Cherry wood

[Bad Water Bill]

Many years ago my brother broke off a cherry branch and roasted a hotdog by stiching the dog in the branch. Later he got very sick and the MD said he was poisoned by the cherry branch.

I will be trimming my cherry tree this winter and a neighbor wants the wood for BBQs. Is it safe to give him the wood or will folks be poisoned?

[Jim]

Wood allergies & toxicity (http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/), see 'Black Cherry'.

[williamwaco]

Wow, that was a good find.

[MT Gianni]

The chart is by woodworkers for wood workers. I think cherry wood would be OK for smoking but do not know for certain. Allergies hit people differently. I do think there is a big difference between impaling something on a piece of wood or inhaling dust as Jims chart showed and smoking food. In "the Quick and Easy art of Smoking Food" by Chris Dubbs and Dave Heberle pg 26 they mention that the best woods for smoking are hardwoods. They say the best of those are fruit wood such as apple and cherry.

[Tom-ADC]

I've used cherry a lot but always something I've bought, nobody got sick, perhaps the wood was very green or sprayed with insecticide?

[Rick N Bama]

I use Cherry chunks & chips quite often BBQing Pork & Poultry. I, nor any of my family, have ever gotten sick from using it.

Rick

[Bad Water Bill]

Thanks for all of the info. And yes my brother broke off a nice green limb so there was a lot of sap in it.

As long as dry wood seems to be safe we are good to go.

[fatnhappy]

Cherry, mesquite and oak are all on the list. I use 2 of the 3 for smoking.

[TCFAN]

Cherry is one of my favorite woods to use in the smoker.............Terry

[kbstenberg]

I used to do a lot of woodworking. Every time I used Black Walnut my migraines would kick in. Oak was never as bad but it also affected me.
I would have to take extra precautions when sanding and cutting.

[Wayne Smith]

I use a lot of cherry in the smoker. I do de-bark it to remove the bitterness, that may remove some of the allergens.

[Boyscout]

I have been using purchased cherry chips for years and have had no problems. In fact, cherry and apple are my two favorite for brisket and chicken. The problem may have been in the bark as others alluded to. Perhaps the bark has a lot of tannins in it.

[10 ga]

It was prussic acid in the cherry. Known to be poison and dangerous to grazing cattle, horses etc... Green wood and leaves are to be avoided. See reference to "Prunus" genus plants in the link. Merry Christmas to all! 10 ga

http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/forages/publications/ay196.htm

http://chemistry.about.com/b/2008/04/12/cyanide-poisoning-from-apples-peaches-cherries-plums-etc.htm





lead dust XZ

[WRideout]

Cherry is known to contain cyanide. Also the soft inner seeds of apricots and peaches. I picked up an older book, printed in England about home winemaking. The author said that when making cherry wine, some people break open a few seeds "to get that almond flavor." The almond flavor is cyanide. (Kids, don't do this at home.)

A friend who runs an alpaca farm here in PA, has to vacuum up all the cherry leaves in the pasture, because they are toxic to the animals.
Wayne

[Bullshop]

Would that include choke cherry?