CHERRY: Is cherry wood cherry or just cherry??

One thing I've learned from this site and something that really should not have required so long to realize, "Dance with the girl that brung ya."
In other words, it's been working for you. Stick with it. I have found that we all are knowledgable enough to have figured out how to make what we have work. I think this principle is what makes this site so interesting. Sure, there are standards (temps, times) but most things are up for grabs.
For example: I read on this site a thread about crabapple wood. The general idea was "Is it the same as real apple wood?" I tried crabapple wood and thought it was just fine. Honestly, I don't know of a difference between the two.
Oaks don't bear fruit, nor do Maples. As long as the wood is "sweet" and not bitter or has a "bite" or "sting" to it I would use it. Maybe a fruit bearing tree would have more sugar running through its fibers, but I'm not an arborist.
It'd be interesting if we had a tree dude able to add to the conversation. Interesting question. I think I'm going to look into this a bit more.

I use wild "choke" cherry wood in my drum all the time and get great results, despite threads I've seen that warn it makes food bitter. I even use more of it than the traditional "3-4 fist sized chunks". When I load up my charcoal basket, it ends up being about 1/4 small chunks and 3/4 Royal Oak briquettes. Haven't had a bitter batch yet!

Wampus said:

Someone commented that you should ONLY use fruit bearing trees for smokewood, but my cherry does not bear fruit.

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Don't know who said that, wild cherry is used all the time for smoking. I've used it a bunch and love the results.

Im almost offended by hearing the Cherry folklore thats popping up. Doesnt matter whether its bing cherries or choke cherries, its great wood and anyone that got a bitter taste or bad results either used a farkload way too much wood (which will happen with any wood) or had mislabeled or rotten wood.

Not actually offended. slightly outraged. BBQ is such a unique thing that you can take any wood and create your own flavor.

going to cut down some worthless pine trees and plant some apple and cherry in place. someone 20 years from now will think to themselves "this is almost as if it were planned..........."

Which wood to use? I live in alder and maple country so I have an abundance of them available. They do not produce fruit. I did a cook with cherry wood I got at home depot and honestly could not taste the difference. So I guess my taste is not as refined as others. I love the sweet smell of the smoker after burning some alder wood in it. I will never run out of smoker wood for sure. Lucky me!!:-D

I also disagree that wild cherry is not good for smoking because it doesn't produce a fruit. I use it also with great results. Like some one said, maple doesn't produce a fruit, but it is great for smoking. But then there are trees that have fruit names in them that I would never use for smoking like a Bradford Pear tree.

The commercial cherry used in wood working is black cherry. Sounds like that is what's growing on your lot. The butt cut log on those can bring some good money if you have a sawmill near you especially if they are not yard trees. We have them and what's called choke cherry on our farm. I've used both for smoking wood and can't tell much difference between them. I've got a fruit orchard on our place and use the trimmings and culls of sweet cherry trees on occasion. Like the smoke from them also but it seems they are a little less strong than the woods varieties but I wonder if that's just my perception now.

Untraceable said:

Im almost offended by hearing the Cherry folklore thats popping up. Doesnt matter whether its bing cherries or choke cherries, its great wood and anyone that got a bitter taste or bad results either used a farkload way too much wood (which will happen with any wood) or had mislabeled or rotten wood.

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Tru Dat.

Furniture cherry is what we call wild cherry and fruit tree cherry( light color wood) is another thing. Both are great, just different. Wild cherry is the ones that taint the color to more darker, pretty color. Great for looks also along with good taste. We mix it with hickory. Steve.

Wampus,
After seeing this post I have done extensive research. I have contacted high ranking officials in the Dept. of Agriculture and the World Health Organization. The concenses is that you MUST STOP using that wood NOW.

I have contracted with them to remove all said wood from your property. Please let me know when you are available for me to load up!

Your cooperation is apprecated. Remember, we are only looking out for YOU!


hehe

Wampus said:

A couple comments in another cherry wood thread got me thinking.....

Someone commented that you should ONLY use fruit bearing trees for smokewood, but my cherry does not bear fruit. It still smells farkin good and my BBQ tastes great. Not that I'm likely to STOP using what I've got a TON of, but I thought it worth posting a thread.

Similarly, I suppose, is this issue also true with other fruitwoods? I've not seen or heard of pear, apple, peach, plum or other fruitwoods that do NOT bear fruit, but......?

DISCUSS!!!

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First of all as a purely techinical point, all trees produce "fruit", it is how their seeds are dispersed. Acorns are the fruit of oak trees and those "helicopters" that maple trees produce are also fruit.
As to why your cherry trees do not produce, they may be too old. To the best of my knowledge all fruit trees will produce less and eventually stop bearing over time. Some the Black Cherry trees that I see up here bear fruit and some do not.

Wampus, thanks for askin more questions about cherry wood

There are two species of cherry tree native to Indiana, The Pin Cherry and the Black Cherry, both actually do produce fruit, although mature specimens that are not managed may have reduced fruit production. There is also a shrub that is commonly called a cherry that is not. It is more common on the Eastern Seaboard though. In general, all cherries, unless selected otherwise do fruit, although the fruit may be insignificant and appear as seed pods or mistaken as drupes.

In general, all will provide a similar smoke, but, each one will have a varying depth of color and aromatics reflecting where they are growing and the climate as well as harvest time. This would not affect use as smoke wood.

The difference between nut-bearing and fruit-bearing wood would be a myth. Most tree nuts develop from fruit or drupe producing plants, with the seed and it's outer casing being the items we commonly call nuts. In reality, the likelihood of one type of fruit tree being sweeter than another is slim.

What I do believe would affect the perceived sweetness of a particular wood would be the time of year the wood is harvested and the manner in which it is dried. The sweetness in any wood is going to come from a combination of sap and aromatic gases in the wood, these are most prevalent in rapid growth stages, which would mean early in the season for most plants. The idea of burning green wood would also have an affect, as greenwood would have more available sap to steam off.

Obviously, someone who is trying to burn green wood will not get a clean burning fire at temperatures in the lower range, this is one reason that people using large stickburners can more effectively burn green wood, as they are using a hotter fire and can force the the green wood to burn effectively. Smaller smokers do not have this luxury, which makes a getting proper ignition and combustion problematic.

Stop using that wood immediately and cut down all of your trees...I'll have several trucks arrive to pick up and dispose of it for you at no charge. Joking of course...I'd be using it for nearly everything if I had the supply that you do. Pretty cool.