Cherry Smoke Wood and Cyanide


 
Yes, laugh...and scream with annoyance and want to pitch something across the room!

Good article James. Thanks for that.
 
Biology is my field so I'll chime in-

You definitely do not want to go eating a bunch of leaves off a cherry tree or the wood. Hope that helps
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Seriously, I bet any harmful amounts in the in the wood would be in the layer just beneath the bark, and moreso near heavy new growth. Probably still not as much as the leaves or drupes. The major part of what we burn won't have much. Couple this with the wood chunks sitting around seasoning for a long time and there's probably zero tangible difference b/w cherry and anything else we use. Besides we eat the meat, not the wood. Though personally I didn't like cherry much when I tried it... maybe it's the cyanide
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The guy who warned you was trying to be helpful, but probably had a little too much info for his own good.

Kinda like I "know" that pecan and hickory are very closely related and shouldn't have much difference in scent/flavor, truth told. In fact I'd bet a lot of the hickory chunks for sale is really pecan. But darned if pecan smoke doesn't seem milder, just like everyone says. Placebo effect? Maybe, but I'll stick with it. Sometimes too much info is just that.
 
Originally posted by Tony C.:
i must be dead. i have used cherry for everything for the last 3 years. sometimes mixed with hickory and or apple, but cherry is always used.
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I'm going with Tony without going through the remaining thread. I'm DEAD AS WE SPEAK. Before I moved from my CG PRO SFB for most all of my recent cooks (long story, let's have some beers) I did a TON of all wood smokes using cherry as the coal base. I still have a bunch of cut offs from a cabinet shop of all cherry. I purposely let it set outside for a year before using it agressively so that an shop toxins had time to remove themselves.

I used a bunch of these 12" perfect size cutoffs to build a set of coals before starting a smoke on the CSG. Great base for a starter cook, adding other sticks for flavor and even adding more cherry on the way to keep the coal base up.

I'm dead. Don't bother listening to me.

If you are using non kiln dried wild cherry chunks you are already dead
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Oh, and guess what if you are letting any beef fat drip directly on your HW charcoal while you are cooking your steaks, you are dead twice.

PS - I love almonds.
 
Well guys I am an old Pharmacist and in days of old many cough preps contained wild cherry bark which both flavored the medicine but also did contain a small amount of cianide (which was the main "drug" in them.. You all survived the old cough medicines and I suppect will survive cherry smoke wood.

gary
 
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