Hedge aka: Osage Orange

[brewman114]

I have heard a lot of talk around about hedge as a smoking wood. I will say this, I have been using hedge for years and believe its the best for pork hands down. A lot of people are skeptical about it but I am here to say I love it. I have used hickory, oak, apple, pear, cherry, you name it and my favorite has to be hedge. But you have to use it right. When cooking a pork butt it must be smoked low at 180 - 200 for at least 4hrs and mopped every hour. Wrapped and cooked 260 - 300 until internal is 190+. The pork cooked with hedge brings more compliments on taste and texture than any of the other woods I have used. I have also done beer can chicken and Brisket among other things a lot with it and results have always been great. I don't know why it has such a bad rap, maybe just not used enough by people or used wrong way. My second choice of wood would definitely be Mulberry which works well also, but doesn't give near the long lasting smoke and heat.

This is just my opinion but I definitely try it if you haven't.

[dawg]

i use hedge as my primary heat source when cooking. i will use other woods for smoking, have used cherry,pecan and mulberry.
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when the going gets tough...... eat more fiber!!!

[Jim_K]

Osage and Mulberry come from the same family "Moraceae"