Age of smoker wood

[deweymeats]

Woods for smoking: I just had to cut a 3” diameter branch off my maple tree, (harvested 25 gal sap into 1 gal pure ND Maple syrup this spring). I am wondering how long this wood should cure before trying to smoke my snack sticks & jerky with it. What’s the gangs opinion on the age if of the logs before use in?

[Jonathon]

@deweymeats The general thought is 6 months to a year. I would go 6 months at least, any less than that and you will basically have “green” wood. The problems with that are that it will create more creosote when burned green and more of your energy from your fire is going to go into evaporating the moisture in the wood.

Doesn’t need to be dried more than 18 months for sure.

[PapaSop]

@deweymeats
I did once use green maple on a camping trip as a last resort. It worked but did seem a little more pungent. Definitely dry it as @Jonathon said.

[deweymeats]

@PapaSop Thanks for the reply’s. It’s what I was thinking but wanted more opinions. Did some Sticks today with the use of Carrot Fiber and the Walton’s recommendations of heat/smoker steps. Worked great, but I forgot to add the water pan until only about 2 hours left. They still came out way better than my previous stocks. Haven’t figured out the picture attachment so just trust me. The Walton’s way Works. Dewey

[Jonathon]

@deweymeats Adding a picture can take a little bit of time depending on your upload speed. You hit that white arrow in the black cloud above (pictured below) then navigate to the pic you want.

Glad the sticks came out good but yes a water pan should make it even better. If you are looking to try something really cool (at least I think so) check out this video on using large auto sponges/rags to increase the relative humidity of your smoker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBjEqOfyeEI