Anyone sell wood before?

[1MoreFord]

A guy on one of them online forums said he won't smoke with wood older than 3 months because it's dead. So I guess the clock is ticking........................

I saw (and think I replied to) that post and thought is was a strange statement. I don't want to cook with wood unless it has been seasoned for around a year or more. I like wood to be ~15%MC.

Wood for flavor only is different but if you're going to use it for fuel too I believe it needs to be seasoned.

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

Joe, I agree with you sentiments and I would prefer to cook with wood that is more seasoned than not yet quite seasoned. My experiences using underseasoned wood is that it produces dirty smoke. And as some wiseman once said, "No such thing as over smoked - just over dirty smoked".

When I would cut a load of cherry wood for cooking, I would save the biggest diameter pieces and let them age at least a year before splitting them. I have had some last longer than that too. They work just fine for me as they still had plenty of "flavor" left and burned just fine.

 

[Charny]

When I would cut a load of cherry wood for cooking,

Orchard cherry?

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

Yo Charny, This was wild cherry that is the predominate species of cherry in Missouri. There are not many commercial cherry orchards in Missouri. The other name for this wild species is black cherry. It is my favorite cooking wood to burn in the offset.

 

[Charny]

Thanks. Orchard fruit woods give me pause, especially old ones, knowing some of what is sprayed.

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

Charny, I remember on another forum there were quite a few discussions on the safety of using orchard wood that could have possibly been sprayed with pesticides. Of course all of us internet experts could not compromise on decision. Some argued that rain and snow should have removed the residual pesticides. Some argued that has long as you removed the bark you should be safe and some argued there were no worries what so ever and that it was fine to use. FWIW, I was in the camp of those who said remove the bark.

My expert advice if you consider using orchard wood is to contact your local state agriculture expert and ask them if it is safe to use. Some areas of the country use different pesticides and some pesticides have different half lives than others and contain different chemicals. And remember, I lied about being an expert but my advice still stands.

 

[PGarSD]

Re: selling the fallen hickory tree


The labor involved with cutting and splitting the wood is high. Selling for $300/cord (4'x4'x8' stacked split wood) sounds about right for unseasoned wood. Add a bit more $ for local delivery/stacking if you want to mess with that.



If you don't want to do that work yourself, you may want to see if anyone in your area will do it for free in exchange for leaving you some (1/2?) of the resulting split wood.



Otherwise, you may have to give it away in exchange for removing it. At least you'll not have to pay to get rid of it.