Bark, lichen, moss, spiderwebs on the smoking wood

[mrted]

I just sliced up some oak firewood into little smoker-sized chunks with my bandsaw.  Is the bark good for smoking?  What about the lichen & moss & spiderwebs and all the other ecology in the bark, must I remove all that crap too?

 

[flash]

Deeply furrowed bark on some woods I would watch, as they could impart a taste to your meat. With those woods I would remove the bark. Spider webs, I would not be worried about. Molds and such, I would try to remove.

 

[pineywoods]

I don't worry about the bark much. With that being said if it has mold on it I will usually wire brush it off before using that split