Fresh Oak

[tractor plow]

My wife and I just bought a lot here in MN and plan to build over the next few months.

The lot was 100% wooded with brush, buckthorn, and oak. We cleared it all ourselves with some help from family. We're keeping a lot of oak and buckthorn for firewood, oak for some benches or bar top type projects. But I also kept a couple small oak logs that I chunked out for smoking.

Question: How long (ball park) should I let it dry before I use it in my pit boss ceramic grill?

 

[yankee2bbq]

Split and covered and out of weather about 6 months.

 

[motolife313]

If u cut the pieces short into hockey put style shapes 2" thick or so it will dry really fast. Maybe 3-4 months. 12-16" pieces much much longer. 1 year plus more like 2 where u live

 

[dave schiller]

If you're using charcoal for heat and wood only for smoke, it should be good to go in a few months. OTOH, if you're using wood only (heat and smoke), maybe dry it for a year. Best way to know when the wood is down in the 12-15% moisture range is to purchase a moisture meter. They're cheap and accurate enough.

 

[cliffcarter]

Minnesota's climate is similar to Maine's so you can expect the oak fire wood to take 2 years to season enough to burn in a wood stove.If you cut your chunks 2" thick by 3" long and dry them in out of the weather 4-6 months will be sufficient for smoke wood.

 

[indaswamp]

Split and covered and out of weather about 6 months.

This^^^^^^
But start counting down the 6 months when it is not frozen outside...the moisture in the wood needs to evaporate.

 

[HalfSmoked]

You can all so build a plastic green house and the heat from the sun will dry it much faster. Leaver some air space for it to breath though. Another description of this is it can be called a kild.

Warren