Lichen on smoking wood?

[lokidog]

I've got access to huge amounts of apple, pear, and plum branch prunings.  The possible problem is that they have a lot of lichen growing on them and I don't have the time to scrape it all off. 

Does anyone know if there would be a problem, taste or otherwise, using this wood?

[Bean Counter]

tagging 

[Humptulips]

I had some apple wood that way. I didn't like the end product. I usually use vine maple though so I wasn't sure if it was just the apple wood. I always heard apple was good though so I blamed the lichen.

[Mtn.Ghost]

I debark all my wood that's just me and it sounds like your short on time.
Bark alone will leave a undesirable flavor in alot of cases

[ICEMAN]

Delegate the de-lichening...

[whitey]

I wouldnt cook with any wood that had worms or strange stuff on it.
I cant take a chance on screwing up a few hundred pounds of meat because of questionable wood.

[PolarBear]

 

[Blacklab]

when in doubt, throw it out 

[ICEMAN]

You guys don't know Loki....

[j_h_nimrod]

I debark all my wood that's just me and it sounds like your short on time.
Bark alone will leave a undesirable flavor in alot of cases

 

The bark often has some of the more volatile, high sugar constituents that will give a burned or bitter flavor. Alder is especially prone to this. I never considered the problem of lichen but would not want it on my smoking wood for sure.

[boomstick]

Never use wood with bark on it

[jackmaster]

I debark all my wood that's just me and it sounds like your short on time.
Bark alone will leave a undesirable flavor in alot of cases

i aint a big smoker like the rest on here but i know a few guys and they all debark whether it has lichen or not, i know when i was a tree climber it sucked breathing that crap in 

[lokidog]

Thanks for all the input, it looks like I will strip the bark on what I use.  Maybe it's time to teach my boy how to use a pocketknife....      

[barracuda163]

In the future get your green wood now or even earlier in the spring when the sap begins to run (when leaves are coming on) and then the bark will slip off easily. I notice this in alder and maple that i use for firewood. In your case using limbs and such it may be a bit more tricky to get bark off.