Hickory Nuts

[rabbithutch]

Has anyone ever tried using hickory nuts to add flavor?

Years ago, when I lived in NC and had a native hickory tree in the back yard, I'd pick up the nuts and drop them on charcoal when i was grilling steak. Even in those days, before learning anything at all about smoking, I was using the offset fire to control the sear and cooling temps. I found that the nuts added a great taste to ribeyes and NY strips. IME there are 2 different kinds of hickory nuts. The one with the really tough shell and almost no meat is the one that worked. A friend gave me a bag of the other kind and they were not good for what I was doing.

Now that I've gotten into low and slow, I was thinking that hickory nuts sprinkled through a snake weave might be a good idea. I don't have a source for nuts here in TX and don't know if there are even any of the right type of hickory trees here. I was thinking though that a lot of you guys living in the eastern hardwood zones might have tried the nuts and could report on results.

TIA

:grilling_smilie:

 

[geos]

I have a Pig nut Hickory (the hard kind) in my backyard, I've used the fallen nuts for smoking and they work fine. Hardest part is to get to them before the squirrels!

I have also read that some guys use Pecan nuts added for smoking with good results, and you can probably get them easier by you.

 

[rabbithutch]

Glad to learn that others have discovered the flavor of pignut hickory nuts.

We have several pecan packagers nearby. I'm going to look into buying some right off the sheller/picker.

 

[boboso]

I've used pecan shells, and they work great. But don't waste the "meat" inside. Too good. Just the shells. Real plentiful in the Texas Hill Country.

 

[casmurf]

I also use pecan shells a lot works great. I have found that if there is a lot of meat left in shells that the smoke becomes bitter.