# sycamore wood?



## terrance o (Dec 13, 2007)

Seems like i have seen somewhere that sycamore wood should be avoided.  is that the case or not?  WWW.volko.com/firewood.htm say its a good wood overall for a fire place.  It seems to me that if it is good for a fire place then it should be good to use un a heat source after it has burned to coal then throw a few pieces of hickory for the smoke flavor ?


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## ron50 (Dec 13, 2007)

Terrance:

FWIW I found this on a website:


_*Donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t *_use any wood from conifer trees, such as PINE, FIR, SPRUCE, REDWOOD, CEDAR, CYPRESS, etc.

There are many trees and shrubs in this world that contain chemicals toxic to humansâ€“toxins that can even survive the burning process. Remember, you are going to eat the meat that you grill and the smoke particles and chemicals from the wood and what may be on or in the wood
are going to get on and in the meat. Use only wood for grilling that you are sure of.
If you have some wood and do not know what it is, DO NOT USE IT FOR COOKING FOOD. Burn it in your fireplace but not your smoker.
ELM and EUCALYPTUS wood is unsuitable for smoking, as is the wood from SASSAFRAS, SYCAMORE and LIQUID AMBER trees.


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## sisco (Dec 13, 2007)

Don't use old railroad ties either.


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## terrance o (Dec 13, 2007)

thanks ron thats what i need to know.


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## Gigaquad (Jun 26, 2021)

Sorry to resurrect a zombie, but this is the first google result when searching for 'smoking with sycamore'. The phrase ron uses is repeated all over the internet too, but it's not a statement not to use sycamore for smoking, or elm either for that matter. We've smoked with both for all my life and enjoyed the different flavors. Sycamore is an earthy, mushroomy flavor that is great for porks. Just mix some in with your normal smoking woods because it burns fast. It's also great for roasting coffee beans.

Elm is a green beany flavor that's good for chicken. I don't know how this "no sycamore" got started but whoever picked it up and ran all over the internet with it should be cooked in his own smoker. It burns up fast and has a different flavor, but that's no reason not to experiment with it. It's not an "unsafe" wood and shouldn't be treated as such.
Hope this helps others wanting a little more range in their smoking.


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