Maple Wood

[egghead]

I had a maple tree come down in a storm a year ago. There's a little bit of it still in the corner of the yard. The thought hit me: Cut it up and use it for smoking. I've never used maple before. The popular stuff on the shelves is hickory, mesquite, apple, & alder. Has anyone used maple in their smoker? Is it worth the effort or is it just firewood?

 

[ron50]

Maple is a great wood for the smoker. Just make sure it is well seasoned before you use it.

 

[gobbledot]

I use it all the time, I mix it sometimes because I dont have much of it

..

 

[bbq addict]

I just had a couple silver maples cleaned up in my yard. When I asked if they could cut some down to size, the arborist told me that the wood from silvers is *not* good for smoking. It'll give your food a bitter taste. If it's a harder wood, no problem.

 

[lcruzen]

Although I've never used it I believe it to be a widely used wood for smoking.

 

[travcoman45]

Sugar maple is best, but, I think in a side by side test yall wouldn't really notice any difference. So far all the maple I've used has been great, I just make sure it is well seasoned first. Who really knows which maple is in that bag at the store anywhos?!

 

[yankeerob]

I use it in place of fruit wood. In his book "Championship BBQ" Paul Kirk uses 1 stick oak, 1 stick hickory and 1 stick maple or fruit wood. The guy's won more contests than anyone.

Here up north silver maple is everywhere and we use alot of it.

-rob

 

[scruffer]

how about red maple? I have a ton or red maples in and around my property that I have been using as firewood for the past 8 years and am going to be taking down another 7-8 trees this summer and if anyone recommends it, I'll set some aside for the smoker...?

 

[glued2it]

All forms of maple are great for smoking. Even though Sugar maples are the best, Silver Maples are abundant in my area.

I used it on home cured meat.
Hams mostly, but I also use it on bacon.

If you look in the stores you will see maple smoked bacon.

 

[bbq addict]

I can't say for sure, but what I've just read about the red maple is that it's close to the silver maple. It's a soft wood and probably not recommended. I was told not to use silver maple, but YankeeRob said in his parts, they use it all the time.

I guess you have to ask yourself, do you feel lucky??? What's the worst that could happen?