rayl54•16h ago

Found out fallen branches from storms make perfect smoking wood

I was cleaning my yard after a storm and had a bunch of broken tree limbs. Instead of trashing them, I chopped them up for my smoker. The smoke gave my chicken a really nice, subtle flavor I liked. Now I use local fallen wood all the time, which means less waste and no buying bags. Have you ever tried something similar with natural wood?

3 comments

3 Comments

avery_jackson13h ago

My neighbor had an old apple tree come down last year and gave me some of the wood. Idk, the flavor it gave my pork was totally different from the bagged apple chips I used to buy. Maybe it's just me but the fresh stuff seems milder.

christopher18013h ago

Yeah, "milder" is one way to put it. The bagged stuff probably has "apple flavor" dust added.

flores.patricia13h ago

Wait, but what if bagged chips actually give more reliable flavor? That old tree wood @avery_jackson got might have picked up strange notes from the soil or bugs... processed chips are dried to burn steady and strong. So the "milder" fresh wood could just be uneven or weak... I find the bagged kind gives a clearer apple taste that sticks to the meat. Honestly, sometimes natural wood just smokes weird and ruins the pork...