# newbie wood questions



## smokedad (Aug 1, 2018)

I am in the process of building a brick smoker, which will be like an offset smoker, and I plan to use wood exclusively in it.  I haven't used just wood for smoking as of yet, so I have a few questions.

I was given some plum wood by a friend but I have never used it.  Does anyone know if plum is good for smoking?

I also have a large pile of ash wood at home.  I was planning to use that to get the smoker up to temp and then use apple, oak, maple, etc, for flavor for the meat.  Is there anything wrong with doing that?

I have some smaller pieces of apple and maple wood that are like small branches, too small to split.  Are pieces of wood with all the bark on it like that OK to use for smoking?

Thanks for any help.


----------



## kruizer (Aug 1, 2018)

Almost any fruit or nut wood will be good for smoking. I prefer to remove the bark from any wood that goes in the smoker as it tends to make a bitter smoke.


----------



## zwiller (Aug 1, 2018)

Hello there fellow buckeye!  I would imagine plum would be good.  I used peach, pear, along with apple.  I also think ash would be a nice clean smoking wood.  Might be able to even use it for smoking but definitely for heat.  All this being said, I now prefer more aggressive woods like oak or hickory for meat and milder stuff like fruit woods for cheese.  Small branches is all I ever used in my gasser and worked good but not as good as my MES + AMNPS setup.  Use bark for kindling.


----------



## ristau5741 (Aug 1, 2018)

Try this helpful link
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/ams/wood-types-and-flavor.9469/


----------



## mike243 (Aug 1, 2018)

Never had bitter from bark and in fact use hickory shag bark for grilling ymmv


----------



## SonnyE (Aug 1, 2018)

smokedad said:


> I haven't used just wood for smoking as of yet, so I have a few questions.



It begs the question: What have you been using, Motor Oil? Gear Oil? Puppy Dog Tails?


----------



## smokedad (Aug 1, 2018)

SonnyE, you pose a very good question.  Generally I have been using charcoal and wood chips/chunks, but every now and then I use whatever I need to get rid of, such as evidence of any kind.


----------



## zwiller (Aug 1, 2018)

smokedad said:


> but every now and then I use whatever I need to get rid of, such as evidence of any kind.



Same here;  I like to dry anything that is wet first so it doesn't create too much smoke and attention.


----------



## SonnyE (Aug 1, 2018)

smokedad said:


> SonnyE, you pose a very good question.  Generally I have been using charcoal and wood chips/chunks, but every now and then I use whatever I need to get rid of, such as evidence of any kind.



Oh, I always eat any evidence.
That way the next time it's seen, nobody recognizes it. ;)


----------



## motolife313 (Aug 2, 2018)

Of course plum is good for smoking. It burns nice and slow. I took a big plum tree last may 23” diameter or so. My plum is orangish with some purple running trough it


----------



## motolife313 (Aug 4, 2018)

Here’s how mine looks, some are lighter and some even more orange. Used it last night with oak wood


----------



## motolife313 (Aug 4, 2018)

There few different species of wood here


----------



## smokedad (Aug 14, 2018)

Thanks, motolife, the pictures help.  that's some pile of wood you have.  I hope you have a wood splitter or a lot of friends who like to use axes to cut all of that.


----------



## smokedad (Aug 28, 2018)

I live near a sawmill that kiln-dries wood before they use it.  They put the scraps in bins that are kept outside and you can go and get them for really cheap, and they have oak, red oak, hickory, maple, etc.  If the wood is kiln-dried before I get it, is it good to use in the smoker right away as if it had been seasoned outside for a while?  I don't want to get it and find that it's going to give me something other than thin blue smoke.


----------



## zwiller (Aug 28, 2018)

I am no stick burner but as a long time wooddorker and woodburner, I'd say kiln dried is the ultimate and ready to go.  That said, ask the guys at the mill of they spray, many do.  Wood might not be cool for food.


----------



## smokedad (Aug 28, 2018)

Thanks, zwiller.  When you say ask if they spray, what would they spray with?


----------



## smokedad (Aug 28, 2018)

Thanks, zwiller.  What would the mill spray on the wood?


----------



## zwiller (Aug 28, 2018)

Hard to say, but at minimum I'd say their likely spraying for bugs and/or disease.  Both of which could affect the profitability of the mill.  Termitecides and fungicides are both not food safe.  You might luck out and the mill doesn't spray.  All this being said, the mills I know would never stick anything in the kiln that would generate scrap.  All the trimming happens prior to the kiln so the scrap might not be kiln dried.  Green wood is far easier to cut...  Nothing but the best wood goes into the kiln at the mills I know.


----------



## smokedad (Aug 28, 2018)

thanks again, zwiller, I hadn't thought about the fact that they wouldn't want to put scrap stuff in the kiln, but that sure makes sense.  I will ask them about all that.  We have a company in town that does BBQ and they get most of their wood from this sawmill, so I don't think they spray but I will make sure.


----------

