Ok to smoke with Bradford Pear wood?

Talked with my father in law today and he had a couple of Bradford Pear trees blow down. Is the BP good to smoke with??

"WOOD FOR GRILLING by Bill Wight


Q: Would someone please tell me what kinds of wood are suitable for grilling?

A: The traditional woods for smoking are HICKORY, PECAN and OAK. Here is a list of woods suitable for smoking:

ACACIA - these trees are in the same family as mesquite. When burned in a smoker, acacia has a flavor similar to mesquite but not quite as heavy. A very hot burning wood.

ALDER - Very delicate with a hint of sweetness. Good with fish, pork, poultry, and light-meat game birds.

ALMOND - A sweet smoke flavor, light ash. Good with all meats.

APPLE - Very mild with a subtle fruity flavor, slightly sweet. Good with poultry (turns skin dark brown) and pork.

ASH - Fast burner, light but distinctive flavor. Good with fish and red meats.

BIRCH - Medium-hard wood with a flavor similar to maple. Good with pork and poultry.

CHERRY - Mild and fruity. Good with poultry, pork and beef. Some List members say the cherry wood is the best wood for smoking. Wood from chokecherry trees may produce a bitter flavor.

COTTONWOOD - It is a softer wood than alder and very subtle in flavor. Use it for fuel but use some chunks of other woods (hickory, oak, pecan) for more flavor. Don't use green cottonwood for smoking.

CRABAPPLE - Similar to apple wood.

GRAPEVINES - Tart. Provides a lot of smoke. Rich and fruity. Good with poultry, red meats, game and lamb.

HICKORY - Most commonly used wood for smoking--the King of smoking woods. Sweet to strong, heavy bacon flavor. Good with pork, ham and beef.

LILAC - Very light, subtle with a hint of floral. Good with seafood and lamb.

MAPLE - Smoky, mellow and slightly sweet. Good with pork, poultry, cheese, and small game birds.

MESQUITE - Strong earthy flavor. Good with beef, fish, chicken, and game. One of the hottest burning.

MULBERRY - The smell is sweet and reminds one of apple.

OAK - Heavy smoke flavor--the Queen of smoking wood. RED OAK is good on ribs, WHITE OAK makes the best coals for longer burning. All oak varieties reported as suitable for smoking. Good with red meat, pork, fish and heavy game.

ORANGE, LEMON and GRAPEFRUIT - Produces a nice mild smoky flavor. Excellent with beef, pork, fish and poultry.

PEAR - A nice subtle smoke flavor. Much like apple. Excellent with chicken and pork.

PECAN - Sweet and mild with a flavor similar to hickory. Tasty with a subtle character. Good with poultry, beef, pork and cheese. Pecan is an all-around superior smoking wood.

SWEET FRUIT WOODS - APRICOT, PLUM, PEACH, NECTARINE - Great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish. The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.

WALNUT - ENGLISH and BLACK - Very heavy smoke flavor, usually mixed with lighter woods like almond, pear or apple. Can be bitter if used alone. Good with red meats and game.

BBQ List members and other internet sources report that wood from the following trees is suitable for smoking: AVOCADO, BAY, CARROTWOOD, KIAWE, MADRONE, MANZANITA, GUAVA, OLIVE, BEECH, BUTTERNUT, FIG, GUM, CHESTNUT, HACKBERRY, PIMIENTO, PERSIMMON, and WILLOW. The ornamental varieties of fruit trees (i.e. pear, cherry, apple, etc.) are also suitable for smoking.

just want to chime with a little advice on wood sourcing. make sure you know the tree wasn't sprayed with pesticides, etc. for quite a few years or not at all. One reason is some of that stuff can stay in the wood and when it incinerates - well, not what you want to serve with food. This isn't a huge deal, just one to be given some consideration.

Meat Burner said:

Wood, nice post. But, how about an ornamental bradford pear? The pear mentioned in your thread was a fruit bearing tree. What's your thoughts?

Click to expand...

The bottom sentence of my post says it will be fine

Meat Burner said:

Wood, nice post. But, how about an ornamental bradford pear? The pear mentioned in your thread was a fruit bearing tree. What's your thoughts?

Click to expand...

see the very bottom, i almost missed it too

Be Very careful with Mesiquit when it is green it is very bitter and you can not get it out of your smoker even by sand blasting it. This is what I have been told, Black walnut I know 1st hand It has a lot of carcinogens in it and will cause your mouth and throat to go numb.

Ive used Bradford pear wood before. nice light smoke but you have to be careful and keep the temps even or else its a lil quicker than other other fruit tree woods to blacken the top of the meat. I cooked with chicken and loved it!

Great info thanks!

I have a lot of this already. After any wind storm, drive around town and offer to remove the broken trees for people. You'll have more than you need rather quickly. those things can't take the wind at all.

Hello,

A Google search on another subject led me to this site and this thread. I've read a number of posts full of misinformation regarding the Bradford Pear, so I think I can add to this conversation.

First, a Bradford Pear really is a fruit-bearing pear tree. It is a cultivar of the Callery pear species: Pyrus callereryana 'Bradford'. One reason people may think it is not fruit bearing is that the fruit is very small. Another reason is that most people are familiar with this pear in a landscaping setting, where pollinating trees are absent. The Bradford pear is not self-pollinating and needs another cultivar or pear species to fertilize it.

People also believe that the Bradford Pear is a softer fruit wood because they see these trees suffer wind damage easily. It's not the softness that creates this problem; I've found it no more softer than any other fruit wood. Instead, it is the weak crotches and brushy composition of the tree that causes problems. Their brushy composition catches a lot of wind and the narrowly "Y"-shaped crotches split easily. Many fruit-bearing trees tend toward this habit, with all pears being pretty bad offenders. Where I live the orchardists work hard to correct this habit, training fruit-bearing limbs to grow perpendicular to the trunk and parallel to the ground. In my small orchard I work hardest training my Comice, Barlett and Seckel pears. The apples take the least amount of work. And the stone fruit trees are pruned in a much different manner.

I've also read in some forums that the Bradford Pear is not a true pear, but actually a form of a rose. Well, kinda. All pome fruits, including apples and pears, are members of the rose family (rosacea). So are stone fruits. In fact, rosacea family also includes strawberries, raspberries and almonds.

So why is this knowledge important for smoking? Well, wood is where the flavor comes from, and knowing your ingredients is important in any cooking.

Look at other posts and you'll see the flavor of pears and apples (both pome fruits) are very similar. Stone fruits have have their own flavors. And as some posters have noted, there can be differences in flavor between species and cultivars. And that offers new avenues for exploration.

For example, there is quite a difference in flavor between the currently popular and exceptionally sweet "Honeycrisp" apple and the very tart "Granny Smith" apples. So is the flavor of the smoke different? Mmmaybe yes, mmmmaybe no. My burning of wood shavings tells me there is a very slight difference.

So now, you have a whole 'nuther line of BS, when discussing your own secret recipes …

"I'd NEVER use Elberta, Red Haven is the only peach I'd use." Then watch your friends scramble around the orchards.

Have a great day!

RickBuddy