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Smoking Meats

post #1 of 7
4/18/11 at 9:32am
Thread Starter 

This is my first post...

 

I recently retired to Ecuador. I have only used "typical" smoking woods available in the US. Since moving here I have been trying to find hardwoods suitable for smoking meats. I can now use orange and lemon wood (citrus woods) because they are easily available (in my backyard). I would really like to try some South American hardwoods for smoking but have been unable to find a link. Because my Spanish is minimal at this time it is difficult for me to discuss this topic with Ecuadorians.

 

Any ideas...any and all would be greatly appreciated. 

 

EcuadorHawk

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post #2 of 7
4/18/11 at 11:16am

Generally nut and fruit woods are acceptable for smoking. Try lighting a small sample in a very hot fire and smell the resulting smoke to get an idea what the flavor might be.

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post #3 of 7
4/18/11 at 3:51pm

I would not use most tropical woods as many of them contain potentially toxic oils.

 

The citrus is fine, and there's probably no real reason to change it.

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post #4 of 7
4/18/11 at 5:57pm
Thread Starter 

Thank you for the help. I didn't know that about the potentially toxic oils. Most hardwoods in Ecuador come from the Amazon. Guess I will just use the citrus woods. 

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post #5 of 7
4/18/11 at 7:24pm

Hawk,

Retired in Ecuador, nice.

Fruits are a really nice light flavorful smoke. Peach is used a lot, apple. Keep an eye out for guava. it's a small tree but the wood is great for smoking. Your, guava, not what we know here in the states.     don't burn green

  Have you had your share of Civiche? Like the garnish.

lapingachos 2 sauce...yum

Enjoy your retirement!

pan

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post #6 of 7
4/26/11 at 9:06am
Thread Starter 

I found a Guayaba tree (what some call Guava in other countries) in the corner of the field right next to our property. I plan to prune the tree for the owner to get some wood. Guava trees are common here and I planted one today, although it will be a few years before I can use any of the wood. I pruned my orange, lemon, and tangerine trees and have been keeping the larger pieces of wood. 

 

Thanks for the tip not to burn green wood. I will have to tour around and see if I can get some wood from other people. Peaches and apples are grown mostly in central Ecuador or on the coast so I may have to take a roadtrip to collect some wood. One way or another I will get the wood I need to smoke. My ceramic smoker hasn't been shipped (it is with our household goods that we are shipping) yet so I have awhile to collect some wood.

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post #7 of 7
4/27/11 at 9:45pm

Hello, and welcome aboard. You didn't mention what kind of meat you intend to smoke. Fruit woods produce a milder smoke, great for fish, chicken,cheese. Hardwoods such as mesquite, maple, pecan, hickory, oak, are good for beef and pork. It's all good my friend.

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