Will this be ok? Bark on wood

L

Loptr

Guest
I am doing 4 beer can chickens today.
I have plum wood from my tree. Do I have to strip the bark off or am I being paranoid? :confused: The pieces of wood are finger up to about an inch diameter.
This is going in an electric smoker about dorm fridge size.

thanks,
Loptr
 
This is one of the things that people disagree about. I never worrry about bark on the wood, and have never had bad Q from leaving it on.
 
Is the wood seasoned and dry?
If its still green, I would strip the bark and let it burn 30 minutes before meat.
 
What BobF said. I have never worried about bark! Unless it's the neighbor's dog at 2:30am...
 
No worries unless it is rotted.
 
BobF said:
Is the wood seasoned and dry?
If its still green, I would strip the bark and let it burn 30 minutes before meat.
Click to expand...

Yes, its seasoned and dry. About 1.5 yrs old.

Thanks for the responses. I will, "relax, dont worry and have a home brew."

Loptr
 
Sounds like the right idea. Have one of those homebrews for me.
 
I agree with those who dont much worry about the bark.
 
I don't worry about the bark, if its dry go for it! If it has any mold, or fungus, etc. I'd do without it.
 
I'm with the camp that takes the bark off figuring it can't hurt to take it off and might hurt to leave it on.

Most Brethren leave it on, from what I can tell, however.
 
I'm with the 'it won't hurt a thing' crowd. Put it this way... If it falls off, I don't put it back on, but if it's on, I won't fight with it to remove it.

As with everything Q, a small hot burning fire and you'll be just fine.
 
HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
I'm with the camp that takes the bark off figuring it can't hurt to take it off and might hurt to leave it on.

Most Brethren leave it on, from what I can tell, however.
Click to expand...

The Top of my firebox is 60 Inches long. Thats a lot of space to place logs on to pre-heat before you throw em in. I sit them on the smoker door that's piping hot AND IT HEATS THE bark and steams a bit so when I grab the log the bark kinda is already loose. If not the bark goes on top of coals so it bursts into flames first. On sticks the process is different... the part I previously heated on the door is faced up so the intense heat of the coals flashes the unheated bark.

Proper fire and wood tending is important once you have perfected everything else. Sticks that size should cause you no problems if there's no mold or moisture. Preheating is a good thing to do though.
 
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