Can you identify my wood?


 
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Darryl.O

TVWBB Member
I just recently picked up my first WSM, as well as some hickory, cherry, and apple wood chunks off of Amazon. I am completely new to all of this. The vendor on Amazon shipped all 3 wood types in 3 boxes. When my wife received the packages she decided to throw all of the wood chunks into the same box. They are all mixed up now and I don't have a clue which is which. I've taken a pic of pile. Can anyone help me figure this?

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Darryl, I am also brand new to all of this, but I am going to venture a guess on at least one chunk in there. Keep in mind this could be very wrong, and if someone else on here corrects me, take what they say over what I'm saying.

Now, I think the chunks with the rough bark (like the chunk showing the bark on the far left, at roughly the vertical mid-point of the picture) is oak. Not real sure, but that looks like oak bark to me.

OK, I edited the pic to show exactly which piece I'm talking about.

 
Well, that piece on the left is apple, and the one on the bottom is hickory...... Seriously, the cherry will be redder than the other two. Get that out, and then we can further work on it. Hickory will tend to be the lightest color of the three and I am guessing that the pieces that are two toned (dark center) are the apple (despite the fact that they resemble water oak!)In the end, you can really mix them in use and probably never know the difference. I have been doing this for 7 years and cannot identify the nuances of the different woods on a finished product! Don't sweat it too much!
 
This will end up being a good tutorial for yourself. I would seperate by bark and wood colors for starters. The cherry is the reddish colored, the apple should be the lightest and tightest grained. I think once you start sorting, you will be able to see the differences

my 2 cents
Paul
 
The large barked chunk in the middle right is apple, I believe (or at least it looks just like the apple that I cut out of an apple orchard last year (yes, with the owner's permission)).

You could maybe make a duplicate order so that you have samples to do a direct comparison.

If you can't separate them, you will be pleased to find out that the combination of 2 or 3 of your wood types makes very pleasant smoke taste. You won't know what you are using, but the outcome will be tasty nevertheless.
 
Some do-gooder did the same for me when they helped straighten out my garage. Combined several boxes of wood into one. Unfortunately it was smokinglicious wood which does not have bark which has made it almost impossible to discern what is what. I call it my smoke grab bag now.

Good luck . . .
 
I'm pretty sure that what you have will be VERY hard to sort properly... but on the plus side, at least 2 of them are mild fruit woods.

Personally I'll just use this as a "pick'em" box for any time I was doing ribs or butts. All of those woods make delicious BBQ anyways... just pray you don't luck into selecting 4-5 chunks of hickory all at once!! haha
 
Darryl,

Those woods are quite often available in the small bags of "chips" at any store that carries BBQ or grilling related items. Buy a bag of each if you can, then let your nose be your guide!

Take a propane torch and light one or more of the hickory chips. Then light your chunks one by one until you find one that matches the smell. Note what it looks like, and sort that one out from your pile.

Repeat with apple and/or cherry.

Good luck,

JimT
 
Then light your chunks one by one until you find one that matches the smell.
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Too funny, I was thinking pretty much the same thing ... only soldering iron or wood burner (craft, decorative).
 
I wouldn't even worry about which one is which. Just enjoy - that looks like some pretty nice wood. Any of those will taste mighty fine on just about any cook you'd do on a WSM.
 
hickory bark is mangly lookin and burn some.. unmistakable smell. Apple that I've used colors vary from light to dark all in the same chunk, unfortanatly I just realized this is gonna be tough cause I know all the smells.... i wish i was there I have a huge honker... anyway ya cherry is red. But I know you'll smell the hickory difference for sure if that helps. totally out of ideas on this one but this is crackin me up. I showed my girl and she said "you wouldn't rat me out on this site like that would you?" hehehe she thinks your wife was just organizing and she understands and she said thats something she would have done also... lol.
 
i had to laugh when i read what happened. no idea how to help with the wood. but recommend telling the wife that ya still love her.
 
No worries. I smoke with a mix of apple and hickory any time I do pork or chicken (beef I throw in some oak with the other two).

Good luck with the wsm. Don't make my rookie mistake by over-thinking things. Fill 'er up with charcoal, throw some of those chunks on, and drink a beer. By the time you burn through that box you'll either won't care anymore about wood species, or be ready to start playing with different species and ratios.
 
True about the title.
the chunks with the gnarliest/biggest bark are hicory. that wood is also very hard.
the chunks with the smoothest bark are apple.
the chunks with the medium bark are cherry.
separate the hickory and apple because they are completely different. I wouldnt even bother like others have said.
 
There is a good deal of humor in this. But it might help you learn to identify your smoke woods easier in the future.

Shouldn't matter in the long run. Burn em.
 
Originally posted by G.Lang:
the chunks with the smoothest bark are apple.
the chunks with the medium bark are cherry.
Click to expand...
This is not true. It all depends where/what part of the tree the wood comes from, and what kind/variety of Apple and Cherry tree the wood came from.
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Apple bark is not all that smooth on the trunks, esp on very large, old trees. Some cherry trees have smooth bark on all parts of the tree, trunks and limbs (wild cherry). I'll post pics on Thursday that should help you out. I myself would want to seperate the wood.
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For now, as said, all pure white wood that's stringy is Hickory (if all the bark matches), so get that out of there. That just leaves apple and cherry to sort. Apple will be bi color, white wood on the outside, to the bark, red in the center. So some of the all whit wood could be apple, but apple is not a stringy wood. Cherry is all red, no white. Some cherry wood, will have horizontal lines in the bark. HTH
EDIT: Darryl.O One post and where did you go?
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Sorry, guys I was out of town with no internet access.

I appreciate everyone's feedback.

Yes, I thought I might get a few giggles from the title
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It seems I can pick out the hickory (with bark) fairly easily. The cherry wood is a no brainer since it's almost reddish in color. I haven't spent much time sorting all the pieces without bark. I may just remove all of the hickory and use the rest of the box as a "grab bag" as LarryR suggested. I'm probably too new to all of this to notice any differences anyway!

Quick question though, when some of you had suggested smelling for differences...were you referring to smelling the wood chunks as is? Or burning? Sorry I'm a newb!
 
Darryl, you will be able to smell the difference when burning. To me, all the woods you have a unique smell . . . or at least to me they do. BTW, I do not use my grab bag for poultry only beef and pork. Good luck.
 
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