# cottonwood for smoking?



## redneck1676 (Jul 16, 2013)

Had anyone ever used Cottonwood in their smoker? I just picked up a load for the fire pit, but wasn't sure about using it in the smoker. What do ya think?


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## jeoberg (Jul 16, 2013)

Doesn't burn hot and the smoke stinks. At least that is my experience.


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## redneck1676 (Jul 17, 2013)

Yeah I wasn't sure about it. Its real green so I figured ask the experts. straight to the burn pile for it then. Thanks


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## Dutch (Jul 17, 2013)

I don't even use it for camp fires. Like jeoburg said, "it stinks"~to me it smells like someone pee'd in a fire (I'm a veteran Scouter~I know these things). Just imagine what your food would taste like!


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## turnandburn (Jul 17, 2013)

Dutch said:


> I don't even use it for camp fires. Like jeoburg said, "it stinks"~to me it smells like someone pee'd in a fire (I'm a veteran Scouter~I know these things). Just imagine what your food would taste like!


the fact that that smell is burnt into your memory is disturbing....lol. it mustve been bad. lol. funny but bad.


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## redneck1676 (Jul 17, 2013)

Well if smell like that when you burn it anybody want a mess of cottonwood. Lol


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## jrod62 (Jul 17, 2013)

I wish it was good to burn. I would never have to buy wood chunks again . my cottonwood tree is a monster. By far the biggest tree in town.


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## jeoberg (Jul 17, 2013)

For what it is worth, cottonwood also takes a long time to dry (up to two years) and will sometimes rot before it dries. Smell isn't quite so bad when fully dried.


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## smokinhusker (Jul 17, 2013)

Stinky stuff


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## mr t 59874 (Jul 17, 2013)

I agree with the ones below.  Very light flavor.  I put dead cotton wood in the chipper and use the chips.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/106132/cottonwood

Tom


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## Dutch (Jul 17, 2013)

TurnandBurn said:


> the fact that that smell is burnt into your memory is disturbing....lol. it mustve been bad. lol. funny but bad.


With about 17 years as a Scoutmaster under my belt, that means a lot of overnight and summer camps with a lot of new Scouts getting the ol' double dog dare ya to pee in the fire" from the older scouts.


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## turnandburn (Jul 17, 2013)

Dutch said:


> With about 17 years as a Scoutmaster under my belt, that means a lot of overnight and summer camps with a lot of new Scouts getting the ol' double dog dare ya to pee in the fire" from the older scouts.


haha. classic!


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## foamheart (Jul 17, 2013)

Not only can you not cook with it, never use it for lashing anything. It like weeping willow and bends terribly. It is funny to watch a new patrol lash a rope bridge with it. The bark does strip off nicely though if you need to tie something in primative form.


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## jeoberg (Jul 17, 2013)

Mr T 59874 said:


> I agree with the ones below.  Very light flavor.  I put dead cotton wood in the chipper and use the chips.
> 
> http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/106132/cottonwood
> 
> Tom


This and other discussions I found on cottonwood make me wonder if we are talking about the same tree.  Even dry, I wouldn't want cottonwood anywhere near my food.


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## redneck1676 (Jul 17, 2013)

Never had any cottonwood so didn't know. Now I've just got to get rid of it all


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## mr t 59874 (Jul 17, 2013)

jeoberg said:


> This and other discussions I found on cottonwood make me wonder if we are talking about the same tree.  Even dry, I wouldn't want cottonwood anywhere near my food.


Black Cottonwood variety here.  Don't have any idea what variety yours might be.

Tom


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## jeoberg (Jul 17, 2013)

I imagine when dried you could use it in a fire pit.  At least on windy days.


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## jeoberg (Jul 17, 2013)

I'm not sure, I think it is eastern cottonwood.


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## redneck1676 (Jul 17, 2013)

As long as we stay upwind may be fine


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## garand555 (Jul 18, 2013)

Could be a variety issue.  As was stated somewhere above, it can take a long time to cure.  (Not so much here, where triple digit temps + single digit relative humidities happen.)  It can smell like cat piss when not cured, but when cured it is very mild.  It's like night and day between cured and not cured.  I've never used it in a smoker, but I've used very well cured cotton wood for open flame cooking with great results.  It can also be a PITA to split, but splitting it will help it cure faster.  FYI, I have a cottonwood forest behind my house, which explains why I've burned a lot of it.  When properly cured and split into smallish pieces, it will burn very hot and fast and leave a fairly small amount of coals.  Big chunks tend to smolder for a while, especially when not quite cured.  I've heard that well cured cottonwood is good for fish, but I've obviously not tried it.


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## foamheart (Jul 18, 2013)

Cottonwoods are high water plants here. They dominate the area between the levee and the Mississippi river called bar pits ( where the dirt for the levee was dug), as far north as I have traveled and to the Gulf in the other direction. I don't know this but I would assume they are from the same family as the weeping willows.


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