wood chunk question

[Griff]

Last week I did a couple of pork butts on my WSM just like I have been doing them for the last 15+ years. I used hickory chunks in the same quantity as in the past, but the finished product had significantly less smoke flavor than in the past. I used some wood chunks discovered when cleaning up the garage. They had been stored in a cardboard box in the corner of a heated garage for 6 or 7 years. Everything thing else was the same, the smoker, the rub, the temp, etc. Logic is telling me that the wood was really died out. Does overly dried wood produce less smoke flavor?

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Very dry wood burns really fast and hot. You get a burst of smoke and then its all over.

 

[Gib Gibson]

Sounds like you have an excuse for another cook to verify that it was a one-off problem with extremely old wood.

 

[Brad Olson]

It's been my experience that wood that's been seasoned for a long time does produce less smoke flavor.

 

[J Hasselberger]

Here's what Aaron Franklin has to say on the subject of wood. It is not surprising that he likes a mix of well-seasoned and less-seasoned wood in his fire.

BBQ with Franklin | BBQ DIY: The Wood | PBS

What types of wood work best for which types of meats?

www.pbs.org

 

[timothy]

If you think of wood as a spice, then the older it is the less flavor you get.
It will still smoke but the moisture content is zero, and moisture content is where you get flavor.
Tim