Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Cherry

Bacchus
Bacchus Posts: 6,019
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
My neighbor who lost a cherry tree in a recent storm, has offered all of it to me. It has already been cut into pieces. He even has one of those off road "Mule" vehicles he will let me use to bring it from his property to mine.
So, any ideas on what to use it for? Does cherry work well for smoking meats? Any particular meat?

Thanks!
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,733
    i use cherry for almost everything, and it mixes well with other woods. think hickory and cherry, pecan and cherry, guava and cherry. heavey amounts of cherry mixed with some hickory with pulled pork, a little amount of cherry mixed with some pecan for turkey.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    Cherry is my absolute favorite for pork and poultry.

    You have struck a gold mine Ron.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
    Rod, excellent news, thanks! I will be happy to share some if we can ever find a way to hook up. Maybe we can meet and run over to RD for some lump one day soon.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    I am in the office all next week. Let's get together for lunch and that RD run one day.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Smokey
    Smokey Posts: 2,468
    That big ol' tree was Cherry? What a great gift!

    Cherry is a great wood. It is somewhat mild and great for both fish and poultry. If you use it for meats and pork, it's flavor is light and subtle!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • HungryNephew
    HungryNephew Posts: 267
    I just had a tree service come out to my house to remove some trees that are too close to the house. When he said that 3 of them were cherry, I got excited until he explained the following:

    There are different kinds of Cherry Trees. One kind actually makes cherries, one is the kind that we think of when we use it for BBQ. The third kind is called Wild Cherry. It is the most common and useless other than maybe firewood. That's what I have.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Smokey
    Smokey Posts: 2,468
    Who knew? Thanks for the info.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
    Wow, how would I determine what I have?

    Smokey, No the "Big Ole" tree was an oak. There where two of them, and they have been working for 6 weeks straight getting them moved. They were over 5 feet in diameter each, over 200 years old. The cherry tree was on other side of the house.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Weekend Warrior
    Weekend Warrior Posts: 1,702
    Now I'm confused. I thought that wild cherry is what everyone was using for smoke. Can someone who really knows their trees please chime in? Thanks, Mark
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    Oh man, I'd be all over that. Cherry is my favorite smoking wood.

    DSC01057.jpg
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
    Thanks for your replies guys.
    If anyone with extensive knowledge could confirm or explain the different types of cherry, their uses, and how to identify them, I would be extremely grateful.
    Not to insinuate that existing replies arent from knowledgeable people.....
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • East Cobb Eggy
    East Cobb Eggy Posts: 1,162
    Ron,

    Personally, I have only cooked with the Cherry chips.

    However, I would be tempted to just try it. I do not think that anything bad could come of it. However, I might check burning a piece outside the EGG to make sure that it does not produce any unwanted residue.

    Keep us posted.

    Greg
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Big'un
    Big'un Posts: 5,909
    Actually you won't like the cherrywood at all. Please bring it all to my house. :woohoo:

    You've got goldmine goin on! It would be easier to tell what doesn't taste good with cherry. I can't think of anything! Where are you at in Ga?
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Weekend Warrior
    Weekend Warrior Posts: 1,702
    Hi fellas. I just got off the horn with a smoking wood chips/chunks manufacturer/processor/packager(he did not want me to disclose the company name, but you can buy from his company on the internet). He said that the the cherry wood used for smoking chips/chunks comes from the Black Cherry tree, not the kind that we eat out of the fridge or the kind we make jams, pies and jellies with; just a plain old black cherry tree that is in practically everyone's yard or wooded area in the northeast. Same as the wood your cherry bedroom suite or dining room table is made of. He was a little nervous about divulging that information to the hoards on the BGE forum, but he finally gave in, just asked me not to disclose the source of the info. Hope this helps. Mark
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
    Well thats sounds like good news for me Warrior (& members of the NGE who I will be sharing it with). Thank You very much! I am also going to take East Cobb Eggers advice and burn some in my outdoor fireplace to see if it produces a residue prior to putting in my egg.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,887
    Here's a picture of an old Black Cherry tree in my yard. Note the distinctive bark pattern and how it seems to peel back.
    IMG_2402.jpg

    My tree fights with oaks and hickories so it has a crown high off the ground so I can't get a good leaf picture. They are a small, pointed leaf. Then the non-edible fruit is black and about the size of a green pea.
    IMG_2404.jpg
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Weekend Warrior
    Weekend Warrior Posts: 1,702
    Hi again Ron. I forgot to mention this. Avoid smoking with the bark and sapwood(the lighter colored wood just under the bark). The reddish inner heartwood is what you want to smoke with. The bark and sapwood will make lots of undesirable black smoke and goo. Mark
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    much of this is lore that gets passed around.

    try it. if it smells good and (eventually) tastes good, there's no problem.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Weekend Warrior
    Weekend Warrior Posts: 1,702
    It surprises me that so many people purchase chips and chunks of wood to smoke with when they could just head to the nearest wood lot and get all they need for free. The only ones I can't get for free locally are mesquite and guava. Mark
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    you and me both. same thing for cedar planks at williams sonoma. i think they are priced at about $30 a board foot. hahahaha

    but it had that nice willliams&sonoma logo burned into it, so there's that.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Trailblazer1229
    Trailblazer1229 Posts: 69
    Here is a link to help you determine which type of cherry tree you have. Unfortunately it is wordy and doesn't tell you which kind is used for smoking. Perhaps the tree servicer of another member wanted the cherry tree to cook in his own egg and told him the cherry tree was the wrong kind. Wouldn't most of us contemplate that? Anyway, keep doing research and you will find the answer.

    http://www.2020site.org/trees/cherry.html
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Michael B
    Michael B Posts: 986
    Cherry is GREAT.

    I'd cut it into chunks and put it in a dry place to cure until next summer.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • BamaFan
    BamaFan Posts: 658
    Cherry and apple have become my favorite smoking woods. They work well with pork and chicken.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories