BBQ Wood in Northern / Central California

[Ozro]

Hello All,

I just purchased my first offset smoker and am looking for a good source of wood in northern/central California.

I Live in Sacramento and frequently travel down to Fresno. Several local places have oak, cherry, and sometimes almond but that seems to be it. Just starting out so not really looking for anything specific, just wanted to try some of the more common woods like hickory and mesquite. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ozro

 

[tom b]

Oak, cherry and almond work for me, that is mostly what I see here too

 

[SirPorkaLot]

Hello All,



I just purchased my first offset smoker and am looking for a good source of wood in northern/central California.



I Live in Sacramento and frequently travel down to Fresno. Several local places have oak, cherry, and sometimes almond but that seems to be it. Just starting out so not really looking for anything specific, just wanted to try some of the more common woods like hickory and mesquite. Any advice would be appreciated.



Thanks,

Ozro

Hi neighbor!
Folsom here.

Don’t bother with mesquite unless you’re a Texan.
Hickory is not native to California.
You can buy both hickory and mesquite splits at some Home Depot’s, but I’d go with cherry or even oak, if I were you

 

[Pulmah Finger]

Wood is like food, buy local when you can. Almond is great, I burn oak and almond.

I am going to try and score some apple wood from an orchard this year.

 

[Mike in Roseville]

Pretty much everyone from Sac to Fresno has almond. Lionudakis in Escalon removes orchards and sells the wood. Give them a call and see what they have.

 

[Mike in Roseville]

Also wanted to add...the reason you don’t see things other than Oak or fruit/nut wood is because that is what is local to the area. Oak is great as is almond. Almond is similar enough to pecan that I wouldn’t worry.

 

[tom b]

Almond with cherry is m go to for the offset

 

[South Butte Slim]

Almond here, Oak when I can get it.

 

[HogGrog]

Almond and oak for me too.

Fruit wood when I can get it, preferably apricot.

 

[sparky']

There is a lot of peach and apricot orchards around orangevale. Try hitting them up after the leaves fall off and they start trimming trees.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

BBQ is meant to be simple and utilize the woods available in your area. As long as you run a clean fire you can use any wood for any meat. Oak is the standard and provides a great flavor and smell. Cherry is great as well and it imparts a shocking amount of flavor and a great color as well. Hickory and Mesquite are great woods but you won't be missing out with Oak and Cherry.

Just make sure you're getting cured wood and you'll be fine. I'm not sure what the prices are up in that area, but I pay about $150-200 per cord of wood (that's 4' x 4' x 8' stacked properly).

Enjoy the new offset smoker!

 

[Chuckwagonbbqco]

BBQ Pro in Fair Oaks has a supply of wood. It all depends on how much wood you want, and what size splits. Chico area has almond wood everywhere. California Hot Wood in Oroville sells large boxes of wood. I use mainly oak because my large towable Santa Maria Grill uses a lot of wood--offset smokers do not use as much.

 

[SonnyE]

Wood availability is why I leaned the way I do.
I see orchard after orchard on I-5 South being torn out, mostly Almond, due to the lack of available water.
But the wood just disappears, usually bought up by bigger concerns before the trees are dried up and ripped out.
Try looking North of your area for bulk availability.

I settled on Pellet supplies for me because of constant availability around me.
(Two Lowe's, two Home Depot's, 3 Walmart's, and a BBQ Galore Store.) And that stick wood costs an arm and a leg here.
Therefore, I use gas to BBQ, and Pellets to smoke with.
YMMV :wink::biggrin1:

 

[Ozro]

Thank you all for the responses!

Glad to hear the regional wood types produce a good product. The local supply here looks to be about $350-400 for a cord, I'll take a look at the mentioned sellers to shop around a bit.

I was thinking of getting a 1/2 cord mixed of the various woods to start. I'm guessing I'll be doing a 8-12 hr cook once a week for the next few months, have to start getting that ROI on the new toy. :wink:

 

[brimclau]

+1 for Oak and Almond, and sometimes cherry.

I'm out in the foothills (near Folsom) and in central, CA those are the most common and are pretty versatile. There are a bunch of apple orchards up Hwy 50 that you can hit up in the fall / winter for trimmings or downed trees if you want another source of fruit wood.

 

[BigDaveBBQ]

Hello All,

I just purchased my first offset smoker and am looking for a good source of wood in northern/central California.

I Live in Sacramento and frequently travel down to Fresno. Several local places have oak, cherry, and sometimes almond but that seems to be it. Just starting out so not really looking for anything specific, just wanted to try some of the more common woods like hickory and mesquite. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ozro

Man this brought out all the NorCal folks, when we getting together and having a Que and Brew?

Check out M&M cookingwood in North Highlands

 

[Chuckwagonbbqco]

Thank you all for the responses!

Glad to hear the regional wood types produce a good product. The local supply here looks to be about $350-400 for a cord, I'll take a look at the mentioned sellers to shop around a bit.

I was thinking of getting a 1/2 cord mixed of the various woods to start. I'm guessing I'll be doing a 8-12 hr cook once a week for the next few months, have to start getting that ROI on the new toy. :wink:

Your "per cord" prices seem a little "high"----perhaps if you owned a truck and travelled about an hour north of Sacramento you could save $100 per cord. If you have a chain saw and access to a splitter I can arrange some "free" oak wood. AAAh---Define "free" bbq wood----usually the words "sweat equity" enter the equation----each person picks their own path----if you wanna come north and save money----lemme know---if time and equipment constraints are a problem I would suggest a visit to David Hill at BBQ Pros in Fair Oaks----David was raised in Cayucos, CA, and makes trips to the Central Coast Area of Calif to obtain "Red Oak"----his expertise in all BBQ styles is highly rated---he can help you with "wood"-----David Hill has BBQ classes etc-------many things geared to "Big Green Eggs"----a fun place to visit. Oh he might have some spices.

 

[Baychilla]

Locally around the SF/bay the options are generally oak, almond and walnut. Sadly the local place only sells mixes so I have no idea what I'm burning at any given time.