Funny Taste

[chargriller]

I was trying to smoke some chicken thighs, using almost all wood, I first started using a full chimney of charcoal but the rest was all pices of wood.

I was using smaller dead branches that were cut from my tree, the smoke had cherry wood smell, but after a while the smell was not as good as I was hoping.

When I was finished the chicken had a strange smoky taste, not sure if I was using to much wood or just the wood that I was using was bad.

Anyone else have this issue, using all wood.

 

[Arlin_MacRae]

What color was your smoke, Rob? And did you preheat the wood?
You also might have burned a rotten section in there and that would sure do it. I cut down a willow last weekend and the wood turned black as I cut it and smelled REALLY bad....

 

[Bigdog]

Sounds like some of the wood was rotten. Might have been mold and or fungus.

 

[parrothead]

Or maybe you did not have clean combustion.

 

[brdbbq]

I cut down a willow last weekend and the wood turned black as I cut it and smelled REALLY bad....

As in Pussy willow ?

 

[Arlin_MacRae]

As in Pussy willow ?

Massengil's Mod?

Nope, a regular willow about 11" in diameter. The thing was dying from the top down so I chained it down. Wood looked OK but turned black under the saw (not burnt) and smelled something awful. Weirdness.

 

[chargriller]

The smoke seemed white, but the day was over cast, there was a lot more smoke then normal. I was pre-heating the wood on top the firebox and some of the bigger pices I stuck in the bottom of the smoking chamber.

Some of the pices had most of the bark already removed and some had the bark still attached, I did notice that some pices had some green moss or mold on it, I tried to remove as much as I could. Some of the bigger pices I used had some black mold looking stuff on the surface, I split it and it was white as could be down the center just a little on the surface.

I would get a lot of smoke when the wood was not on fire, so I cracked the firebox lid to get it going again and that helped with a lot of white smoke. I am getting scared because I got a lot of wood I was planning on using, but if it all makes my food taste this way I do not want it.

 

[brdbbq]

Massengil's Mod?

Nope, a regular willow about 11" in diameter. The thing was dying from the top down so I chained it down. Wood looked OK but turned black under the saw (not burnt) and smelled something awful. Weirdness.

I was being seriouis this time. :roll:

 

[Arlin_MacRae]

If you had black and green chit on the wood I'd say that was the culprit right there. Can you get the bark off? If the mold is on the wood itself you might have to pitch that unless you can figure out a way to wash or burn it off...

 

[BBQchef33]

The smoke seemed white, but the day was over cast, there was a lot more smoke then normal. I was pre-heating the wood on top the firebox and some of the bigger pices I stuck in the bottom of the smoking chamber.

Some of the pices had most of the bark already removed and some had the bark still attached, I did notice that some pices had some green moss or mold on it , I tried to remove as much as I could. Some of the bigger pices I used had some black mold looking stuff on the surface , I split it and it was white as could be down the center just a little on the surface.

I would get a lot of smoke when the wood was not on fire , so I cracked the firebox lid to get it going again and that helped with a lot of white smoke. I am getting scared because I got a lot of wood I was planning on using, but if it all makes my food taste this way I do not want it.

See all them EEKs I put in your post.. All bad.

Wood your cooking with needs to be dry, well seasones, NO MOLD, NO FUNGUS, NO MOSS, NO SPONGY WOOD.!

Smoke should be clear sweet blue. A little bit of whit is ok while wood starts to burn, but nothing extended, or so heavy you cant see thru it. Sounds like you had a load of things working against you.

next round, use only dry, clean wood and give it enough air that it burns clean too.

 

[Sawdustguy]

I would think it would be dangerous eating food smoked with wood that had fungus and/or mold on it. The mold or fungus is not killed off immediately at smoking temperatures. It may take a little time for the organisms to be totally killed off and may find their way through the smoke onto your food. At the very least I would venture a guess you could possibly make yourself very sick. I would never smoke with any wood that I was unsure of the species and especially if there was rot, fungus or mold.

Here is a url for a list of woods that are toxic to Humans: http://old.mendelu.cz/~horacek/toxic.htm. As a hobbiest woodworker I never work with these woods without full dust collection and a respirator mask. I surmise that the smoke from them is not good for you also.

 

[chargriller]

I will try to get a id of the tree I am using, I will try to get a leaf to the garden center to see if anyone can help me id the tree, so I dont kill my self.

I can try to post a few photos of what I have, other wise I will be giving it to my neighbor to burn in his outdoor fireplace.

 

[BBQchef33]

This may help..

http://www.oplin.org/tree/

 

[Arlin_MacRae]

GREAT site, Phil!

 

[BBQchef33]

GREAT site, Phil!

its been in our links section under "General Info" since we started. Couldnt find it when i went lookin last week for the Black locust thread. Then :idea:.... its was right under our schnoze's. I put it there so we dont loose it.. then forgot it there.

 

[Bigmista]

Don't you have to season wood before you use it for smoking?

 

[ggeilman]

None of my trees are in there. No live oaks nor mesquite.

 

[racer_81]

I'm so disappointed.

I thought this was a thread about why cannibals don't eat clowns.

My views:

- always use seasoned wood
- wood without bark is better than wood with bark
- if the wood has "foreign material" on it, or is rotted, don't use it.