Text 8276, 65 rader
Skriven 2006-12-02 06:18:14 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DALE SHIPP
Ärende: RE: Smoking Ribs
========================
DSh> DSh> BTW, I once did prune a couple of major lower branches 
DSh> one spring from the silver maple.  I came back in about a 
DSh> half hour to find the cut was infested with small ants who 
DSh> were feverously lapping up the sap that was oozing out.

All maple saps contain some sugar, just not as much as the sugar
maple, and not enough to be commercially viable.  Remember those
big trees in my old backyard?  Those were Norway maples.  Though
not as good for a smoker as sugar maple, they were still yielded
quite a flavorful smoke.  But while a sugar maple will yield about
a gallon of syrup to 40 gallons of sap, you'd have to boil down
about 60 gallons of Norway maple sap to get that gallon.

Finding the ants taking advantage of the sap is a good sign that
your silver maple will probably be useable.

DSac> Apple is harder to get, but I have a friend with 15 acres of apple
DSac> orchards and he always gives me a bundle of trimmings when the trees

DSh> Does he spray his trees?   Would it matter?

Yes he does; I don't think it matters.  The pesticides are always
sprayed after the bees are done pollinating the flowers, and the
trimming is done before then.  At any rate, I never worry about it.

DSac> I have three or four youngish butternut trees where we are 
DSac> now.  I plan to remove a few of them in the spring (two are 
DSac> way too close to my barn for comfort) and I want to try 
DSac> smoking with those, too.

DSh> Not quite sure what butternut is.  

It's also called a "white walnut."  They used to be fairly common
from Canada to NJ, and west to about Michigan or so.  There's been
a blight hitting the trees for the past 40 years though, so the
nuts and trees are harder to find.  They take a long time to mature
and yield somewhat inconsistently.  The nuts are white, oily, and
rich, but they get rancid quickly like a macadamia.  There are a lot
of old New England recipes that call for them, but between the blight
and the younger trees being poorer yielding, they're expensive if
you buy them.  I didn't notice very many nuts this year, but I wasn't
looking too hard and we have squirrels in the neighborhood. [g]

DSh> Yet another sort of tree that is naturally occuring is 
DSh> called a tulip popular.  They are very tall (50 feet or 
DSh> more) and straight.   I've heard that the wood is not all 
DSh> that good as firewood -- tends to pop
DSh> and explode with some force in a fire place.

Soft wood isn't good for fireplaces or smokers.

DSh> I also have some grape vines that you'd be welcome to prune 
DSh> if you want:-}}  They are growing up the popular trees and 
DSh> some of them have vines that are several inches in diameter 
DSh> at ground level.

I have lots of those here.  So many, in fact, that I bought a
wood chipper to help me clear all the vines and scrub out and
make mulch.


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