Locust, Black walnut, Beech

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chefloydb

Fire Starter
Original poster
Apr 5, 2007
43
10
WV
I have some property that needs some clearing to make ready to build a house. The trees there are mostly honey and black locust, Black walnut, Hickory, oak, and some beech.
I was wondering if anyone knew anything about smoking with the walnut, locust or beech? I know locust burns hotter than most woods. but im not sure of the flavors these woods would inpart.
thanks in advance

have fun and happy smoking
 
CF -

You got two I don't know of but I have a chart with most others.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Downl...lavorChart.pdf


IS the tree called a Honey tree? Or is it a Honey locust?

Black walnut is good but a strong smoke go light with it. I'd mix it with a lighter wood like pecan or ash. Some people don't like it for the same reason they don't like hicory - it's strong flavored. Personally I love Hickory!
 
CF -

You got two I don't know of but I have a chart with most others.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Downl...lavorChart.pdf


IS the tree called a Honey tree? Or is it a Honey locust?

Black walnut is good but a strong smoke go light with it. I'd mix it with a lighter wood like pecan or ash. Some people don't like it for the same reason they don't like hicory - it's strong flavored. Personally I love Hickory!

I read somewhere that beechwood is good to soak in beer before smoking - never tried it though.

Here it is:


http://www.beercook.com/prochefs/joedurante.htm
 
Locust and black walnut are not smoking woods. Depending on the size, you would be better served selling the black walnut to a logger.
Beechwood? Never heard of it being used to smoke with, just to age Budweiser Beer.
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Honey and black locust are very good woods for heating stoves. I, myself, love to heat with them. If there is anyone around who heats with wood, they might be willing to help you out with the disposal of the trees. Have never used or thought about using it to smoke with.
 
Debi I don' think you get locust up in CT. I know i didn't see any in RI when i lived there. Locusts are basicly a tree with big angry thorns lol
i've never heard of honey locust being called a honey tree it does make my favorate honey =-) though.
thaks for the chart Debi.

I thought walnut would be a strong smoke.
the beech i might just have to try the nuts are pretty mild and sweet why not
confused.gif


shortone black locuts it a great wood for wood stoves burns really hot. Also it is probbaly the most rot resistant wood in north america. alot of people here use it for fence posts.

Thanks for all the feedback
 
We have black locust and Osage orange, and the Osage orange is the tree of choice for fence posts here. Very, very strong and rot proof. The Indians in the area made their long bows from the Osage orange and there are still long bow makers around here that use it. And talk about hot burning. Our stove glows red every time we use it.
 
Got my hands on some Black Walnut. Read this forum. And wanted to share what I did to the logs. I cut the log into disc about 2 inches thick put the disc in a vise and peeled the bark of with a painters tool and hammer. Note: You better have a sharp chainsaw, tough stuff. What I was left with was a very nice chunck of beautiful white wood with a very dark center. I think I'm in love. I did not soak them, the wood is so dense it burns for a long time anyway. Freaking Killer!! But be careful the smoke is dense and heavy, hardest wood I have ever used. So far I've cooked chicken, Baby Backs, and two steaks today in my smoker. I love it, I really think not using any of the bark makes all the difference, I honestly could not believe how good it was. Hope this help's.
 
I have black walnuts on my property and use it to smoke regularly. I don't bother to remove the bark. I've never even felt it was particularly strong. <shrug> I'm mixing it with charcoal. I suppose if you're using a wood smoker and used it exclusively, results could be entirely different. And I suppose that most of the time I use a mix of woods rather than a single wood.
 
Hi there,

just thought I would mention that I used some beechwood for smoking some chicken legs yesterday.

It produced a good smoke flavour to the chicken, and I would recommend it.

Hope this helps, and happy smokin'!
 
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I’ve used walnut and thought it was good but probably not a good idea to use it all the time if it could effect your health. I used it 50/50 couple times with oak and cherry another time. Food tasted great. Here’s some that I have for sale on cl along with 6 other types of wood
 
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Depending on the dimensions, some of those walnut pieces might be used for making shotgun stocks. Most highly figured walnut comes from crotches where limbs come off the trunk and it appears you have some pieces like that. Before splitting and burning, check around with some of your hunting friends to see what you have. A high quality walnut gun stock might be worth $500 or more.
 
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