Using offcuts in the smoker for cooking food

[Zac wingert]

Is there any reason I can’t use off cuts in the smoker for cooking food?

I realize the answer can vary with different wood and of course treated wood etc. I have all sorts of small offcuts but am looking at using only rough cut eastern red cedar offcuts from a blanket chest along with a charcoal briquettes or two to keep them going.

I’m gonna smoke some salmon and I have so much hardwood offcuts it seems ridiculous to go buy wood for the smoker. Thanks

[Bill Dufour]

That is what i use in my electric smoker. Just no paint, glue or varnish allowed. I like to smoke cheese with oak.
Bill D.

[Andrew Hughes]

I have not found aromatic woods to be any good for cooking.
I do use hickory,maple,oak, walnut and Alder.

Good Luck

[Bradley Gray]

I also prefer hardwoods and fruit woods to aromatics but in the Northwest cedar is used to smoke salmon.

[Larry Edgerton]

If you ever work with Jatoba try those scraps. Nice!

[Pete Staehling]

No reason not to use off cuts of appropriate species. Obviously avoid finishes, glue, and pressure treated stuff. I use a good bit of cherry in the smoker, but have also used other hardwoods like hickory, pecan, apple, pear, and others.

I also use coarse chips and shavings mostly from the jointer and planer.

Decades ago, before I had a shop and was just cutting firewood to heat the house, I made coarse chips/shavings by doing a rip cut with the chainsaw (with the oiler turned off or empty). I'd usually save a couple bags of chips when I had some fruitwood to cut.

[J. Greg Jones]

I keep a box under my chop saw just for the cherry cutoffs, so yes, I’m a big fan of using them with lump charcoal in my smoker.

[John K Jordan]

...
I’m gonna smoke some salmon and I have so much hardwood offcuts it seems ridiculous to go buy wood for the smoker. Thanks

I'm one of the few who dislike the taste of smoked meat. (I am also unable eat spicy food so there must be a basic chemical/enzyme difference from some other humans!)

I give wood to friends who smoke meat - cherry, peach, pear, hickory, oak - almost any wood. Well, maybe not poison ivy vines - don't know anyone who's tried that. Mesquite is popular in some places. I have no idea what Hawaiian woods are common for smoking but I'll bet Google could give a clue.

I did see this web page which seems to have a good overview:
https://www.wideopeneats.com/kind-wood-use-smoking-meat/

It's a long walk from here but if you every find yourself somewhere in the East any woodturner could fill your suitcase and backpack with a variety of chips and offcuts.

JKJ

[Randy Viellenave]

kiawe is pretty awesome, and grows on your island. It is said to be similar to mesquite, but I can't tell the difference.

[Ron Citerone]

I like cherry and white oak combined for my smoked salmon. I had some apple that worked good too, but am out of that now.

[Bill Dufour]

Today I smoked some cheddar/marble cheese with oak from an old wine barrel. I can not taste the wine. took about 1/2 day in my electric smoker, cost under 10 cents for electricity.
Bil lD.

[Ron Barnes]

I have a boston butt cooking, with a bunch of cherry cut offs, making some very nice smells right now.

[Stan Calow]

I've used maple, cherry, walnut, and oak cutoffs for smoking, but I think eastern red cedar (which is really a juniper not a cedar) would be too acrid and bitter for this purpose.

[Günter VögelBerg]

I like to use alder and cherry to smoke brisket, lamb legs, pork shoulders and trout.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Folks round here use strictly hardwoods. and avoid walnut. Oak, hickory, fruit woods, etc.

You know that Eastern Red Cedar is not technically a cedar. It is a Juniper The wood and especially, the knots are full of oils that would tar up the food.

Our smoker is fed only oak chunks that had been drying for 2 years. I get 4 x 4 cut off pieces at a near by saw mill. No charcoal, no gas, just oak. If we need extra smoke, we soak a piece of it in water for ten minutes. or grab a piece of green oak.