks to me and I don't know how they got away with calling them oaks at all.  For example I don't think I'd try using either a tan or live oak for smoking which there are a lot of around here. Neither one looks even remotely like what I learned to call oak trees growing up back East. Live oaks are even an evergreen tree and look totally different in bark and leaf than say a white or red oak.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Quercus_species

Then there is this.

Toxicity

The leaves and acorns of the oak tree are poisonous to cattle, horses, sheep, and goats in large amounts due to the toxin tannic acid, and cause kidney damage and gastroenteritis. Additionally, once livestock have a taste for the leaves and acorns, they may seek them out. Symptoms of poisoning include lack of appetite, depression, constipation, diarrhea (which may contain blood), blood in urine, and colic. The exception to livestock and oak toxicity is the domestic pig, which may be fed entirely on acorns in the right conditions, and has traditionally been pastured in oak woodlands (such as the Spanish _dehesa_ and the English system of pannage) for hundreds of years. Acorns are also edible to humans in processed form, and are a staple part of the forage consumed by wildlife.

As I remember even the North American Indians had a long drawn out process for getting rid of the tannins in acorns before eating the acorns and flour they made from them. I don't know how the squirrels manage it but like pigs they must have some natural thing working. I see them chowing down on acorns all the time.  My dog, a puppy at the time, ate one and it made him as sick as, well a dog. LOL God only knows what kind of oak the acron came from.


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## justpassingthru (Sep 18, 2010)

Your smoker is very ingenuous and creative, looks like you have the TBS flowing too, it also looks like we think alike, try it out first and then do the cleanup. LOL

We live on opposite sides of the globe, but I see you have a grill similar to the ones they make here, they work fine don't they and produce some great BBQ.

Guava and any citrus wood are good smoking woods, if you would like it I have a Guava BBQ sauce recipe (it uses a kilo of guavas, but that's not a problem for us) that is rather time consuming but the results are very rewarding, very good with pork.

Thanks for the photo, like I said it was my desire to go to Africa, so maybe in the next pics you could hold the camera a little higher so that we could see some of the terrain, pleease.

I'm looking forward to you Q-view.

Gene


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## alelover (Sep 20, 2010)

I love it. I'll bet that firebox doesn't lose too much heat. That's nicer than some of the BBQs I've seen around NC.


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## bwinters (Sep 21, 2010)

Again, thanks for the comments and kind words.  I would love the guava sauce recipe, so shoot it over when you get a chance.  Round 2 of smoking commenced Saturday, using wood from an orange tree.  It was a lighter smoke, but very nice.


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## justpassingthru (Sep 22, 2010)

Ya promise to post some pics of Africa?  J/K

Guava BBQ Sauce, It's kind of sweet, but that's what my family likes, they don't do hot at all, black pepper is too hot for them, ...it's good on pork and chicken.

The BBQ sauce is easy, it's the guava paste that takes the time, funny thing, the paste can probably be bought in the States.

*Guava BBQ Sauce*

1 120z can of Coke

10-12oz of guava paste

1/2 cup of Rum

3 Tbs ketchup

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

1/2 medium onion, diced fine

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (vinegar can replace the Coke if you want it more tangy)

1 lemon, the juice

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, enjoy.

*Guava Paste*

1 kg guavas, peeled

1 cup water

1/2 cup water

4 cups sugar, approx.

Cut guavas in half and scoop out seeds, soak the seeds in 1 cup of water.

Place the guava flesh in a saucepan with 1/2 cup water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the guavas until they are very soft, take care they do not scorch.

Strain the water from the seeds and add it to the guavas, discard the seeds.

Grind the guavas through a fine disk of a food grinder (you can mash it through a strainer too).

Measure the pulp and add an equal amount of sugar and mix well.

Place mixture in a heavy pot over low heat and cook, stirring constantly with a a wooden spoon until the mixture is thick and a little jelly, when tested on an ice cube, when it's cold can be lifted off in one piece.

Remove from heat and beat with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes, or until the mixture forms a heavy paste.

Have ready a loaf pan lined with wax paper(a brown paper sack or a plastic sack works too), turn the paste into the pan and set aside in a cool place for 24 hours.

To store turn the paste out of the pan and wrap securely. Makes just under a kilo.

