Hazel wood?

[rodc]

Anyone know if hazel is any good for smoking - there are a few hazel woods nearby & quite a lot of wood for the picking.

Cheers,

Rod

 

[DanMcG]

Are you talking about hazelnut wood? which I'd bet would be a nice flavor like hickory.
Or hazelwood? which I think is like a sweet gum, with a five sided leave.

 

[fire it up]

Didn't find hazelwood anywhere in the Woods For Smoking sticky nor did Google really produce anything helpful. I would think you could smoke with it but then again it may not burn properly or may have a lot of resin, I don't know.
I recently tried out smoking with birch, lots of folks weren't sure if birch was a good wood to use and it turned out to be great, though birch was on the list in the sticky.
I'll do a bit more looking around and see what I can find but hopefully someone will come along and offer you a definitive answer.

 

[DanMcG]

The reason I asked for clarification is that I thought hazelnut/Filbert was a common tree in the UK, but I remember hazel wood in the south USA being the same a a sweet gum. I would love to have some hazelnut wood it has to be great to smoke with. I was also thinking that using hazelnut shells for smoke would be good too.

 

[rodc]

Sorry, wasn't clear in the OP - Hazelnut wood.

Hazelnut trees don't grow very big, but they are a species that handles coppicing well, (ie if you cut the main trunk, multiple new trunks grow from it) - some farmers coppice a few to grow new straight sticks for their shepherd's crooks & walking sticks. I doubt that it'd be difficult to get permission to harvest a couple of trunks.

Think I'll need to give it a go.

 

[rodc]

Read an article in Bushcrafter Magazine (a british 'survivalist' magazine without the guns I guess you could call it) that recommended Hazel wood for smoking. Tiem for trip to the nut-wood!!

 

[hell fire grill]

I smoke and BBQ with wild hazelnut / filbert wood once in a while. I like it and save all of it that I cut down. Get all you can its good stuff.

 

[brianbray]

Hellooooo-

Hazel, being I assume the nut, is great for smoking.

Here in the US Pacific Northwest it is a native wood and my family has been using it as a favorite for many years. Like all nut woods it is a mild and fragrant smoke. 

PNW smokers are traditionally more about smoked fish and jerky than "Southern style BBQ." and for the twelve hour smoke/dehydrate kind of smoking that we do, a mellower smoke is better.

Alder is native here too and a lot of people make a fuss over it as a smoking wood but me not so much.

I use filbert for everything, jerky yesterday, smoked salt and smoked garlic the day before, and pulled pork today. I will put bacon in right behind that pulled pork. It has been a big week for my smoker.

Good smoking to you- Brian Bray bb2u2@hotmail.com