BAD smelling applewood?

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Chub_Chub

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Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
547
Location
AZ
I bought some organic applewood from someone on Ebay and finally got it in the mail yesterday. Last night we scrubbed a few branches and put them in the oven at about 250... Literally within 5 minutes my house was filled with a horrible stench! :wacko:The wood was VERY green still, some green nubs on a couple branches in the box, too. I had to take all of it outside and leave it on the porch and the house STILL stank all night. I was really on the verge of being sick from it.:vomit:

I don't want to throw it out, but if it smells like this when we bake it, I really need to find another way or get rid of it. Is the stench normal for applewood? I somehow thought it would smell (vaguely at least) of apple. My pecan wood doesn't stink when I bake it.:impatient: I wish my normal applewood supplier wasn't "swamped with orders" so I didn't have to have this happen. My boys love her applewood.
 
I have never had apple wood stink, I just got a batch of moldy applewood which is a pain since it has to be re-scrubbed and re-baked, which defeats the purpose of buying pre-done wood. I personally would not give it, if it stinks to you it will stink to them. Wonder if the tree was sick or something?
 
If it's moldy, I throw it out. Mold spores are next to impossible to get rid of without using chemicals.
 
Apple wood should have a very sweet smell while baking, which actually does make me a little queasy, too - which is why I buy mine pre-baked. I'll do pecan, mulberry, or willow myself with no smell issues, but apple does bother me.
 
Agreed! When I bake mine it smells 'appley' and like fall. I think there's a man on ebay who sells it, and says he was the first one to, or something....I've read lots of complaints about his applewood. I'm just guessing its the same person.
 
When I bake applewood, my house smells like apple cider and apple pie. I think it smells awesome! Willow makes my house smell like tea, but none of it should smell really awful. I'd toss it...no way would I take a chance on stinky wood with my chins.
 
Yeah, I don't know where the stinky apple wood comes from, but the apple wood I bake, smells so yummy and gives a spicy apple smell to my entire house.

Some people who come over from time to time ask me if I am baking apple pies, but when I show them a huge cookie sheet of apple wood, they are so surprised!
If it stinks, I would definitely toss it. Can't imagine a chin wanting to chew something that is stinky. I really haven't ever smelled a stinky wood yet that I have baked, even the pear or arbutus smells pretty darn good. :)
 
menagerie said:
If it's moldy, I throw it out. Mold spores are next to impossible to get rid of without using chemicals.
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Well that is poopie, last time a few years ago I got the blue mold wood and was told on CNQ to scrub, boil and bake. Guess that is 70.00 out the door since I have been too lazy to process it yet. Better safe than sorry.
 
i prepared wood a few months ago and after they were dried in the oven, i put them in plastic ziplocks. bad idea. less than a week later i was distributing to my boys and i pulled out a moldy stick. all that work down the drain, i threw a huge oversized 12 x 13 ziplock bag of apple wood out! this last time i prepped them, i scrubbed them real good, gave them a quick boiling water bath and then baked them in the oven extra and then let them sit on the tray overnight and then put them in open cardboard boxes.
but even the moldy ones didnt really smell. that is really odd. i truly hope you can get a refund.
 
I always try to remember to suggest to people to keep the wood out of the packaging when they get it (let the poor wood breathe, eh?). If by chance, it is humid or warm where the wood is kept in their homes, or if the wood hasn't been dried enough, the condensation/wetness from the humidity in the bag/box, etc... can cause mold too if kept in long enough.

Never heard of wood smelling off though too, I would think a person should get a refund if that happens.

It could be possible the tree the wood came from, was diseased or something though, eh?

And, I'm not sure what you mean by green wood. I have noticed, different type of apple trees will have a slight tinge to the bark that is different. Some might have a yellowish tinge, some may have green or dark reddish brown bark, etc... Same thing with pear trees too. My neighbor's pear tree for example, has a yellow tinge to the bark and then my mother's pear tree has a more greenish tinge to the bark. It depends on what type of apple or pear tree, it seems. The McIntosh apple trees, seem like a dark reddish brown, while there are others which have a yellowish or greenish tinge to the bark.
 
By green, I meant the wood is the normal dark brown, but the cut ends had a greenish layer, basically, just that the wood looks fresh off the tree to me..

I don't know what to think about the wood.. We tried to bake it the same night we got it in the mail, so it wasn't bad from our storage. None of the sticks we pulled out of the box looked to have anything wrong with it. I compared the outside to some wood I already had, it looks the same color, etc.. I'm wondering if maybe it just wasnt scrubbed well enough before it went into the oven. I'll give it another go with different sticks from the box sometime this weekend and see if it happens again. If so, I will just throw it out. I'll try to post some pics tonight for any additional input that might be helpful.

Thanks for all the replies so far! I knew you guys would have the answers I needed.
 
My moldy wood was only in the box for a week and a half, the time from what I paid for it, it was shipped and delivered and opened. I think it was not baked long enough like the first wood I got years ago. None of my stored wood ever got moldy if prepared correctly.
 
By green, I meant the wood is the normal dark brown, but the cut ends had a greenish layer, basically, just that the wood looks fresh off the tree to me..
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There's your answer - it isn't apple wood.

There are a lot of woods that look identical to apple. Pear is absolutely spot on in every way - except it smells like pear when you bake it.

Likely it is some sort of look-alike and I would toss it as in my experience if something smells bad then it is for a reason - eg, toxicity. The Tallow tree that grows down here is identical to apple and pear, the only thing on it not poisonous is the honey the bees make out of the pollen. No kidding.
 
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