wood supply? for us suburban people?

jerseydrew · Apr 14, 2013

i want to get a stick burner but i am worried about wood supply also from my understanding you have to feed a stick burner every 45 minutes to an hour?

whittling chip · Apr 14, 2013

What you might do is contact some tree trimming companies. The smaller the better. I have a couple that I call and get a lot of wood for basically their "beer" money. They have to pay to haul the stuff off to land fills. If you have a chain saw, anytime you hear a tree trimmer in your neighborhood go down and speak with them. Tell them you'll take the big stuff off their hands for 20 bucks or so. It's lot's cheaper than going to a place that sells wood by the cord.

Also, I live in Florida. I look through neighborhoods for old orange and citrus tree that homeowners might want to get rid of. I tell them I'll remove it for the wood. I'v got a nice stack of wood for very little money.

WC

PS- Nothing beats a stick burner in my opinion. Good luck!

navyjeremy · Apr 15, 2013

you could also check craigslist, that is where I got my last load from. Half my truck bed with hickory the other half with pecan for 60. I have a 96 nissan 4x4 with 6ft bed. Just search for seasoned firewood you should be able to come up with something

jerseydrew · Apr 15, 2013

i wish we had pecan up here in the north. i used it for the first time on saturday and just love how it tastes in the food.

Bearcarver · Apr 15, 2013

jerseydrew said:
i wish we had pecan up here in the north. i used it for the first time on saturday and just love how it tastes in the food.

Being in Joisey, it should be real easy to get fruitwoods, like Apple,Peach, and Pear.

Stop at a few of the many orchards. They trim their trees in fall, and you can usually get the trimmings real cheap or free.

Bear

danbono · Jun 21, 2013

Jersey Dew You can check this place out.I haven't uses as of yet. Uncle Robby

I've been buying my wood/chunks/splits from Fruita woods.

Dan

oldschoolbbq · Jun 21, 2013

Welcome , Jersey. Glad you stopped by and hope you decide to stay .

Glad to have another Stick burner convert ,

View media item 181832
KC gave some good ideas for Wood , I am always on the lookout for Wood when I'm out and about on my errands . Wife thinks it's a PITA!!! I've got maybe 1/2 a cord of mixed hard Woods...

Oak,Maple , Apple , Cherry and Hickory.

Yes, they take management , but that's what BBQing is about , right???

Good Friends , good Drinks and good Q on the Smoker... doesn't get any better...

Have fun and as always . . .

ribwizzard · Jun 21, 2013

Once you start looking for it and paying attention, someone is always cutting down a tree or trimming limbs somewhere. 99% of the time they are happy to let you hual it off so as they dont have to.

If all else fails, at your local Landfill or transfer station, check in the yard waste area, I have a guy that calls me when he gets a nice load of oak ( I have a certain size I prefer and he knows exactly what Im looking for) and either I take him a slab of ribs or slip him a 20 and he loads it in the truck for me.

Once you get the right conections, you will have more wood than you can burn, so dont worry about that.

kathrynn · Jun 21, 2013

Went to our local farmer's market. They have cut small pieces of their dead apple trees and have them out in huge bags for $10 each. They are going to have peach ones later in the Summer too. Would be a good place to check too. Don't know what area you live in...but there should be a Farmer's market of sorts around you some where.

Kat

danbono · Jun 21, 2013

Hi All Question: If you burn only wood for long periods of time 8/12 hrs. Doesn't the smoke from the wood over power what you are cooking? Or does the 4 hr/140 rule come into effect?

Dan

smokinhusker · Jun 21, 2013

The other option you have is to google where to purchase wood for smoking food. It would be helpful if you would please update your profile to include your location. Thanks!

cliffcarter · Jun 21, 2013

DanBono said:
Hi All Question: If you burn only wood for long periods of time 8/12 hrs. Doesn't the smoke from the wood over power what you are cooking? Or does the 4 hr/140 rule come into effect?

Dan

No, as long as you keep the wood burning and not smoldering. The 4hr/140° rule is a food safety rule, what you are thinking of is the temp at which smoke ring formation stops which has nothing to do with smoke flavor.

maple sticks · Jun 21, 2013

DanBono said:
Hi All Question: If you burn only wood for long periods of time 8/12 hrs. Doesn't the smoke from the wood over power what you are cooking? Or does the 4 hr/140 rule come into effect?

Dan

You can control the smoke flavor on long burns with a hotter fire. The lighter the smoke coming out of the stack means less smoke flavor and less chance of over smoking. I burn 14 hours with no problem. The type of wood you use makes a difference. Some are very strong and some not. I use maple.

kgb1 · Jun 23, 2013

Great stuff here. I think the farmer's market idea may be the best for my location. If I do get some fresh-cut stuff, how long does it need to cure/dry before being able to use it in the smoker?

cliffcarter · Jun 23, 2013

kgb1 said:
Great stuff here. I think the farmer's market idea may be the best for my location. If I do get some fresh-cut stuff, how long does it need to cure/dry before being able to use it in the smoker?

How long to season depends on whether you are using splits or chunks and what wood you get.

If you get fresh cut oak you will need to season splits a year or more, chunks 3"long and 1 1/2" thick will be ready in about 8-12 weeks.

If you can find apple you can use the chunks for smoke flavor immediately, same size as above. Apple splits take about a year to season.

Cherry chunks should be seasoned 6-8 weeks before using IMHO, splits take 8-12 months.

Seems to me that you should be able to find a BBQ wood supplier in Cali easy enough, given the popularity of BBQ cooking there. I find that Farmers Markets are expensive places to shop, in Maine at least.

kgb1 · Jun 23, 2013

Thanks cliff. I have a few good places here to buy wood chunks. BBQs Galore seems to be the best for both price and variety at about $1/lb. I was looking for opportunities for zero to near-zero costs. Like someone taking out their apple tree. I just don't run across those very often. Maybe I will now that I'm looking for such things.

I'm using wood chunks, not splits, at the moment because that's what I can easily buy; and they fit into my SFB of my CharGriller Pro.

Happy smoking.

wood supply? for us suburban people?

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