Expert: John Langenfelder - 3/16/2008

Question
I'm a woodworker who collects his own wood. I happened to come across some wood whose aroma was so intensely apple, I barbecued with it and true enough it produced some of the best tasting barbecue (ribs and chicken) I'd ever had. (I'm originally from St. Louis so I do know what real barbecue tastes like)After that I swore by apple wood.  I began almost fanatically searching out applewood for barbercuing but done gave me that intense flavor I got from the unknown wood. Years later I encountered this unknown wood again but I knew it wasn't apple but the aroma was so intense. About 10 years ago one of my co-worker offered me some elm wood from a downed tree in her yard.  I had it cut into boards, stacked and dried but never got around to doing anything with it.  I recently decided to liquidate my wood supply and as I was digging out the various stacks of wood that smell hit me again. It was the elm! Now I know every book and cook says do not use elm for barbecuing and when freshly cut elm does smells, at best, like medicine but I'm telling you this stuff smells almost like the Jolly Roger green apple candy I once bought as a kid! The question is, could this actually be elm ? I know it's not apple.  Is there a fragrant smelling elm. The wood is a nondescript fawn brown, and relatively soft, not like the hard dark brown English or Carpathian elm.

Answer
Willie,

I must admit, you got me stumped....

I've never heard that you couldn't use Elm wood. I know that pine wood can be poisonous when using it for smoking or at least that is what I am told.  I know that when I use "hardwood" charcoal for bbq'ing alot of times  the wood that I find in their appears to be "junk" wood.  I see a lot of wood that appears to be indoor molding.  Now it could be Oak, but I don't know for sure. As far as what wood to use for smoking, any hardwood tree, fruit tree or nut bearing tree should be good.  The Elm tree does have a seed, which books on trees call fruit. However, doing research on the internet, they claim that Elm trees should not be used.  They also say that you shouldn't use any wood that you don't know what it is.

I would recommend sticking with the wood you know, not the wood you don't know.