It will make the cook faster and easier for sure. I swear by Malcolm's burnt ends method, they are the shizznit!

So - I went and grabbed a couple of pieces of the big leaf maple from my neighbors yard and gave it a burn and smell test.... it seems to have a very pleasant sweet smoke to it.... I think I'm gonna throw some in with the hickory chunks when I smoke my pork butt! Any wisdom as to whether the bark is an issue? Most of the wood is like 'sapling' wood with a tight bark on it 1/2" up to ~3"--- I noticed when I started burning it that the bark contains ALOT of sap that bubbled off --- is that an issue? Or is it just more flavor? The wood has been sitting cut for at least 1.5 years so I know (think?) its well seasoned by now.

I de-bark all wood I use in my big smoker. Keep a hatchet around for just that task. I find it adds a bitterness to the meat. Now, the more seasoned it is, its easier to de-bark and less bitter. So I dont get crazy about it, but knock off what I can whenever I can. Obviously the greener stuff is, harder the bark is to get off and seems like it imparts more bitterness.

So I have to say.... I think I just set the bar at a level that is going to be hard to beat.... After smoking some legs with straight maple pellets and be floored by the wonderful flavor, I smoked up some more last night with oak/pecan/maple (I had planned on putting some cherry in, but decided to keep it simple so I could taste the differences) and ..... It was BEST chicken I have ever had!!!! I knew it was going to turn out good, but I had no idea it would be that good!!! I started late and it didn't finish til 8:00 -- after eating the first leg, I had to call my neighbor down to try one.... he wasn't all that excited and was skeptical.... I could tell by his reaction just how much he really enjoyed it! Next one will definitely get some cherry in the mix.... I think its gonna be a maple/apple/cherry.....

Remind self to burn through existing pellets before buying maple.

Honestly Pablo.... I had no idea what a game changer having maple would be... its right up there with the pecan! I still need to do the maple/apple, but figure cherry in the mix can't hurt.

BTW - you never did report back how the JD pellets were.... how'd they work out?

I've never done pecan. As a religious maple smoker, I will try and get my hands on some pecan.

I guess underwhelming. Not bad, oak with a bit a tang at the end. Not worth the price of admission, IMHO.

At some point it becomes personal preference. I just did cheese, then chicken then pork then fish - ALL with pecan and hickory mixed. Tasted pretty darn good. I thought it would be too much for salmon, but I just backed the time off a bit and it was fine. Especially after a couple days rest in the fridge.


I don't go nuts for pecan (hahaha) my favorite remains apple mash. Apple with an attitude.

Not surprised about the JD pellets....

You should try mixing some pecan into the apple mash --- I would think THAT would be really good.... I know I'm gonna try it

I smoke port butt/shoulder with Alder and Maple. Ribs too.

I love the nice heavy pleasant smoke aroma that lingers around the yard.

DRY/SEASONED is a must with Alder and Maple since the creosote that is put off by burning it green will coat your meat with a nasty BITTER oil.

So I cut up some of the big leaf maple sapling trunks yesterday into 2-3" lengths. I was getting rid of some of the smaller branches in the fire pit last night, when I noticed again.... even tho the wood is bone dry, the bark turns REALLY wet when it starts to burn --- almost like a wax coating melting uniformly on the surface. I have to figure that that can't be all that good for smoking.... maybe it is ok.... but I'm not willing to take a chance on a piece of meat. I sat there by the fire with my pocket knife and did some good ole 'whittlin'..... it was actually pretty enjoyable and pretty easy - the serrated blade took the bark off nicely.


I figure it should be good to go now. I'm really looking forward to smoking a pork butt next weekend! I have only had hickory chunks and apple chips for the WSM and have been trying to figure out how to get some of the wonderful pellet flavors I have onto that butt... I figure I could just throw some pellets on the coals, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be all that effective and overall wasteful. I'll be more than happy to have some maple in with the hickory tho The other thing I realized is that when I run the WSM, I attempt to do a snake burn with it shooting for ~6-7 hours --- its never really worked that well.... and I think it has to do with the fact that I just sprinkle apple chips on top of the coals and once the coal bed gets hot enough those chips just flash burn all at once starting all the coal along the top. Having chunks that I can bury in the coals should help minimize that from happening. Can't wait to fire up the WSM and smoke a tasty butt!

Edit --- so I was screwing around the garage today and decide to pull the WSM out and fire up some used coals with a couple of pieces of the maple in a little SS bowel to see what it really smelled like.... It was really pretty good - pretty 'maplely' and by no means in any way offensive --- should work really good on a pork butt! Its not quite what the pellets are, but still really nice - sweet and mellow. Since I had a little dish with coal and wood I thought it would be a good test to use it on the gas grill while I was cooking a burger... I don't usually do smoke for a burger, but since this was going I figured why the hell not. Was thinking I'd do a 'reverse sear' with the burger - put it on the upper rack on low with the smoke... got busy, went and got more beer, came back 30 minutes later and damn --- that burger turned a nice brown color with so little heat! Tried to sear it a bit, but didn't really happen since it was 90+% burger, but finished it off with cheese and grilled the bun and all was good. Couldn't really taste the maple over the mustard and ketchup, but it was a perfect MR/M burger none the less. No off flavors whatsoever, it was actually really good! I figure that the maple is too weak/mellow for beef.... Full confidence moving forward with the pork butt next weekend.

Started this morning about 0330. Ate at 5. Unfortunately, it went so damn fast I didn't have time for even 1 after picture. By far my best brisket and burnt ends.

So I tried some maple/apple mix last night -- I just couldn't stop myself and added some pecan to it - probably half of what I usually would ~1/6 of the total mix. I found it strange that when I lit the tube, the smoke had an unexpected smell to it --- I swear it smelled like apple cider vinegar!?! I was initially worried that it was going to be a flop, but forged ahead anyways. I must say..... it turned out pretty stellar! Such a sweet smokey flavor - didn't hurt that I nailed the skin texture too....

I had made a little probe holder so I could monitor the grate temps more accurately (they don't include them with the single probe units) - worked nicely! Was pleased to see that when I have one burner on low, the other side (indirect) is sitting at a perfect 225-240, and when I finish and glaze the chicken over the low burner (direct) its holding right at 300. I figured it was pretty close to that - just pleased to confirm it - its nice to have your cooker dialed in. Gonna have to make it a priority to dial in the 3 burner grill now... I'm thinking its going to be pretty easy.

Pretty excited.... got the WSM all set up and ready to rock with a butt tomorrow..... damn, pretty keyed to use it again - its been six months! Its gonna be a fun day......