Met a pitmaster in Lexington who dropped a truth bomb on me

I was at a gas station in Lexington, NC last spring and this older guy saw me loading up bags of hickory chips and just laughed. He said "son, you're seasoning your meat with smoke from dead trees, you need live wood or you're wasting your money." Has anyone else run into someone who changed how you think about wood selection on the spot?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulm954d ago

Didn't someone do a test and find that green wood actually gives off more creosote than dry wood? I remember reading that in an old barbecue forum post.

xena_kim4d ago

Wait, he said live wood as in still growing? That doesn't make sense. You can't smoke with a tree that's still in the ground. I think he might have meant green wood, like freshly cut logs that haven't dried out yet. Green wood gives off a different kind of smoke, more steam and moisture, but it can make the meat taste bitter if you're not careful. Honestly, seasoned hickory is the standard for a reason. Dead trees that have been dried properly are what most competition guys use around here.