Picked up my 1st shagbark hickory couple of days ago. Started splitting this morning. Whoever thought that wood that smelled this bad would make good cook/smokewood was very brave. It smells like pee. Not something I want my food to taste like.
Guess noses know smells differently.... I detect no pizz when splitting Shag. I do however smell BTU’s. I do find it to be very strong for smoking- but just a smoke smell, still no p smell.
Elm I can understand - particulary slippery Elm even the locust's,but oak or hickory I do not find offensive.
I heard pecan is great smoke wood but I use what I can get free. Pecan doesn't grow around here. I've seen pecan smoker pellets in stores though.
We dont have a lot of shagbark hickory around here...I dont recall ever cutting on one. I have cut lots of other hickory, don't know which varieties. I like the smell of hickory. Does shagbark smell that different from the others?