Salmonsmoker

[Yellowfin]

Hey Salmonsmoker,

My buddy smoked some of my salmon this year for me. I will never eat it any other way from now on. Holy "Smokes", it was good. And what do you know, Santa brought me a smoker for Christmas! I will be messing with it this weekend trying to figure it out. Shamefully I will will have to buy some fillets until I can get on the ice and get some trout in the freezer. All I have right now is tons of perch. I will be using your recipe. In my woods I have a ton of Honey Locust trees. This wood is so hard that it is like sawing through a stone and it never rots; similar to cedar. It has very thick and heavy bark. When you burn it in the woodstove it smells like you are cooking smoked sausage big time. I was wondering if you had any experience with this wood. Also, do any types of wood have natural poisons or toxins in them? I dont want to keel over at the dinner table. I also have Hickory in the area, as you recommended. Any help on the wood would be greatly appreciated.

[Salmonsmoker]

Yellowfin,

Congratulations on getting the smoker. You will have many hours of fun and a lot of good food in near future.

I have not heard of any woods that are toxic in this part of the country.

Most any of the hard woods give a good flavor - each one is slightly different. Part of the fun in making smoked food is finding the unique flavor that you like. I prefer 1/3 Hickory and 2/3 Red Oak burned in an oxidation fire.

Certainly don't use any pine or evergreen. They will give a turpentine flavor to your food.

If you do a search for smoked foods on this site you will find several postings from over the past year or so about the flavors of different woods, and oxidation vs reduction smoke flavors.

Let us know about your results.

Salmonsmoker.