Aging wood?

[buzzy]

How do you all age wood. By time cut or by cracks in wood showing it’s dry. Just cut chucks from a hickory tree cut down 6-7 months ago an still looks green. Want to use but don’t think it’s dry enough. All thought are appreciated.

 

[73saint]

I take two pieces and pop them together. The sound will tell you. Hollow and sharp, and it’s ready. Dull and dense, it’s not.

6-7 months sounds about perfect. When I cut my pecan, I leave it under my camp (open air, covered) for about 6 months before I even split it.

 

[bill ace 350]

Make sure it gets plenty of airflow. Occasional rain won't hurt in seasoning wood, but I stack mine in racks built in my garage after it has been outside for at least a year. I'm talking firewood though.

 

[mike243]

I have cut a hickory down and cooked whole hog with it, its all about airflow imo, open pit feeding embers is a little different than a sealed smoker. sounds like its ready to use.

 

[texomakid]

I agree 6 months cut and stored with good ventilations should be good.

 

[kmmamm]

Curing time is variable and directly related to humidity level, air flow, species and size the pieces. Perhaps the most important factor is airflow. In this part of the country, a good rule of thumb for dense grain hardwood is to allow at least 7-12 months in a well ventilated stack.

 

[archeryrob]

I take two pieces and pop them together. The sound will tell you. Hollow and sharp, and it’s ready. Dull and dense, it’s not.

I agree, if you can't tell from my screen name I used to make a lot of bows. I would bounce the bow stave on the concrete floor on it's tip. By the sound I knew if I could bend it or had to sit it by the wood stove more.

 

[Chasdev]

Easy, go to Amazon and buy a moisture meter, you can get a functional unit for around $30.
You want around 20% moisture, but 25 is ok.
I found out the hard way a few years ago that most guys selling "seasoned" cooking wood are full of crap or just flat out lying, or don't know a thing about the subject.
I bought (in three different batches, from different vendors) "seasoned " oak splits and after fighting temp control in my offset stickburner read about measuring the true moisture content and found out that ALL of the wood I bought was wet as hell, barely half way seasoned.
My rule now is to measure several splits before I hand over the cash.