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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking. |
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11-28-2012, 08:09 PM | #1 |
On the road to being a farker
Join Date: 10-13-12
Location: Farmington, Utah
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Burning green wood.
On pit masters Myron Mixon uses green peach wood. I picked up some green cherry. What woods if any can be burned green.
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11-28-2012, 08:24 PM | #2 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 06-23-07
Location: North Berwick, ME
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A couple of things in my opinion:
1) You need a very hot fire to burn green wood. 2) Fruit woods do better green than other woods. 3) Cherry is pretty acrid in my opinion if it isn't seasoned long enough. You may want to use it as an "accent" wood with dryer, hotter burning wood. 4) Myron is really in a parallel universe when he cooks. There are many specifics that he does that get's him to his end product that most people have a hard time attaining unless they duplicate his process completely. 5) Find what works for you and enjoy the journey...it's different for all of us from one degree to another.
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Tim [COLOR=darkred]“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”[/COLOR] - Mark Twain - Beautiful family - Home made trailer mounted reverse flow offset w/ vertical chamber, Weber OTG and an ECB |
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11-28-2012, 08:52 PM | #3 |
On the road to being a farker
Join Date: 10-13-12
Location: Farmington, Utah
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Thought I would ask. Overall I hate Myron Mixon :) Would love to cook with peach wood.
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11-28-2012, 09:01 PM | #4 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 07-08-10
Location: Texas
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I have never had the cajones to use green wood, but I know people do it all the time, with good results.
I have to agree that if I did try it, I would want to add my green wood to a very well established, hot bed of coals, and add it in moderation. But, since I haven't actually tried it, I hope you gat lots of posts from brethren who have done it successfully. I like to play with my food. CD |
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11-28-2012, 09:20 PM | #5 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-31-09
Location: Homeworth, OH
Name/Nickname : John
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Do not be afraid of green wood.
With that said, green wood is very different than seasoned wood. Also it matters how green. I much prefer to use (when I can find it): Hickory - >6 months (amount of time after it was a living tree) Fruit woods - >3 months When burning green wood you do want a hot fire, but more than that you need something to temper the acrid smoke that can out-gas from green wood. I use a large water pan in my smoker (I believe Myron uses a water smoker for this reason). Properly drafted smokers with plenty of water between firebox and meats will turn out great Q with green wood. I've been using green (hickory) for 20 + years.
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John |
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11-28-2012, 09:46 PM | #6 |
On the road to being a farker
Join Date: 10-13-12
Location: Farmington, Utah
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On the subject of water in your pit. I smoked two shoulders, no water, and it turned out great. I have heard that water is cheating. Thoughts.
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11-28-2012, 09:51 PM | #7 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 06-23-07
Location: North Berwick, ME
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Define cheating?
__________________
Tim [COLOR=darkred]“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”[/COLOR] - Mark Twain - Beautiful family - Home made trailer mounted reverse flow offset w/ vertical chamber, Weber OTG and an ECB |
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11-28-2012, 10:09 PM | #8 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 06-04-12
Location: NOVA via NOLA
Name/Nickname : David
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Interesting. I have heard multiple times that only "experienced cooks" can cook with green wood. My question is why? What is it that makes green wood special or hard to cook with?
I mostly use hickory, oak, and pecan purchased from Academy Sports. This wood has been kiln-dried. After Hurricane Issac passed through, I cut quite a bit of oak and pecan. It has been drying for the past three months. I am curious about how long I should let it dry. Any thoughts?
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Shirley 24" x 60", 26" OTG, 22" WSM,
(Former pits: Klose 20" x 48", New Braunfel's El Dorado) - "There's nothing magical about 225°, except waking up earlier and eating later." - DaveAlvarado - "You talk about burning lots of wood like it’s a bad thing..." - Gimmethecash Certified IMBAS MOINK Baller! |
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11-28-2012, 10:24 PM | #9 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 06-23-07
Location: North Berwick, ME
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The big challenge with green wood is that it has a lot of moisture or sap still in the wood. This causes it to burn at a lower temp, usually resulting in a thicker, heavier smoke...unless you have a really good bed of coals to burn it on which usually means that you're cooking in the 350* range to have it burning clean enough. It's not the only way to do it with green wood, that's just the way I understand it.
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Tim [COLOR=darkred]“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”[/COLOR] - Mark Twain - Beautiful family - Home made trailer mounted reverse flow offset w/ vertical chamber, Weber OTG and an ECB |
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11-30-2012, 01:44 PM | #10 | |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-31-09
Location: Homeworth, OH
Name/Nickname : John
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Quote:
I use green wood on my offset, and with a HOT fire in the firebox (well in excess of 350F above the fire), I get a nice stream of 250F smoke across the meat. This past Thanksgiving I made the best Turkey ever (according to the rave reviews), using a 1/2 bag of charcoal as a base fire, I cooked the bird for 5.5 hours on nothing but partially seasoned (cut this past spring) peach wood. The smoke flavor was delicate & consistent throughout the bird and rivaled some of the best smoked turkeys I've ever eaten. Don't be afraid of green wood. Experiment with it until you get it right.
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John |
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11-30-2012, 01:47 PM | #11 | |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-31-09
Location: Homeworth, OH
Name/Nickname : John
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Quote:
With pork shoulders I don't use any type of liquid, but they can take a whole lot more smoke than some other meats.
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John |
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11-30-2012, 01:54 PM | #12 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 08-16-11
Location: Saint Cloud, FL
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Man, my experience with green wood (oak in this case) was not good! I had a good bed of coals going (using DRY wood), and then added some not-quite-dry splits. They smoked and smoked and smoked and took forever to catch fire. I try to avoid any wood that is not completely dry. My two cents... YMMV (to mix a metaphor.)
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Lang 48 Original Superfast [COLOR=red]RED[/COLOR] ThermaPen "I love animals. I just love to eat them more. Fun to pet; better to chew." - Jim Gaffigan |
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11-30-2012, 01:55 PM | #13 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 10-23-10
Location: The Never Never.
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Hold my dang beer... |
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11-30-2012, 02:21 PM | #14 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 04-05-12
Location: Charlottesville, VA
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The last load of wood I got had seasoned oak and un-seasoned hickory. The un-seasoned hickory is hard to start, even with a high BTU weed burner. The smoke is more heavy, and you can hear the moisture hissing out of the log as it burns. The seasoned oak burns hot and clean. I'm looking forward to when the hickory dries out.
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__ -[B]Mike[/B] [SIZE="3"][COLOR="SeaGreen"]48" Klose Backyard Chef[/COLOR], Primo Oval XL[/SIZE] Stealth-Grey Thermapen, Maverick ET-732 |
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11-30-2012, 05:19 PM | #15 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-13-03
Location: Clearwater, FL
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I've cooked with Myron and we've discussed the charcoal and wood issues:
1. Peach is thin barked and has a light sap. Burning green is easy 2. Cherry is more "hardwood" and has a heavier sap. If you burned limbs you'd probably be OK with green wood, but splits could use a bit of aging. But, I'd still use it since I usually have a real hot fire.
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Dave Southern Brethren BBQ Competition Team "It's all about getting paid!" - Myron Mixon "I love being hated in my hometown!" - David Hair KingFisher Gator Rotisserie cooker (RIP), WSM (RIP), Stainless 5 burner with IR gas grill (RIP), Turkey Fryer, Weber JD Commemorative grill (RIP), Masterbuilt 40" insulated ELECTRIC smoker (new heating element), Pit Boss Tailgater pellet pooper. |
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