There you go, I said it was time consuming, but there is enough guava paste to make about 3 batches of BBQ sauce.

I hope you like it,

Gene


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## bwinters (Sep 22, 2010)

Gene, thanks for the recipe.  I'll give it a run this weekend and let you know how it turns out (along with some pictures of the surrounds). 

Ben


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## bbqmzungu (Sep 29, 2010)

bwinters said:


> Here's a challenge for someone: I live in Zambia and have just built a smoker.  Being from the U.S., I never paid much attention to tree species or anything of that sort when using smoking woods.  Hickory was my go-to wood for just about everything I smoked.  Zambia, unfortunately, has no Hickory, so far as I can tell.  There is little information about predominant tree species, and those that are listed are not familiar to me.
> 
> So, does anyone have knowledge about smoking woods in sub-Saharan Africa?  It's worth a free meal and lodging at my place, if ever you're tromping through Lusaka, Zambia.


Howdy,

I moved to Uganda almost 2 years ago and have been working through the same issue.  This place is just fresh out of hickory and mesquite.  Here is what I have found:  Mango works well.  It is not too strong, kinda' like apple.  It is good on chicken, OK for beef, but a bit weak.  Sugar cane doesn't work.  It smells good when they are burning in the fields, but gives meat that "burnt pie filling in the oven" smell.  Any part of the banana is nasty.  It gives a bad smoke.  I'm told that avacado is good, but I haven't tried any yet.  There is also a fabulous smelling wood that is often used for wood cooking fires out in the villages.  It is related to acacia (as is mesquite), but I haven't been able to get my hands on any yet.  When I'm out far enough to be where they use it, nobody speaks enough english for me to talk to them about it and I don't speak enough of the local language to communicate.  Guava is supposed to be good, but again, I can't get my hands on any yet.  I have recently found where I think I can get some avacodo and I also want to try some jackfruit.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you find out.

BBQ Mzungu


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## Bearcarver (Sep 30, 2010)

BBQMzungu said:


> Howdy,
> 
> I moved to Uganda almost 2 years ago and have been working through the same issue.  This place is just fresh out of hickory and mesquite.  Here is what I have found:  Mango works well.  It is not too strong, kinda' like apple.  It is good on chicken, OK for beef, but a bit weak.  Sugar cane doesn't work.  It smells good when they are burning in the fields, but gives meat that "burnt pie filling in the oven" smell.  Any part of the banana is nasty.  It gives a bad smoke.  I'm told that avacado is good, but I haven't tried any yet.  There is also a fabulous smelling wood that is often used for wood cooking fires out in the villages.  It is related to acacia (as is mesquite), but I haven't been able to get my hands on any yet.  When I'm out far enough to be where they use it, nobody speaks enough english for me to talk to them about it and I don't speak enough of the local language to communicate.  Guava is supposed to be good, but again, I can't get my hands on any yet.  I have recently found where I think I can get some avacodo and I also want to try some jackfruit.
> 
> ...


That's another thing I like about this forum.

There aren't many corners of the world where we don't have at least one spy keeping us all informed! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Thanks,

Bear


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## murdilu9 (Apr 16, 2011)

Hey - just a thought, but you can smoke with "woody herbs" which you can probably grow with abundance where you are. Thyme, Rosemary stalks should do nicely and they will impart some of their flavor to your products, which could be nice. I have also used nut shells from Hickory trees before with good results - there are probably some nut trees nearby contributing enough rubble to get you going. I will be in TZ soon, May 2011, so I may just take you up on your offer and drop in! LOL!


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## bbqmzungu (May 28, 2011)

UPDATE:  Jackfruit is nasty for smoking.  Makes a smoke that smells like a grass fire.  Avocado is fabulous.  I have been using it almost exclusively lately (partly because we moved to a house with an avocado tree that needed some pruning).  It makes a good strong smoke that isn't bitter.  I'd say a bit milder than hickory, but good for the same things.

BBQMzungu


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## Bearcarver (May 29, 2011)

BBQMzungu said:


> UPDATE:  Jackfruit is nasty for smoking.  Makes a smoke that smells like a grass fire.  Avocado is fabulous.  I have been using it almost exclusively lately (partly because we moved to a house with an avocado tree that needed some pruning).  It makes a good strong smoke that isn't bitter.  I'd say a bit milder than hickory, but good for the same things.
> 
> BBQMzungu


Have to try it on a $125 Turkey!

