Can you use the wood from a tree you cut down to smoke with?


 
S

Seth Boardman

TVWBB Fan
I don't know if this is a stupid question or not. I know there is certain types of wood you don't use, however if you chop down an apple tree or oak tree can you use that wood to smoke with? Is there something that has to be done to the wood before you can use it for smoking? If anyone has done this before or has answers to questions i haven't thought of about this let me know! Thank you
 
Seth, cut it down, maybe split it, stack it for airflow and let it dry out for a year.

Don't use softwoods. Pines, evergreens & the like are too resinous and you won't like the smoked food. Oak, hickory, pretty much anything that loses it's leaves annually is a start.
 
Keep it off the ground. I used thick paver stones here, but cinder blocks are better. Another mistake I made, I should've used treated 2X4's, carpenter ants and other bugs don't like treated wood.

I've made another one next to this one, and I sprayed the ground , the blocks, the 2X4's with Taurus S/C , which is actually 9% fipronil. Same thing as Termidor. That killed out a carpenter ant colony and pretty much eliminated the bug problem. I sprayed all of it BEFORE putting wood on the rack.

I've also located this in a far corner of my yard, as far from the house as possible. Due to the bug issues that wood will attract. I also put it in a place where grass won't grow due to it being shaded, that helps with the bug problem.

The wood in this picture is what's left of a pecan tree my Father-in-law cut down. Depending on what size splits or chunks you want to use, there will be tools to help. I use a cheap Harbor Freight electric chain saw, a Kindling Cracker , and a miter saw.

I have a stick burner, so I go through a lot of wood. There's some work and trouble to it, but its worth it. I've since added a good amount of oak when I saw an oak tree being cut down up the street.

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Lynn Dollar said:
Keep it off the ground. I used thick paver stones here, but cinder blocks are better. Another mistake I made, I should've used treated 2X4's, carpenter ants and other bugs don't like treated wood.

I've made another one next to this one, and I sprayed the ground , the blocks, the 2X4's with Taurus S/C , which is actually 9% fipronil. Same thing as Termidor. That killed out a carpenter ant colony and pretty much eliminated the bug problem. I sprayed all of it BEFORE putting wood on the rack.

I've also located this in a far corner of my yard, as far from the house as possible. Due to the bug issues that wood will attract. I also put it in a place where grass won't grow due to it being shaded, that helps with the bug problem.

The wood in this picture is what's left of a pecan tree my Father-in-law cut down. Depending on what size splits or chunks you want to use, there will be tools to help. I use a cheap Harbor Freight electric chain saw, a Kindling Cracker , and a miter saw.

I have a stick burner, so I go through a lot of wood. There's some work and trouble to it, but its worth it. I've since added a good amount of oak when I saw an oak tree being cut down up the street.

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Wow that's a lot more wood than I would ever need haha. I just have an 18 inch wsm. Can you use the wood for a long time or do you have to get rid of it after so long? What size chunks should I make to use them in my smoker? About the same size you get from the store or can I make them a bit bigger?
 
Can you use the wood for a long time or do you have to get rid of it after so long?
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All up to you. As the wood continues to dry and loses moisture, it will burn faster and hotter and the flavoring of the meat will vary slightly. But when ya buy a bag of chunks from the big box store, those already have low moisture. It will take your " homegrown " chunks a good while to get there.

What size chunks should I make to use them in my smoker?
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Well, that is open to debate. Common chunk size = size of the fist. But there's some who prefer chopping chunks into even smaller pieces for use in a WSM. Theory is , the smaller pieces don't smolder as much as the larger chunk. They will burst in flame easier and/or burn hotter with lower air flow, which a WSM does not have a lot of air flow.

I've found the best tool for cutting small splits to make chunks, or to make smaller pieces out of chunks, is a hatchet and a 3# mallet. Use the hatchet like a maul
 
All of the wood sold at the big stores has been kiln dried, its not legal to ship any where besides the place it was cut down by federal law
 
Hi Seth - Based on what I've learned about smoke wood, cutting your own is almost preferable to buying from a store. Lynn's given some really solid advice. I think for size, in my opinion, bigger is better if you are cutting your own. I'm guessing an 18" WSM charcoal basket is around 14" or 15" in diameter, so I'd probably go 10" or so. I saw a guy use a miter saw to cut his wood to length, which I thought was brilliant so I did the same. I have oak and hickory hard woods delivered to my home from a local provide every year for use in my fire pit, so I just cut some of those 18" split chunks into 9" long pieces and use them in my 22" WSM. It's a bit of a gamble in terms of what's Oak and what's Hickory but I don't mind rolling the dice because I'm finding it's mostly oak, and getting good flavor and really slow steady smoke output.

