Cottonwood tasting good???

[burnagain]

So after my recent pecan scrounge, I wanted to make sure it wouldn't be too strong as the sole fuel for my smoker. Turns out it wont be a problem, but when reading the rest of this list one of the recommended woods is cottonwood "very mild in flavor"......YUCK.

Now to give them credit it does mention not to use green wood, but still no way I'm eating something that tastes anything like the way that stuff smells when burning. Below's the link for you all to read.

http://bbq.about.com/cs/cookingtips/a/aa051097_2.htm


David

 

[bogydave]

Some here use cottonwood "drift" bark for smoking.
They collect the bark from the river or salt water shores, dry it & use it in the smoker.
Never tried it, but have ate some of the smoked salmon, it tasted good.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Aw David, give it a try. There truly is a huge difference in dry cottonwood vs. green. Dry it is not bad at all.

 

[Eric Schaefer]

I'd try anything. But last week when I had a fire going one chilly night, I tossed on some of the cottonwood I had, that's nice and dry. Inside the house of course, didn't notice anything, but when I went outside, it had a weird smell of crayons. Best way I could describe it. I could imagine eating something smoked with it. But smoking causes chemical changes and reactions, so you never know.

 

[schlot]

I'm with you Eric....can't imagine using cottonwood for smoking, but maybe it's better than it sounds.

I burnt nothing but cottonwood 3/4 of the year last year (easy scrounge and quick to dry). Once I got some harder woods, I realized how stinky that cottonwood was. I have about a half cord for this season and will be mixing it with some ash/locust/maple.

 

[punchy]

I would not use it. got better choices.