Orange any good for smoking?

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denisbaldwin USER_AVATAR
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Orange any good for smoking?

Postby denisbaldwin » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:01 am

Being a Floridian, people often tell me that I can have all of the downed orange trees in their yards. I took one guy up on his offer and I currently have about 100 logs of dried orange sitting in my driveway.

Is this stuff any good to smoke with? I've heard all kinds of conflicting information as to it being bitter/tart and other people saying that it's really mild and adds a fruity taste. What has been your experience with it?

Denis
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Postby bigwheel » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:26 pm

Never tried any personally (mainly cuz I aint never had none) but always heard it was very good. Did a little Goggling and did not notice anybody bad mouthing it.

http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/faq2/8.html#8.1

bigwheel
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Postby denisbaldwin » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:37 pm

Thanks for the link, Bigwheel! :)

Anyone have anything else to say about it?
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Postby OSD » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:54 pm

I've tried it a bunch of times and I can't say it was worth the effort. It has to be very dried out or the smoke will get a bitter taste. It's flavor ( what little there is ) is very mild. I used it on chicken and fish. If you mix it with other wood like pecan or even apple wood, you'll be hard pressed to get any flavor out of it. And if you add more of it in to try to get more flavor from it, it starts to get bitter. About the only way I got any kind of decent results was to use a few chunks when using charcoal or lump and even then not much flavor to it. YMMV
Jim
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Postby denisbaldwin » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:09 pm

Jim - Definitely something to consider. I was considering using it only for the heat aspect, and perhaps mixing Pecan or Hickory in with it for the smoke flavor.

I just want to be in a situation where it makes the food bitter or sour.
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Postby OSD » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:22 pm

It doesn't produce heat like pecan, oak, or hickory does. If you use it as the main heat source wood, you will most likely end up with a bitter taste to your food ( because of the amount of wood you'll burn ). Most people only use a little of it when grilling for a mild taste. That's why you don't usually see comp guys or caterers using it to cook with. You would be better off getting some oak for your main heat source wood. Check with some tree services in your area, they are usually a good source of oak and pecan.
Jim
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Postby bigwheel » Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:37 am

Well glad to know that OSD. Orange wood defintely go on my no no list.

bigwheel

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