Mike is also correct about the kiln drying. The big box/nation wide brands variety of wood chunks should be avoided if possible. You can still use them but you'll have to feed a lot more chunks into the smoker to keep the smoke rolling and the smoke flavor will likely be less pronounced. Not sure what part of NY you live in, but you may be able to find some smoke chunks that are produced in NY, PA, or parts of New England where the chunks are fresher as they aren't spending as much time in transit/warehousing/distribution. Basically look for chunks that feel heavy for their size and you'll be on the right track.
 
Just to veer off on a slight tangent...

It's also OK to use windfall branches for smoking and grilling as long as they're from the right kind of tree. There are a few oaks in my yard and I'm always using what I find on the ground, as long as it's not obviously rotten.
 
Word of caution on bringing wood home , the oak tree that was cut down up the street, that I had previously mentioned, was cut down because it was stressed. Which is why most of them are cut down. Carpenter ants and other insects are attracted to stressed trees that are still alive. I picked up one piece of that oak tree and it was covered with carpenter ants. The limb had a huge knot, and the ants had burrowed inside the limb in the knot.

I also had the larva of a huge beetle in the pecan I got from my FIL. I found out from Ok State Univ entomologists that it was called an Ivory Marked Beetle. And it was harmless. Would not bite and won't take up residence inside a house because it does not like painted, stained, or treated wood. It looks for stressed live trees.
 
MikeCantell said:
All of the wood sold at the big stores has been kiln dried, its not legal to ship any where besides the place it was cut down by federal law
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I think you're referring to fresh cut green wood.
Smokinlicious ( New York state) and Fruita wood ( Colorado) will ship all over the US.:)
 
John K BBQ said:
Hi Seth - Based on what I've learned about smoke wood, cutting your own is almost preferable to buying from a store. Lynn's given some really solid advice. I think for size, in my opinion, bigger is better if you are cutting your own. I'm guessing an 18" WSM charcoal basket is around 14" or 15" in diameter, so I'd probably go 10" or so. I saw a guy use a miter saw to cut his wood to length, which I thought was brilliant so I did the same. I have oak and hickory hard woods delivered to my home from a local provide every year for use in my fire pit, so I just cut some of those 18" split chunks into 9" long pieces and use them in my 22" WSM. It's a bit of a gamble in terms of what's Oak and what's Hickory but I don't mind rolling the dice because I'm finding it's mostly oak, and getting good flavor and really slow steady smoke output.

Mike is also correct about the kiln drying. The big box/nation wide brands variety of wood chunks should be avoided if possible. You can still use them but you'll have to feed a lot more chunks into the smoker to keep the smoke rolling and the smoke flavor will likely be less pronounced. Not sure what part of NY you live in, but you may be able to find some smoke chunks that are produced in NY, PA, or parts of New England where the chunks are fresher as they aren't spending as much time in transit/warehousing/distribution. Basically look for chunks that feel heavy for their size and you'll be on the right track.
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Thanks so much for the information. I'm from a small town in new york called Jamestown (birthplace of Lucille Ball). I have access to a lot of apple trees in a wild orchard on my in-laws property. Should I cut down a green tree or just use one that is mostly dead anyway?
 
If it's mostly dead you should be able to salvage some smoke wood from it; if it's been dead for a long time it's most likely fuel for the fireplace and the campfire.

If you cull a live tree the limb pieces will need to age at least 6 to 12 months, depending on the size. And small twigs and branches can be used even earlier than that, depending on how far you break them down.
 
I pruned the apple tree in my front yard back in January/February 2017 and have been using it since without issue. I have stored most of it in my garage.
 
I use drop branches all the time, I have a pignut hickory in my backyard and the smoke is mild and very nice, have also used oak, maple, and cherry branches.They are already dry just break them to size, They may burn faster then chunks, so just add more....
 
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