cutting your own wood to smoke

[Brian N.]

Has anyone ever tried to cut up thier own wood to put in the smoker tray?
      I was thinking about going in my back yard or go to the tree farm and cut up my own squars. Tree
farms have some odd precut firewood variety like Apple, pine, maple , oak. I bet maple would be good to try.
I'm wondering if back yard wood will catch fire in smoker . Any thoughts....?     I

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[Walt]

Works fine.  I have used both pecan & oak from my yard.

[Brian N.]

Really.... i thought maybe I couldn't cause of something special that may have to be done to the wood. But okay then , I want to try that. Makes me wonder what oak would taste/smell like.  But now that u say it's ok to do, I want to take hickory firewood and smoke that with sausages for  breakfast. Thanks Walt!

[Pork Belly]

Other than some whiskey barrel I doubt I will buy wood again. I have a 100 pounds of sugar maple from one of my trees that was recently trimmed. I have access to hickory, black walnut, mulberry and apple on properties I hunt.  One of the reasons I went with SI is it doesn't need special pellets or pucks. On long smokes with a borrowed Bradley I would burn $6 in pucks. That adds up quick. At that rate my #3 (and shipping) is paid for after 100 smokes.

[WeekendWarrior]

As long as your 100% sure you know what type of wood it is, go for it.

Make sure you  DON"T use pine, or any lumber of any type, with the exception of some things like whiskey barrels.  As long as you stick to the traditional smoking woods you should be OK.

I can buy large logs of different smoking woods from a bbq/landscaping place for about $1.00 for a five pound log.  I cut off a chunk with a bowsaw and then use a hammer and a chisel to split the wood into 2 to 3 ounce chunks.  A digital scale is great to weigh the chunks.

Here is a couple good reads on wood and smoking.

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/zen_of_wood.html

[swthorpe]

Three years ago I had a cherry tree trimmed in my front yard...I chopped up several pieces to use for fire wood, but now I actually saw the pieces into chunks for the smoke box.  Works perfectly, expect the wood is pretty dry now.    If you use wood from your trees, then you may need to let it dry out a bit before smoking it...not sure about the moisture content when first cut.

[Brian N.]

Wow... thanks for all the advice . 
Pine is bad....got it .  Now I have another use for firewood
thanks.

[DivotMaker]

The only other advice, Brian, is not to use fresh-cut (green) wood.  Depending on the humidity in your climate, you may have to season your wood a year or more to be suitable for smoking.  Your smoking wood needs to be dry, but not too dry.  If you really get into cutting your own wood, you might get a cheap moisture meter and do a little research on the proper moisture content of smoking wood.

[Brian N.]

The only other advice, Brian, is not to use fresh-cut (green) wood.  Depending on the humidity in your climate, you may have to season your wood a year or more to be suitable for smoking.  Your smoking wood needs to be dry, but not too dry.  If you really get into cutting your own wood, you might get a cheap moisture meter and do a little research on the proper moisture content of smoking wood.

DM-  wow didn't know that .  If you didn't say something I would have tried either the fresh wood or from a local firewood retailer . I guess it's better to play around with precut firewood cause they probably dried it already for burning . Good advise. Thanks 

[DivotMaker]

Seasoned firewood will work best, Brian.  If it's dried outdoors, moisture content will probably be pretty close.  You also want to avoid any finished lumber that's kiln-dried.  The moisture content of that wood is less than 7%...unless you're using it for kindling in a stick burner.

[WeekendWarrior]

I find it funny than lately when I am driving and I see cut up branches pilled on the curb, I wonder what kind of wood it is.

[DivotMaker]

Smoking wood is usually kept around 25-35% moisture content.  "Moderate" moisture wood is 16-24%.  Too-dry is less than 15% (unless you're cold-smoking - then it's fine).

Found this old post from some research I did last year.  I couldn't remember the moisture content numbers!

[tbcop-is-smokin]

I cut some large apple limbs out of my back yard recently and sit down and cut them up in large chunks. Going to let em dry and put them in my burlap bag for storage.
Tony

[DivotMaker]

For all of you cutting your own wood - buy a cheap moisture meter.  That way, you'll know when it's right!  Nothing better than "do it yourself," but make sure you're doing it right.  Anyone who deals with wood knows the importance of moisture; that's why places like Fruitawood are in business.  They make sure the wood they sell is at the optimal moisture content for smoking.  Just my 2¢...

[Brian N.]

Thanks for all the good tips. I think it's best to buya cheap moisture meter like DM said . I can play around with moisture while using the pre bagged stuff for now..... thanks...