Sourcing wood for smoking your food


Sourcing wood for smoking food can be a very simple and rewarding task, especially after fresh autumn or spring winds suddenly make oodles of wood available. Most of the wood I’ve used for cold smoking has been sourced from pruning’s in one way or another. The best time for collecting wood is in the winter or very early spring before the sap rises. The sap will add moisture and add time to the drying process. This can be avoided simply by choosing when to prune. 

Having said that, I have had some great success with woods harvested in the summer, it just takes longer to dry out than wood harvested in the winter.
A few years ago I bumped into a cheerful band of tree surgeon in a café on the A10 in North London. They had a load of fantastic oak logs on their truck which had just cut down in one of the local municipal parks. I asked him if I could have a few logs and they were more than pleased to help load them into the car. It didn’t even cost me a cup of tea.
Once you know which woods you can and can’t use its great fun just looking as you drive around the place to see what you can pick up for free. You may have a suitable fruit tree in your back garden or a majestic Oak or Beech. No real need to head out into the garden with an axe and sacrifice the whole tree. Its amazing how much chippings you can harvest from a decent autumn pruning session.
I don't object to shop bought woods, on the contrary, if you want consistency and traceability then I would use them every time. I can't make an argument against commercial products as I sell wood dust and chips on my website www.smokedust.co.uk and I use them all the time on my food smoking courses. I just like to add a little depth and breadth to my craft smoking by sourcing a selection of different woods to try out in the smoker.

Having said all this, a word to the wise! It’s a lovely idea that the local joinery workshop or saw mill will have an abundant stock of wood shavings and saw dust for you to use for your food smoking. Personally, I would avoid these sources unless you can absolutely guarantee the source has no surprises like MDF or softwood remnants. Remember if you smoke with it you'll be eating it and that includes the residue from MDF and the like. 
 
www.smokedust.co.uk

OK, that’s the obligatory cautions out of the way. Onwards and upwards with your coldsmoking efforts turning good food into great food. The contrast between the character of smoke from various woods is so great you would hardly believe it. On my courses I spend some time talking about this very subject and offer practical demonstrations by burning very small samples of different woods to illustrate my point. From Bay to Birch, Cherry to Rosemary they all add something to your chosen meat or fish. The fruity light character of Apple and Cherry are in stark contrast to the traditional heavy smoke from Oak or Hickory. These heavy smokes need a strong meat or fish to bring out the full character of the smoke. All in all this is a fascinating subject lending itself to almost endless experimentation. Good luck with your efforts and do let me know how you get on.

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