apple wood for smoking

[Birdman]

ok I have 5 very old apples trees on my property. I have begun to prune them to try n bring them back to better production. My question is , if useing apple wood to smoke meat, does it need to be chips from more mature branchs or will the young small branch tips(match stick/pencil)be useful once dried out. I've got a pretty good pile of these small prunings n hate to waste it if I can maybe use it for something beside a nice bonfire some night.Any ideas? thanks YMHS Birdman

 

[Blizzard of '93]

that's a technical question Birdman.
I have apple trees here and I use prunings to smoke turkeys with in a 'Brinkmann' water smoker.
they do real good. I add a hickory limb every so often too.
good eating after say - about 8-10 hours.
depends on turkey size and care taken while smokeing.
don't let the water pan run dry.

 

[buttonbuck]

I brine and smoke deer roasts chickens, squirrel and geese, I use whatever fruit tree wood we have, I have had the best results(flavor however subjective) of mixing apple and hickory. I keep saying it would be nice to get a chipper shreader and have a bunch of chips so I would have to smoke more critters. I find the small twigs useful since they are easy to cut and soak before throwing on the glowing coals usually I try to start a couple of logs on fire. and smoke them in a gas grill with just an iron skillet to provide a low heat for smoking, can usually smoke 6-8 deer roasts of 4 chickens let them smoke all day long when you work outside.

 

[Bob Gular]

They will work just fine. I like to soak the small twigs and lay them on the charcoal when grilling.

 

[Allan Gray]

I've tried this and it didn't work well. Too much bark on your smoking wood will add a bitter taste. Those little trimmins' are mostly bark.

I have a wood fired pit and I use firewood sized pieces to smoke, (from my firewood stack) Even then I select logs with little or no bark on them, or remove the bark with an axe.

Apple is a great all around smoking wood for just about anything. I think it works well with pork and Turkey. But try to find some bigger chunks. The best pieces are not green, but not more than 6 months old since they've been cut. :thumbsup:

 

[swedepie]

In my smorker grill, I use the chips soaked in water before. My friend has a large, 300 gal propane tank, smoker with a seperate fire box and he burns chunks and logs of fruitwood. Just gets it going the chokes it down with the damper. Man that is some good eatin! Soo chips or logs depending on the smoker size IMO. Mac.

 

[Many Klatch]

Save some of the bigger sounder pieces for handles for your tools. Apple wood has some natural oils that make it a very good handle for chisels, screw drivers and such like tools.

Many Klatch

 

[Allan Gray]

Save some of the bigger sounder pieces for handles for your tools. Apple wood has some natural oils that make it a very good handle for chisels, screw drivers and such like tools.

Many Klatch

Great advise!

I often look at a piece of firewood and ask myself..."Do I really want to burn this??...might make a good horn plug!"

 

[redwing]

Hardwood does not exist in the Rocky Mtns. except for some Mtn. Cypress. I use Apple Wood for smoking. It does not matter the size of the cuts. I cure it in this very high dry air for a year. Its not Black Oak or Hickory but it works.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

the best smoked sausage I've had was smoked useing apple wood and grape vine.

 

[Allan Gray]

I've experienced that problem in Northern Idaho...couldn't find a piece of hardwood if my life depended on it, only at lower elevations. It was some sort of Aspen that I didn't recognize.

Plenty of Cedar, though, which we split into rough planks and used to cook some Halibut and Salmon by the campfire.

 

[chipper]

Cut the dry wood up into smaller selections and burn it. I use charcoal to start my smoker and big chucks of apple to keep it going. Bark on, it don't matter.

Regards

 

[PaulN/KS]

I use the trimmings from my apple trees all the time. The little twigs are good to give the heat a boost in the smoker when it starts to get cool. I favor the applewood for chicken and pork myself...

 

[CZMark]

I use trimmings from my trees too. I try to debark as much as possible as the bark does tend to cause a bitter smoke.

 

[BillinOregon]

Grape vine? Interesting idea.

 

[Allan Gray]

Grape vines are great if you can get them. A buddy of mine likes to stuff a peeled orange in the cavity of a chicken and smoke it up with grape vines. I have a few wineries around me and I hit them up for some vines from time to time.

I've also used the Oak staves from old wine barrels, but found if you use too much it's a very strong flavor.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

any sort of oak does well in a smoker. don't let it get too hot though.
oak can get hot in a flash.
wild grape vines are easy to find most anywheres east of the Miss. lots of Muscadines in the South and Concord/Niagra up North.

 

[PaulN/KS]

Last night we had Cooner54,and family,over to supper. I smoked a pork loin with some mulberry branches... that is a good wood for pork and poultry as well.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Cooner's mighty luck to have for buddy a feller that feed him 'high on the hog'. :thumbsup:

 

[the11]

One caution about using fruit wood for smoking: Make sure it is from a tree that has not been repeatedly sprayed with pesticides year after year. I can't imagine that is good for you.

But apple wood is excellent smoking wood.