Just kidding.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Bear


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## atcnick (Jun 13, 2011)

Go to bbqinstitute.com and email the owner, Konrad Haskins.  He's originally from south Africa and may be able to help you.


-Nick via Tapatalk


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## dylanchivers (Feb 13, 2012)

looks good to me


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## mwanzasmoker (Mar 23, 2012)

I live in between Zambia and Uganda in Mwanza, TZ on the the southern shore of Lake Victoria.

I know its crazy, but I think Mango is related to poison ivy, so use it only with sure knowledge of who you're serving the meat to (and their tolerance of contact with poison ivy).  I've had people react to the tables I have made out of mango-wood.  Especially since it is the oil in the wood itself that carries the irritant, burning it just causes it to spread even more (as the oil turns to smoke).  Beyond the guava (which is good) and the avacado (which friends here have also said is good), which have already been suggested, I would add coconut husks and hulls as well as fig trees.  Coconut hulls and husks are fairly straightforward, but fig trees....  You have, most likely, fig trees all over the place, as they are native to east/central/southern africa.  Most likely they are wild fig or even sycamore fig (_mkuyu_ in TZ).  I can't at this very moment tell you whether or not fig is great, but give me a month and I'll tell you.  And yes, I do know that sycamore trees in the States are NOT suitable for smoking, but the American Sycamore (_*Platanus occidentalis) *_is not the same tree or even related to the Sycamore fig (*ficus sycomorus*).  Please correct me if that's wrong.  The only problem with the sycamore fig is that it doesn't seem to be a hardwood (which, yes, is an issue).

I would imagine that what you're calling _mukwa _and what I call _muninga _would be quite good.  Got that spicy aroma even when not being burned.  Keep us updated on your progress there.

Also, on the idea that people don't smoke-cure meat here...ahem, not quite accurate.  People around Lake Victoria, at least, have smoked fish and beef and wild game meats for as long as anyone alive can remember.  There's words for it in both Swahili (_-banika na moshi_) and Sukuma (-_komeela_).  As far as difficulty finding what people use for wood(s), I imagine its like many other things here (and elsewhere): you use what you were taught to use by who taught you to do it.  So, if your teacher used avacado, then when you get ready to smoke you use avacado, and you don't use anything else.  So knowledge is specialized and not general.  Of course, I'm talking of rural areas, not cities.

I would be careful of other nut hulls, etc., as the main nut grown in TZ is of course cashews...the hull of which is deadly poisonous and used to make insecticides and bug killer sprays (Raid, Doom, etc.).  I don't know what you got in Zambia.

Cheers


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## reefinmate (Aug 17, 2014)

Hi Bwinters. I am in Kasane, Botswana. Busy building a smoker and was wondering if you had much success with the Kiaat? Rose wood should be good, I used to work a lot with it and always had tons of off cuts that I would use for barbecuing and the smell of the burning wood was lovely so I reckon it should be good for smoking.


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## heinburgh (Feb 9, 2018)

Hello folks, another Zambian here. Just finished my first self made cold smoker (old propane cylinder with small smoke generator off to the side.)

We farm with sheep and recently started marketing our own cuts, which left me with a ton of unwanted ribs. So this morning I popped in our first lamb bacon.

Not having access to hickory or oak or such, I walked around the farm looking for something I can use to smoke - picked up an old mukwa plank, cut off some chips and ran it through my grinding mill twice to make a rough saw dust. Its running now, hope to sample the first lambacon later today. As you approach the smoker the smell of the mukwa is very pleasant, sweet and spicy. I'll post here after tasting.

Bearcarver, are you still around?


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## heinburgh (Feb 9, 2018)

Results are in: the smoke flavour is superb after being cold smoked for 2 1/2 hrs on mukwa saw dust. Bacon came out a bit salty, I'm guessing I should reduce the curing time with salt/sugar mix to 2 days instead of 3? But very nice flavour apart from salt content.


