Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

I was tempted to tell her that lol. But I also did not want to lose the grill deal hahah

 

Hey guys! We are going to be receiving our 20"x40" offset smoker soon and I am looking locally for wood. I have two apple trees I am going to cut down for free and another person is giving me some cherry tree limbs. All of this is going to probably be green. Once I get a wood pile establish I'll probably never pay for wood again. But I'll need something to get started.

So I need to get seasoned wood and I found a guy on Craigslist selling seasoned (2 years) apple wood for $250 per half cord. How much wood are you guys using per cook? How much are you keeping stored? I can find a cord of apple wood cheaper than the half cord but it's not split and I will need to drive a bit farther for it (3 hours). Probably not that cost effective.

Anyways, long story short, how much wood do you use per year (on average)? How much do you keep stacked?

 

I’m interested to hear answers here. I don’t use fruitwood for heat, just for smoke. Briquettes do the heavy lifting. A 12” piece of 5” thick fruitwood split into quarters gets me through an 8 hour smoke. If I were running a wood burning smoker I would definitely look into a neutral wood (hickory?) for the bulk and add a couple logs of fruitwood at the start of each smoke and again maybe halfway through. Just me though.

 

I didn’t know that either, good tip.

 

I plan on using charcoal to start the fire and just adding logs to maintain heat. Using only enough to keep an efficient fire. I am coming from the small Weber smoker moutain (18" I think) and only using chips.

 

Hi back to Nova - Dobs is intrigued by the grill - not yet introduced to the smoker - He's 6 mos now - I'll post pics soon

 

Two fiftty? !! ouch. Buy some chunks until your apple is seasoned. How much do I use per yr? Not much, pellet pooper!
Pro tip learned the hard way. Store the wood inside or at least well covered. Or you will have a pile of rotten wood.

 

$250 is steep considering I can get free wood . It really makes me want to start selling it. I would expect $250 for a cord in this area. That would be for rounds and probably not seasoned. It would certainly be cheaper than buying logs or chunks from a store.

Looking for other options before going with this guy. I'll be calling some orchards tomorrow.

But yeah, you have to keep wood dry with good airflow or you'll ruin it pretty quick.

 

Lots of pesticides used in orchards, just saying. I live next to one, and they spray several times a year. I’m not sure exactly what they are spraying, and need to find out somehow. Maybe ask them what they spray when you talk to them, and ask the longevity of the chemical.

 

That was my first thought and figured I would ask. I would assume after 2 years it would be good to go. I have a few friends that work with pesticides so I'll give them a call and see how serious it is.

 

When orchards replant, old trees are sold off for $2 to $4 per tree, cut your own. I would also imagine if you are buying commercially prepackaged fruit wood chips, pellets, chunks, logs you are getting orchard wood.

Unless you are buying confirmed "wild" fruit woods undoubtedly it is coming from an orchard and you are exposed to pesticides. There is almost no way around it.

 

I've always taken it for granted but I guess I am really lucky to be in the wood flooring business. I have an unlimited supply of red oak, white oak, hickory, maple, cherry, walnut, etc. I've never used anything else for my smokes except hardwood scraps.

 

might otta keep a good look out on your wood, @scottalot has been known to stock up on smoking/grilling supplies

 

That would be a long ass drive!

 

that man will go to great lengths to get wood

 

We are pretty sure he was single hand-idly responsible for the great Kingsford Shortage of 2017.

 

Yes I eat a lot of brisket

 

It is taco Tuesday... So...

I'm up in PVille too right now.

 

Let me know what you find out.

Green stuff?? Lol. Looks good.

 

Talk about a gold mine! I mentioned before the best wood for cooking and smoking I ever had was a bed full of hickory flooring I managed to pick up. If I had that available to me, well never mind I don't

For lunch today warmed up the left over skirt steak that I cooked directly on the coals. The steak was a pound and a half and only was able to east half of it first go around. Turned the oven to 250° threw the leftover in covered with aluminum foil. Half an hour later pulled it and cut it into 3 pieces then cut slices across the grain. Had some ideas for it but once I started eating it off the cutting board I couldn't stop. Meat butter is what comes to mind. I see a lot more skirt steak cooked on coals in my future.