I'm gonna smoke up some meat this weekend, and feed it to my Mother-In-Law.
If she gets sick, or her toe nails fall off, I won't get any more Butternut. If she survives, I'll have it listed on my website.
Thanks!
Todd
Actually I think they list Butternut with Pecan, as far as toxicity, so it probably isn't too bad.
It would be the Black Walnut that I would stay away from, but I can't remember anybody using that.
Bear
Pecan is actually a species of Hickory. It is of the genus Carya... where butternut is the same as walnut, of the genus Juglans. Any fruit of any walnut species is edible for humans. What the nice thing about Juglans Regia(the tree that produces the walnuts we buy in stores) is that it has a large nut with a thin skin. It's that much easier. Black walnut(Juglans Negra) on the otherhand has a smaller fruit with a thicker skin. Perfectly edible, but slightly more bitter.
Overall, I wouldn't expect any noticable difference when smoking.
As far as toxicity, I wouldn't worry much; it seems that it's very insignificant to humans. Think Chocolate. It would kill my cat or dog, but we're good with it.