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Smoking with Hickory Nuts?

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Essex County
Essex County Posts: 991
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
It's been a good year for hickory nuts. They are all over my yard. Can these be used for smoke?[p]Paul

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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    Essex County,
    they are sweet nutmeats, and the case is pretty hard... i'd toss one in and see what happens.[p]of course, probably need make sure it's out of the green outer husk.[p]my folks get millions of them, but the squirrels clean them up good. i have even used the bark from their shagbark hickory trees. never any bitterness. it's really sweet
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,827
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    stike,
    i dont know if i ever seen a hickory up here, is it the same as a pig nut tree
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • duckegg
    duckegg Posts: 267
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    fishlessman,
    We have several types of Hickories in New England. I have two Shagbarks in my back yard,Ithink it is the same as a Pignut. It is funny I got almost no nut production this year,I am envious, last year loaded. I think it is an every other year thing.[p]I love eating them although they are a tough nut to crack. I remove the green husk with a hammer blow to the end. If you leave them on the ground for a while the husks just pop of easely, around here if you leave them the squerels get them first.I have used the shells, not the husks, for smoking in my old Weber and they worked fine. I dont know if I would use the whole nut though. The meat is great for cooking I hear.
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    fishlessman,
    dunno what a pignut is... thick green husk in quarters, which dries and pops off. the nut is sorta blocky, with a pointy stem at the end. nice meat, but small.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Butch M
    Butch M Posts: 52
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    duckegg,
    Last year we had an over abundant of hickory nuts and out of curiosity I cracked a couple and threw them the egg. I found that they were good source of sweet smoke and later learned they didn’t need to crack them before adding to the egg.
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  • Flashback Bob
    Flashback Bob Posts: 519
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    duckegg,
    Pignut is similar but the nut is supposed to be bitter and "barely edible". The Bark of the two trees is noticeably different where the Shagbark is distinct in it's appearance.[p]As I understand it, the Shagbark Hickory is typically the wood used in smoking.
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  • Essex County
    Essex County Posts: 991
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    duckegg,
    I've got a shagbark. It's the straightest tree you can imagine. It would make a bunch of great baseball bats. I've given up trying to crack the nuts. They are so tough that even a hammer bounces off if you don't hit it perfectly. I used to have a piston-type cracker that would do the job but that's long gone. [p]Paul

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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,827
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    Flashback Bob,
    i remember eating the pig nuts and they were edible, but small and not much meat and they really needed to dry out a long time til the nut was fairly bleached out. i wish i looked more closely at the tree to see its bark.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,922
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    duckegg,
    The area I live in is called Hickory Grove for sake of the numerous hickory trees over several hundred acres. Yes, some years the nut crop is HEAVY and others light. I think it is a combination of natural cycling but also annual rainfall. I save the nuts and use for smoke with good results. Just make sure you don't use the ones with the tell-tale small brown hole in them as a nasty looking worm or worms are inside! Otherwise on occassion I have used my bandsaw to cut them in half to ease digging out the nutmeat. It's tedious work though and small yield, but hickory nutmeat has a truly unique taste.
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  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
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    fishlessman,[p] Pignut is a Hickory, just different.
    [ul][li]Which nut is Which[/ul]
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  • duckegg
    duckegg Posts: 267
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    Flashback Bob,
    The Pignut is very bitter, the Pignut, Shagbark, Shelbark, Mocknut are all related to the Pecan. I think the wood of any of those would be good for smokin.
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  • duckegg
    duckegg Posts: 267
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    Essex County,
    I am getting nut envy!
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  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
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    duckegg,[p] Maybe I shouldn't tell you about the Pecan Grove in my front yard then huh!! :D[p]
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  • djm5x9
    djm5x9 Posts: 1,342
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    Essex County:[p]Yes, just remove the outer hull and add the whole uncracked nuts to your fire. I prefer to let them dry out before I use them and store them in a bucket away from the tree rats.

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  • duckegg
    duckegg Posts: 267
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    djm5x9,
    I would definately make sure they are dry, I have seen what an exploding Chestnut can do. Hickory nut schrapnel wouldn't be a pretty sight
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    djm5x9, Hickory is definitely a good wood for smoke, but I would first use fallen deadwood from the trees. If you don't have that, you can certainly use the husks from the nuts. I haven't used them since getting my Egg, but we used them quite frequently for years while cooking at a cabin in the country. I don't think we ever tried the nuts, but I would think that you would risk some explosions, and I've certainly seen that with other nuts in fires. --Lou
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,922
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    honestlou,
    different strokes for differnt folks! You won't use the nuts but you'll use the husks - while I'm just the reverse! I've never even heard as much as a pop - the nut is hard and woody and burns like wood, while the green husk - never mind...
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  • djm5x9
    djm5x9 Posts: 1,342
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    honestlou:[p]I, too, prefer hickory wood over the nuts. Dried nuts are not a problem. Hickory nuts provide hickory smoke with a little sweetness added from the nut meat.[p]I have also tried dried hulls, but they burn too quick and produce little smoke.
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  • Banker John
    Banker John Posts: 583
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    Essex County,
    I use them ALL the time. There are lots of Hickory trees in my neighborhood and I pay the neighborhood kids to pick them up by the 5 gallon bucket full.[p]I use them green or dried; doesn't matter. I prefer them green but use them on almost every cook.[p]Banker John
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