SASSAFRAS - Safe or Unsafe ???

[dick bullard]

Printed out a list of woods and their recommended uses posted by Dutch on a prior thread.....on his list Sassafras is listed as a wood not to smoke with or as the list says "unsuitable" for use in smoking. Yet I have list from suppliers that not only have Sassafras for sale, they also list its' ideal meats for its use.!

Obviously confusing.........yes some people would sell you something that is bad for you....but do you think that is the case for Sassafras ?

Anyone know of any factual research that has been done on woods that are safe for smoking ?

Rick

 

[Bearcarver]

I'm interested in this one too. Two years ago I cut down 17 dead trees in back of my house. Six of them were leaning toward my house. They ranged from 3" diam. to 14" in diam. Two small ones were Cherry, 14 were Sassafras, and I don't know what the other one was. I'm using the Cherry for smoking, but I heard from a few places that the Sassafras was bad news for smoking, so that is all in my firewood pile.

My bears are all pine, larch, and poplar, so they are quite safe.

Bearcarver

 

[pignit]

I've never found any factual research to conclude that sassafras is safe or dangerous for smoking . The root bark contains high levels of oil that in quantities can cause cancer. The bark is also more toxic than the heart wood but the studies that I have read say the amounts you would have to ingest would be considerable to create a problem. I use sassafras to smoke with as do a lot of folks. I've not found anything that would detour me from using it. Sassafras can be traced all through history as smoking wood. I think some people are more sensitive to certain woods. I've used and and bought it commercially for smoking. The studies I've read have focused more on the ingestion of the oil that is found in high concentrations in the root. Probably didn't help you out much here but there isn't a lot of info as to why it would be unsafe except for the oils in the wood in high concentrations can be a cause of cancer.

Everything that I have read concerning the danger of sassafras concerns the ingestion of the concentrated oils from the root bark. I wouldn't smoke with the root of the tree, but I've found nothing to discourage use of the heartwood for smoking.

 

[pignit]

Sassafras is an excellent carving wood. Have you tried it?

 

[newb]

not to mention you can dry and grind the leaves to a powder. You then have File power for any cajun dishes you wish to make.

 

[dick bullard]

That is called "Gumbo Filet"..... Although all lot of people including myself drink sassafras tea and I believe that is made from bark pieces or root pieces....thought that came from a bush or am I mistaken.....used to collect it and make it as a kid and they sold it in stores as a little bundle with a rubber band around it......course this was in southern Indiana !!!

Rick

 

[gene111]

Easy now some of us still live hear in southern indiana. lol. Have a lot of sasafras here on the farm & dig up the roots occasionaly for tea for my grandma! Never tried using it for smoking though.

 

[mballi3011]

I have also seen it at the store where I buy alot of my wood from. I personally haven't used it for smoing so I cann't say yea or nea.

 

[Bearcarver]

I never did. The Sassafras trees I have here are all to small for chainsawing bears, and I never carved anything that small. My son might have. He used to hand carve walking sticks----the ones with the old man with the beard on them (the Wood Spirit).


BC

 

[gnubee]

That will teach me to read a post without reading who the author is first. I read.....
"My bears are all pine, larch, and poplar, so they are quite safe.

"
I wondered if you'd completely lost it for a bit. Then I noticed your Bearcarver signature.
Duh!!!

 

[pignit]

I've seen sassafras trees in KY 2 foot through. The further North you get the smaller they get.

 

[Bearcarver]

Yeah, the growing season keeps getting shorter as you go North. I planted some really neat trees about 6 years ago (Leyland Cypress). They are from Texas. They say they grow up to 4' per year in Texas. Up here they grow about 1' per year.

As for the Sassafras being safe or not, since there is some question, I think I will avoid smoking with it, and stick mostly to the easy to get Cherry, Apple, and Hickory.

BC
================================================== =====

GnuBee--------GOT YOU !

Bearcarver

 

[morkdach]

i have never tried this but i do have some as i traded some apple for some alder and he threw in some sassafras said it was mild but good with salmon

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