Score! Cherry wood!

[radioguy]

Sunday morning, I hear chain saws nearby. Neighbor was cutting down trees in his hedgerow. Asked which ones he was cutting down. 2 Spruces, naw, 1 wild cherry (choke cherry) and triming a maple >>> SCORE!.
Neighbor did not want the wood, the tree crew cut it and loaded it onto my trailer and charged him $250 less since they did not have to haul it away....double score. There are a few more large pieces for me to pick up trailer is full right now! Going to cook some cherry smoked ribs for my neighbor!j

RG

 

[whistlepig]

I like many woods for smoking but cherry is my favorite of all.

 

[Fred Farkle]

Sunday morning, I hear chain saws nearby. Neighbor was cutting down trees in his hedgerow. Asked which ones he was cutting down. 2 Spruces, naw, 1 wild cherry (choke cherry) and triming a maple >>> SCORE!.
Neighbor did not want the wood, the tree crew cut it and loaded it onto my trailer and charged him $250 less since they did not have to haul it away....double score. There are a few more large pieces for me to pick up trailer is full right now! Going to cook some cherry smoked ribs for my neighbor!j

RG

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RG , being a newbie I was wondering. Do you have to process that wood like chipping, chunking or debarking to be able to use it? Should it be dried out for awhile before using it. Sorry for the questions. Like I say, I'm very new. BUT, I live in the woods with lots of wild cherry and oak trees.

 

[daspyknows]

Cherry is great. Hope you kept that maple too.

 

[urbanfarmer]

I never thought to use chokecherry trees for smoking meat. I can get my hands on loads of that stuff. You got to love when you score free wood, especially hardwoods you can smoke with!

 

[pineywoods]

Great score and it worked out great for the neighbor as well. Saving him 250 bucks he should buy the ribs lol

RG , being a newbie I was wondering. Do you have to process that wood like chipping, chunking or debarking to be able to use it? Should it be dried out for awhile before using it. Sorry for the questions. Like I say, I'm very new. BUT, I live in the woods with lots of wild cherry and oak trees.

Fred the wood will need to be split and seasoned/dried to use it. Usually the bark will fall off between splitting it and drying it usually it'll fall off or at the least be very loose. Stacking the wood up off the ground on something like blocks or PT lumber will allow airflow from underneath as well. Putting a tarp or something over the top of the stack will also help by preventing rain from soaking it more.

 

[indaswamp]

Heck yeah! I got a wild black cherry tree last May...ought to last you a while there man!

 

[olaf]

I read on the internet that choke cherry was not good for smoking but the people who wrote that never seemed to have actually tried it. Let us know how it works out I have about thirty choke cherry trees.

 

[mike243]

Well if the cherry is the same as I remember it doesn't produce edible fruit, its wood has a lot of sap that's tough to get off your hands. I wont use it but I stick to the tried and true woods

 

[Preacher Man]

Very nice! Last year a friend canceled a morning coffee on me. When I asked why, he said the tree service was coming to cut down his apple and cherry tree. I showed up 10 minutes later with the side boards on my pickup and a chainsaw in hand. I got all of it.

2 weeks ago I saw my neighbor two doors down getting his maple tree cut down. It's now split and in my backyard seasoning.

$free.99 is my favorite price for wood.

 

[civilsmoker]

I have a co-worker that has an old dried up apricot tree (its been dead dead for a few years), that I'm going to help chop up this weekend and take it home with me.....Just makes me happy all over!

 

[radioguy]

RG , being a newbie I was wondering. Do you have to process that wood like chipping, chunking or debarking to be able to use it? Should it be dried out for awhile before using it. Sorry for the questions. Like I say, I'm very new. BUT, I live in the woods with lots of wild cherry and oak trees.

Fred, I will let this dry for about a year before using it. I will split it and stack in a rack and wait for it to dry. I have a nice wide porch roof on my barn. I just stack with no cover. Cherry will get some fungus if it stays wet and in contact with ground. I don't take the bark off, if it separates, then fine, those pieces go in the mulch pile

I have been using chokecherry for cooking and heating for years. It is closely related to the black cherry. Some places its considered a weed tree because it grows wild, multi-trunk is susceptible to web worms. It gets its name from its fruit, the pit is the largest part of the fruit. The pits contain arsenic, they will make dogs, horses, goats sick. We used to eat them as kids, very sour, spit the seeds at each other. LOL
Any cherry can have the gummy tar resin. Not sure what causes that. But I'll take it off with an axe.

I will say that I really cannot taste total difference between woods. I can smell the difference when each is burning. I can make an "educated" guess on wood type by taste. For me its more of a "harshness" scale. Mild, apple, cherry fruit woods, Medium ash, oak, Strong, Hickory, mesquite. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Fred Farkle]

Fred, I will let this dry for about a year before using it. I will split it and stack in a rack and wait for it to dry. I have a nice wide porch roof on my barn. I just stack with no cover. Cherry will get some fungus if it stays wet and in contact with ground. I don't take the bark off, if it separates, then fine, those pieces go in the mulch pile

I have been using chokecherry for cooking and heating for years. It is closely related to the black cherry. Some places its considered a weed tree because it grows wild, multi-trunk is susceptible to web worms. It gets its name from its fruit, the pit is the largest part of the fruit. The pits contain arsenic, they will make dogs, horses, goats sick. We used to eat them as kids, very sour, spit the seeds at each other. LOL
Any cherry can have the gummy tar resin. Not sure what causes that. But I'll take it off with an axe.

I will say that I really cannot taste total difference between woods. I can smell the difference when each is burning. I can make an "educated" guess on wood type by taste. For me its more of a "harshness" scale. Mild, apple, cherry fruit woods, Medium ash, oak, Strong, Hickory, mesquite. I hope that makes sense.

Makes a whole lot of sense! Thanks very much.

 

[urbanfarmer]

Well if the cherry is the same as I remember it doesn't produce edible fruit, its wood has a lot of sap that's tough to get off your hands. I wont use it but I stick to the tried and true woods

My grandmother used to make chokecherry jelly when I was younger, and now that she is gone I have started making her jelly the past few years. I also make chokecherry vinegar which we mix with carbonated water or lemon lime soda. The trees grow wild around here and with access to them I may try and cut a few to use for smoking next year.

 

[Fueling Around]

I love the flavor of chokecherry berries, but not the massive amount of added sugars to tolerate the tart.
Same as rhubarb.

You got the best. Let the pros fall the trees and just cleanup.