# Maple wood



## Rub the Butt (Dec 22, 2006)

My friend owns a cabinet shop and has offered me his maple wood scraps.  Does anyone know if the maple scraps are ok for cooking?


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Rub the Butt BBQ


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## Cliff H. (Dec 22, 2006)

Those should work good.  As long as the wood has not been treated or stained or varnished or anything like that.


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## Greg Rempe (Dec 22, 2006)

Maple Wood is great!!


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## Rich Decker (Dec 22, 2006)

A lot of wood shop scraps are kiln dried. I think this is to dry and has a tendency of having a very bland smoke flavor. My preference is logs, air dried for about a year then  blocked and split for cooking. Fresh split wood has a wonderful smell.


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## Rub the Butt (Dec 22, 2006)

*Maple*

Thanks for all the great advice !!!


_______________________

Todd

Rub the Butt BBQ


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## Smokey_Joe (Dec 22, 2006)

The kiln dried maple will burn HOT and long.. great wood for a fire base, but you will receive liitle to absolutely NO flavor from it. Above statement was correct, if you want a maple flavor, you'll have to go to cordwood maple. I find the best smoke flavor results from maple when you use pieces of maple wood no bigger then 4 inches in diameter.

Personally I believe the kiln drying process REMOVES everything needed for smoking purposes. Also...kinda rule of thumb... it's a good wood to smoke/cook with if the tree produces some kind of nut.

I have some 2 year old oak wood that I soak for 24 hours in a 5 gallon pail of apple juice before I use it...MMMMMMMMMMMM

Experiment....


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## ScottyDaQ (Dec 23, 2006)

I'm lucky enough to have plenty of sugar maples on my land... It breaks my heart every time a limb comes down... ( kidding )

Maple is an awesome smoking wood ... period!

Subtle flavor and nice sweet smoke.


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## BigGQ (Dec 23, 2006)

I use Maple wood when I smoke turkeys.  I like the hint of sweet.


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## ScottyDaQ (Dec 23, 2006)

BigGQ said:
			
		

> I use Maple wood when I smoke turkeys.  I like the hint of sweet.



You must be that monkey that's been swinging on my trees...breaking my limbs!!!!

Thank you !


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## Cliff H. (Dec 24, 2006)

Hey Bryan,

Haven't seen you around in a while.

Maple is good


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## BigGQ (Dec 24, 2006)

ScottyDaQ said:
			
		

> BigGQ said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



OO OO OOO!  Don't shoot!!!


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## LarryWolfe (Dec 26, 2006)

Bryan S said:
			
		

> [quote="Cliff H.":2w0z4ik1]Hey Bryan,
> 
> Haven't seen you around in a while.


Hi Bud, been working way too much. [/quote:2w0z4ik1]

yeah yeah......................ever since you bought your Harley you haven't had anything to do with us!  See where we stand!!!


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## bigwheel (Dec 26, 2006)

Well I had a small bag of Sugar Maple chunks once upon a time and swear it put off about the best flavor I ever smelt (cept for S. Texas Mesquite which is the best). I was real impressed. Now this was not cabinet shoppe stuff..it still had bark etc.  Bark is where the flavor is at with most woods. Prob a few exceptions but I cant think whut it is right now. Course we all know with Pee Can..the best flavor is in the nutshells. Figger Hickory work the same way cept I aint aint sure where to get any hickory nut shells. Now do recall the story of this doctor who went to the bar and ordered a daquiri..who insisted instead of an onyawn or an olive or whutever..he wanted a hickory nut in his daquiri. Well the bartender brought it out and said:

Here is your Hickory Daquiri Doc. 

bigwheel



			
				ScottyDaQ said:
			
		

> I'm lucky enough to have plenty of sugar maples on my land... It breaks my heart every time a limb comes down... ( kidding )
> 
> Maple is an awesome smoking wood ... period!
> 
> Subtle flavor and nice sweet smoke.


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## Rob D. (Dec 28, 2006)

i think b.w.'s on the right track kinda... i talked to a sawmill guy the other day and he was saying that the sap in the sugar maple lies between the bark and the outmost layer of wood in a tree - he had some fancy tree term for this, something like the cambrian layer or something like that....so a kiln dried pice of maple won't typically have this layer, since it is usually cut off in the milling before it goes into the kiln....maybe this makes it a "blander" smoke wood at this point....i've benn using kiln dried cutoffs for a couple of years now, and i've found that i just hit the meat with a little more smoke than usual and it turns out just fine.....it does tend to run a little hotter, but that's o.k., after fiddling around with it in your own smoker, temps aren't too big a deal to keep in the 225* to 250* range....most of my maple is used for pork butts and ribs (with some apple thrown in), so the higher temp shouldn't be that big of a deal, as long as the temp remains consistent....i think that may be where a kiln dried wood might be an advantage, since you know what to expect as far as moisture content....

Rob


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## Smokey_Joe (Dec 28, 2006)

That's exactly why I said 4" diameter and smaller branch type maple is the best in my prior post.

The sap is the most important with Maple, and the kiln dried process defeats that purpose, it removes all the sap and water content.

Kiln dried will work, but it just won't produce the smoke flavor that cordwood/firewood will.


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## Rob D. (Dec 28, 2006)

Smokey_Joe said:
			
		

> The kiln dried maple will burn HOT and long.. great wood for a fire base, but you will receive liitle to absolutely NO flavor from it. Above statement was correct, if you want a maple flavor, you'll have to go to cordwood maple. I find the best smoke flavor results from maple when you use pieces of maple wood no bigger then 4 inches in diameter.
> 
> Personally I believe the kiln drying process REMOVES everything needed for smoking purposes. Also...kinda rule of thumb... it's a good wood to smoke/cook with if the tree produces some kind of nut.
> 
> ...


 
i'm gonna try not to flame here and i apologize in advance, but i could probably use a kiln dried maple and spritz a rack of ribs with a maple syrup/apple juice combo and your bionic palette most likely won't be able to tell the difference.....

no fungus or insects to worry about with a kiln dried wood.....

a kiln dried wood left lightly covered outside (or soaked if you want) will come close to doubling it's moisture content, so i don't think that's much of an issue (a well seasoned hardwood is typically around 20% moisture content, kiln dried will be 7 - 12%, depending on the drying method)

last i checked, fruitwoods don't produce a nut, and they're typically really nice to smoke/cook with..... 

a red oak soaked in the apple juice would probably benefit the most from the soaking, taking advantage of the open cell stucture....

i'm not going to deny that a nice piece of 4" dia. maple is gonna produce the best result, but i don't think a kiln dried piece used correctly will be that far behind, especially after all the rubbing and finishing sauce processes most of us use....

Rob


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## Smokey_Joe (Dec 28, 2006)

You go right ahead and FLAME!

and you also can continue to "SPRITZ"....I'll stick to the real thing ......SMOKE

Dang man, half the enjoyment of cooking is that roll of smoke billowing into your neighbors yard and out into the street making everyone it comes in contact with mouth's water.

You justa keep on "spritzin'"

Honestly.... without starting an arguement... I doubt they would taste the same.... give me swig of scalding hot coffee scorching my tongue right before asking me to taste it.... and pretty sure I could tell you the diff.      and my palette is FAR FROM bionic. NO substitute for smoke.

Does your "spritzin'" give a nice smoke ring too?


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## Rob D. (Dec 28, 2006)

too funny    don't worry, the neighbors get a full dosage of the nice maple/apple smoke coming from bertha (especially this time of year), even with that kiln dried maple...
i've found that smoke billowing out of bertha with meat inside isn't neccesarily a good thing (white smoke bad), unless you like bitter, oversmoked product....

smoke ring? what's the diff between a kiln dried wood and a cordwood when it comes to the formation of a smoke ring? no prob there, i can make a rack of baby backs red all the way through....that's a different subject, however....

i was just using the spritzin' as an example, i don't typically do that (especially with maple syrup), but sometimes if the meat looks thirsty, it should have a little drink....

glad we can discuss this without going mental, it's what makes the forum nice, everbody's entitled to their own thoughts and processes....

Rob


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## Captain Morgan (Dec 28, 2006)

glad you guys could be funny and make stong points without getting pissed! [smilie=a_bravo.gif]


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## Rob D. (Dec 28, 2006)

Captain Morgan said:
			
		

> glad you guys could be funny and make stong points without getting pissed! [smilie=a_bravo.gif]


 
yeah, us new englanders need to stick together, not too many of us here on the forum.....go sox....


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## Smokey_Joe (Dec 28, 2006)

Generate smoke from the burning of wood chips or wood logs. Since NO2 is a by-product of incomplete combustion, green wood or wetted wood seems to enhance smoke ring development. Burning green wood or wetted wood also helps to increase the humidity level inside the cooker.
A high temperature flame is needed to create NO2 from nitrogen and oxygen. A smoldering fire without a flame does not produce as much NO2. Consequently, a cooker that uses indirect heat generated from the burning of wood typically will develop a pronounced smoke ring.  A nice smoke ring can sure make a piece of barbecued meat look attractive. 

Taken from:
 Author:

Joe Cordray is the Meat Extension Specialist at Iowa State University’s nationally renowned Meat Lab, located in Ames, IA.


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## Rob D. (Dec 28, 2006)

hmmm, i don't disagree (especially with a meat specialist), but then why bother using a well-seasoned wood and then soaking it?  why not just start off with a less seasoned wood?  soaking the wood seems a little counterproductive to having a hot fire....plus the btu's of a wet wood are far lower than a seasoned wood

i guess i don't have a problem like that.  i'm using a wsm (which i would consider indirect heat with the water pan inside), and water in the pan, providing me with ample humidity in the cooking chamber.  a lump charcoal with smokewood is pretty hot.....maybe 800-900*?  would a dry piece of wood being burned with a water pan providing humidity would give ya the best of both worlds?....

food for thought....

Rob


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## Captain Morgan (Dec 28, 2006)

had a conversation about just this the other night....would love to hear opinions on the moisture involved in a cook.

I've heard lots of thoughts on moisture in a cook and vice versa.  I know pros that swear by a moist environment, won't even talk about electric
smokers, yet I've eaten q made in Smoke Shacks that was fabulous.
I've done the sand and water in my wsm.  

  Anyone of you Alton Brown types got a definitive answer?


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## wittdog (Dec 28, 2006)

I'm no Alton Brown type..but I have read some books with both sides of the question....what I can tell you from experience when I'm doing the "cold or cool" smoking in the lectric smokehouse...as far as sauasge is concerned you want the casings to be dry so that the smoke particles don't bond with the water on them.....if the casings aren't dry you don't get the color you want or the texture..the casing don't have that snap that get tough....


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