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Recent content by cedar eater

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  1. cedar eater

    Trying a new wood: American hophornbeam (aka ironwood)

    It's just practice. Maple has been my goto for chicken because I like to cook with wood that I harvest from my land. It's the best of my local woods for mild flavored meats. Alder is the best for fish and shrimp. But tonight I did ironwood hot-and-fast smoked chicken thighs. I caught the...
  2. cedar eater

    Trying a new wood: American hophornbeam (aka ironwood)

    After drying a large supply of chips, I smoked brats with the ironwood (hophornbeam) today. I deliberately used more chips than normal to attempt to overwhelm the meat with smoke and it really didn't. I found the taste to be quite pleasant, but bordering on too mild for pork. I think it will be...
  3. cedar eater

    Trying a new wood: American hophornbeam (aka ironwood)

    Congrats on the range. I've been thinking about putting a PID controller on my Gibson. It's just one of those projects that always seems to get backburnered.
  4. cedar eater

    Trying a new wood: American hophornbeam (aka ironwood)

    Some loggers have been using veggie oil for more than a few years. Some logging jobs even require it for environmental purity reasons. One thing I've learned about it though is that you have to clean it out of the saw if the saw is going to sit for more than a couple of weeks. It degrades and...
  5. cedar eater

    Trying a new wood: American hophornbeam (aka ironwood)

    You can use veggie oil for bar oil in a chainsaw. I normally don't bother because the amount of bar oil is so tiny. But since I use chips, I can criss-cross the end of a stick with a circular saw and then crosscut the end off with a sawzall. It works pretty good to make whatever size chips I...
  6. cedar eater

    Trying a new wood: American hophornbeam (aka ironwood)

    I will make some chips and bake them at 200F for a while in my smoker to dry them for testing. That will let me know how much to set aside for smoking and cure the slow way.
  7. cedar eater

    Trying a new wood: American hophornbeam (aka ironwood)

    It seemed about as hard as oak or elm, but it was pretty wet when I cut it. When it dries, judging by the weight, it will be harder on the chain. It smells much better than elm, birch, and aspen, but I like a good strong smoke (oak or hickory) for pork and a milder smoke (maple, apple, peach)...
  8. cedar eater

    Ash wood.

    There are three types of ash that were common near me, black, green, and white ash and all of them got wiped out by the emerald ash borer. Of the three, black ash has the darkest colored wood and the most odor when cut. I haven't smoked with it, but I have burned plenty and it has a good...
  9. cedar eater

    Sumac and other woods

    I plan on trying some uncommon woods, too. As a general rule, I think that if you can't find something bad about a particular wood, it will probably be fine to just smell the smoke and then smoke something like brats with it. I would first try wood with no bark on it, because some barks can make...
  10. cedar eater

    burn grey seasoned wood?

    It makes no particular difference as long as it isn't spongy rotten wood. I have smoked with apple graybacks several times. It might be a bit flavorless, but it doesn't add a bad flavor.
  11. cedar eater

    Trying a new wood: American hophornbeam (aka ironwood)

    One of the many species known by the common name of ironwood is Ostrya virginiana, also known as American hophornbeam. I just cut one down that seemed to be dying but not dead yet. Sap came up out of the stump immediately and also dripped out of the cut. It appears the tree was seriously pecked...
  12. cedar eater

    Lurker breaking out this year!

    Congrats and good luck on your business startup and welcome to the group!
  13. cedar eater

    Smoking in the winter?

    Wind will make the temperature harder to control any time of year. It's worse in Winter, but if you can minimize the wind, Winter smoking works just fine.
  14. cedar eater

    FOB ribs or not...chime in

    I really like St Louis cut spareribs more than babybacks and I love taste of red oak smoke for them. I use my own local red oak.
  15. cedar eater

    FOB ribs or not...chime in

    I prefer a little pull and a little chew, but it's likely that most people have only ever had FOTB or too much chew. It's easy to get them to FOTB. It's easy to make them too hard, dry, and chewy. It't hard to get them just right, easier if you use the Texas Crutch. Broasting them in foil is no...
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