Wood Safety - Coconut

[KuyasKitchen]

Living here in the rural Philippines, I don't have the luxury of an amazing set of woods from which to choose. Many of the hard woods here are simply illegal to harvest as tree poachers have over-harvested.

Coconut lumber here is easy to get and legal. Does anyone know if it's safe to use? I like the flavor ... I smoked a brisket with coconut sawdust.

I'm talking about the wood from the coconut tree itself. Not the husk or shell "wood". Although, now that I think about it, those might be an interesting experiment. Most of the charcoal around here is made from the shell of the coconut fruit... oring ng bagul (coco charcoal) ... so the stuff burns, and therefore will smoke, well.

So, perhaps this is slightly too late ... but, is it safe?

 

[River City Smokehouse]

Coconut is safe to cook with. It is marketed as a smoke wood and also sold as charcoal too. A company called Kamado sells it.
You can also smoke with Guava wood. I have cooked with it before.

 

[Dr_KY]

Big time good stuff.
http://images.google.co.uk/images?h...=coconut briquettes&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

 

[Don Marco]

I´m not sure about the coconut wood itself but the shells make for some awesome, hot and clean burning charcoal.
Too bad that over the last couple of years 90% of the coconut shell charcoal over here comes as quicklight. That stuff just smells nasty and i´d never use it in a smoker a closed grill.

How bout you try to dry some shells and see how those burn ?

DM

 

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

You might want to also consider using corn cobs (maize) which seems to be available in the Philippines according to a quick google search.

It has been used traditionally here in New England and produces a nice mild smoke.

Here is a recent thread about my using it on chicken in case you missed it.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52775

Edit: Hummm, I reread your post and see that you might be looking for wood to use in a stick burner. Forget the corn cobs for that -- I was talking about using it in place of chunks or chips in addition to charcoal.

 

[KuyasKitchen]

Thanks guys!

How bout you try to dry some shells and see how those burn?

I'll try that. The bagul (coconut shell) make fantastic charcoal. I've used that on my grill a lot. Definitely hot.

Our backyard coconut trees are just about ready to be harvested. So, I'll save the bagul and dry it.

I picked up a rice bag filled with lump coco wood charcoal (oring ng kahoy). That stuff gets hot, too. About the size of two large Kingsford charcoal bags for P150 ($3). Cheap.

 

[KuyasKitchen]

You might want to also consider using corn cobs (maize) which seems to be available in the Philippines according to a quick google search.

Available, but not cheap. After people eat the corn, the feed the cobs to their pigs.

Coconut wood sawdust is available in massive quantities for free. I love that price.

I'll definitely try drying the shells and then breaking them up to help produce smoke.

 

[Dr_KY]

Can we se what sort of cookers you are using?

 

[KuyasKitchen]

Can we se what sort of cookers you are using?

Definitely. I took a look today, I have a Smoky Mountain Series by Great Outdoors. I have the stainless steel model. We've modified it here to hook up to the local-style LPG tanks (just chopped the hose and put on the regulators they use here).

Here's a link to a site that sells them in cast iron ... mine looks just like that except it's stainless steel and not-so-new looking.

I need to figure out what temperatures the thing hits inside. The thermostat said today that it's 265F inside ... when nothing was lit. Now, it's bloody hot here in the Philippines. But, not that hot.

 

[JD McGee]

Welcome brother smoker! I'm looking forward to some of your "local" food pron! Please post some pics of your smokes when you can. I traveled to the Philippines several times and one of the things that I truly enjoyed was the food.