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Bark on smoking wood

TheToast
TheToast Posts: 395
in EggHead Forum
I've seen some discussion on other forums that you shouldn't use wood to smoke that still has bark on it. I recently bought a bumper load of different wood and a lot has bark on it (generally thin barked wood like cherry and apple, but there are some thick bits of bark, like on the oak) and some of the bark even has small traces of moss - about the size of a fingernail). Does it make any difference if I smoke with these? Thanks
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Comments

  • Sea2Ski
    Sea2Ski Posts: 4,131
    If I can chip it off easy with a hatchet, I do. Otherwise, I use it as is.  I have a hatchet right by where I keep my smoking wood, so it is always there. 

    Now that I think about and use it one way or another, I wonder why I even try. Hmmmm...  Never really thought about it. 
    --------------------------------------------------
    Burning lump in Downingtown, PA or diesel in Cape May, NJ.
    ....just look for the smoke!
    Large and MiniMax
    --------------------------------------------------

    Caliking said:   Meat in bung is my favorite. 
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    No way I would EVER go to the trouble of removing bark. Couple of guys on here who like just the bark (shagbark only, as far as I know, but still...)

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,380
    I never bother but that is more due to laziness than any strong opinions on whether leaving it or removing it is "better".
    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




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  • danv23
    danv23 Posts: 964
    I've never seen Franklin strippin bark. He seems to do alright.

    The Dude: This is a very complicated case, Maude. You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you's. And, uh, lotta strands to keep in my head, man. Lotta strands in old Duder's head. Luckily I'm adhering to a pretty strict, uh, drug regimen to keep my mind, you know, limber.

    Walter Sobchak: Nihilists! *uck me. I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos. 

    Cumming, GA
    Eggs - XL, L, Small
    Gasser - Blaze 5 Burner
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  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
    I leave it 
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
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  • TheToast
    TheToast Posts: 395
    Thanks all. I'll leave it on. Saves me a lot of hassle!
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  • FarmerTom
    FarmerTom Posts: 685
    Guess I'll be the lone dissenter.  I remove mine.  I have never tried it with it still on.  When I started harvesting my own wood for smoking, I asked the same question on here.  I was told by a fellow egger on here (and highly respected), to remove it or it would add an acrid flavor to the smoke.  I do know bark burns differently than hard wood.  How much, if any difference, I don't know.  Guess if you like the flavoring it gives, that's all that matters. 

    Tommy 

    Middle of Nowhere, Northern Kentucky
       1 M, 1 XL, a BlackStone,1 old Webber, a Border Collie, a German Shepherd and 3 of her pups, and 2 Yorkies

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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    edited January 2016
    nm. Already said.
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  • Dredger
    Dredger Posts: 1,468
    In my discussions with Bert at Fruita Wood, the only wood to leave bark on is peach. When you order from them, you can specify "no bark" and they will remove it for you. Again, it's probably a matter of preference That being said, I defer to The Naked Whiz's vast body of knowledge. This is an article that referred to hickory wood only, but I think you can also translate the info to other types of wood. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/productreviews/hickorychunks/hickorychunks.htm
    Large BGE
    Greenville, SC
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,594
    i use shagbark off those pig nut trees, pick it fresh off the tree and into the egg =) there is no acrid flavors its a nice sweet smoke. theres a few trees with in the dog walk distance from the house, a lifetime supply for me
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    fishlessman said:
    i use shagbark off those pig nut trees, pick it fresh off the tree and into the egg =) there is no acrid flavors its a nice sweet smoke. theres a few trees with in the dog walk distance from the house, a lifetime supply for me
    Michael, do those trees naturally shed, or are you just pulling them off? A while back we had a bad wind storm and a large shag bark hickory toppled over in our subdivision at neighbor's house who I don't know. I figured I'd ask for some. The guy said no not now, but come back in a few days and I'll sell you some. I thought he was just kidding so I said how much? "Oh, $5 for plastic grocery sack."
    I never went back and that tree laid there for 3 weeks! until some pro tree guys cut it up and hauled it off! I hope they stuck the guy! :D
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,594
    RRP said:
    fishlessman said:
    i use shagbark off those pig nut trees, pick it fresh off the tree and into the egg =) there is no acrid flavors its a nice sweet smoke. theres a few trees with in the dog walk distance from the house, a lifetime supply for me
    Michael, do those trees naturally shed, or are you just pulling them off? A while back we had a bad wind storm and a large shag bark hickory toppled over in our subdivision at neighbor's house who I don't know. I figured I'd ask for some. The guy said no not now, but come back in a few days and I'll sell you some. I thought he was just kidding so I said how much? "Oh, $5 for plastic grocery sack."
    I never went back and that tree laid there for 3 weeks! until some pro tree guys cut it up and hauled it off! I hope they stuck the guy! :D
    i try not to pick them clean but after taking what i need for the last maybe 8 years i dont see any signs that im doing any damage. no one up here knows what they are so its a private stock pile =) i mostl just use it for rib cooks so i dont need a ton of it
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    no issues.  i use it sometimes all by itself.  chunks of oak bark, shagbark hickory...

    you obviously don't want anything moldy or insect ridden, whether wood or bark.


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  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    edited January 2016
    fishlessman said:
    i use shagbark off those pig nut trees, pick it fresh off the tree and into the egg =) there is no acrid flavors its a nice sweet smoke. theres a few trees with in the dog walk distance from the house, a lifetime supply for me
    it's the sweetest smelling smoke i have ever run through the egg, and you can take the splits and stab them down into the coals
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

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