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## Bearcarver (Feb 9, 2018)

heinburgh said:


> Hello folks, another Zambian here. Just finished my first self made cold smoker (old propane cylinder with small smoke generator off to the side.)
> 
> We farm with sheep and recently started marketing our own cuts, which left me with a ton of unwanted ribs. So this morning I popped in our first lamb bacon.
> 
> ...




Yes, I'm still around---What can I do for you?

BTW: You did use a cure on that Bacon, right? Your Bacon Pics look like you did.

Bear


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## heinburgh (Feb 9, 2018)

Sorry Bearcarver - I just realised you're not the one living in Zambia, but b-winters. B-winters are you still in Zambia?

Yes I cured the flaps with a mix of salt, brown sugar, cracked black pepper and a pinch of pink salt. I had it in the fridge curing for three days. Like I said earlier, the bacon came out on the salty side. To keep this from happening to my next batch, would it be best to cure it for a shorter time or reduce the amount of salt in the mix? I made sure to rinse the curing mix and resulting brine off pretty good before I left them to dry in the fridge overnight.


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## Bearcarver (Feb 9, 2018)

heinburgh said:


> Sorry Bearcarver - I just realised you're not the one living in Zambia, but b-winters. B-winters are you still in Zambia?
> 
> Yes I cured the flaps with a mix of salt, brown sugar, cracked black pepper and a pinch of pink salt. I had it in the fridge curing for three days. Like I said earlier, the bacon came out on the salty side. To keep this from happening to my next batch, would it be best to cure it for a shorter time or reduce the amount of salt in the mix? I made sure to rinse the curing mix and resulting brine off pretty good before I left them to dry in the fridge overnight.




Since you only cured it for 3 days, I would definitely not shorten that cure time.
I don't know how thick your Bacon slab was, but my minimum time for curing a relatively thin slab would be 7 days.

I also don't know how much Salt & Sugar you used, but I would personally not use more than one tsp of Salt & one tsp of sugar per pound, when using Pink Salt.

Bear


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## Nyambe (Sep 11, 2020)

Hello eveyone, Nyambe from Zambia here. I use Mukwa, Avocado and Mango.


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## Frans (Nov 5, 2020)

bwinters said:


> Here's a challenge for someone: I live in Zambia and have just built a smoker.  Being from the U.S., I never paid much attention to tree species or anything of that sort when choosing smoking woods.  Hickory was my go-to wood for just about everything I smoked.  Zambia, unfortunately, has no Hickory, so far as I can tell.  There is little information about predominant tree species, and those that are listed are not familiar to me.
> 
> So, does anyone have knowledge about smoking woods in sub-Saharan Africa?  It's worth a free meal and lodging at my place, if ever you're tromping through Lusaka, Zambia.


Whatever you do, stay away from Tambotie- that will put you in hospital fast.


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## JohanRSA (Jun 5, 2021)

Hi guys. Thanks for all the information. I am from a small town near kimberley in SA. I've been smoking for a while on a very small scale and last year I build a smoker that can smoke hot and cold. This post made me join this forum. I was also trying to research woods to use for my smoking. Over the passed years I've mostly used old oak wine barrel sawings that you can buy in any supermarket in SA. I've seen that takealot.com (RSA's amazon) have a massive variety of different woods for smoking that you could order to be delivered to your home. If they don't do any international delivery, i am sure us in SA will be able to help you guys in upper Africa to buy it and then separately courier it to you. 

As for woods that I've been using with great success after I started experimenting with my own wood sawings, they are the following:
1. Pecan
2. Silky oak
3. Swart hak (its a local acacia, directly translated into black hook, acacia mellifera) 
4. Transvaal Boeken hout (Faurea Saligna) 

I'll make a separate thread with some of my recipes etc. 

Attached is a picture of my smoker.


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## JohanRSA (Jun 5, 2021)

heinburgh said:


> Results are in: the smoke flavour is superb after being cold smoked for 2 1/2 hrs on mukwa saw dust. Bacon came out a bit salty, I'm guessing I should reduce the curing time with salt/sugar mix to 2 days instead of 3? But very nice flavour apart from salt content.



Hi, please look at my posts, I'll make a post later with my homemade cure. It works and have been well refined over the passed few years. I was planing to just post a picture quickly of my recipe, but its in afrikaans, so i have to translate it quickly. See attached a picture of my recent set of beef brisket that i cured.


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