cutting your own wood to smoke

[jpittssr]

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.

In regards to your sugar maple, do you use any with bark on?
I have some but have not used yet.

[Pork Belly]

I haven't used my wood yet I am nearly out of the SI. My thoughts on the bark were, If it comes off easily I will pull it. Otherwise I will smoke the bark too. When we were kids my father had us taste the branch when cutting marshmallow sticks for roasting. This method prevented getting a bad flavor. I applied the same method to the bark and don't think there will be a problem, however I will start with a cheap batch of chicken to test the theory.

[DivotMaker]

If the bark is good and clean, no problem smoking it.  A lot of the chunks I've gotten from Fruitawood and Maine Grilling Woods has bark.  But, they thoroughly wash their wood.  Bark can harbor mold, fungus, insects, etc...  Just make sure it's cleaned well.

[jpittssr]

Sounds good.

 thanks, Tony

[SuperDave]

I've been a wood whore for a long time and all my friends know that if they prune their fruit trees to check with me.  I usually try to stick to the 1 1/2" - 2" diameter limbs and cut disks with the table saw.  When I do my cutting, I put a clean box under the saw to collect all my sawdust as well.