For centuries, Hickory wood has been

much prized as a cooking wood

(especially in the southern states of America)

– it gives a wonderful strong, sweet flavour

to most meats but if you want to smoke

Ham then this is the wood for you.

Grafted Hickory trees will produce

nuts after about ten years, whereas

self rooting trees (they have a huge

tap root), will only start to produce

nuts after fifteen years.

Out of all the American Hardwoods,

Hickory is probably the most sought after

wood for wood-burning stoves due to its

high heat, excellent coals

and aromatic perfume.

It is an incredibly tough wood but very

flexible with excellent shock absorption

making it ideal for a variety of uses:

tool handles, drumsticks, bows,

walking sticks.

In the past it was also used for baseball

bats and golf club shafts.

Hickory is not an easy wood to split,

nor to light due to its density
so don’t skimp on using kindlers

to get the fire going

Both Hickory and Pecan flowers rely on

the wind for pollination in the Spring, nuts

can be produced from self-pollination

but it is better from a crop point of view

if the trees are unrelated.

The bark is very similar to Ash with quite

marked fissures and the wood is cream and

beige with some of the larger pieces

having a dark brown heartwood centre.