Oak pallet wood

[rickw]

I am curious if the raw ends of pallets would be any good for smoking. My brother says the guy he gets his firewood from says this is just raw oak, not treated. The ends he has looks like rough cut 4x4 pieces, opinions?

 

[txbbqman]

I would say as long as it is oak and it has not been treated then you should be fine.

Being the ends of pallets it may be so thin that it will burn rather quickly, but still should be able to use it

 

[bigsteve]

Kind of a risky proposition if your brothers friend is wrong......

 

[tasunkawitko]

hopefully, those pallets never carried anything toxic....

 

[rickw]

Hence the question. These are the bigger pieces of oak not the thinner ones. Like what would be on the bottom of the pallet.

They are from a pallet company that makes new ones, they have never been loaded.

 

[tasunkawitko]

in that case, i don't see any problems ~ could be a good score unless someone here knows a good reason not to use them!

 

[bbq engineer]

Rick,

I'd sure take a look at them, and then use your best judgement. It just might pan out, and you'd have a heck of a score on your hands. Good Luck.

BBQ Eng.

 

[alx]

Normaly i would say no-but if this is a pallet factory etc. and wood is not to dry-as i couldnt see them necesarily kiln drying pallet wood- since the design makes the strength- i would go for it.I sawz -all the discarded broken ones for kindling in my shop stove.

 

[pineywoods]

If your sure the wood hasn't been sprayed with pesticides or something to preserve it then it may be a great source.

 

[rickw]

Before I even try we are going to make sure 100% it is raw oak and not treated.

 

[smoke on the water]

I don't think they would use oak to build pallets. When I used to handle pallets and had to get rid of them when we had a truckload I beleve they used inferior soft wood. Check out this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet#...erican_pallets

 

[rickw]

From your link.

The cheapest pallets are made of softwood and are often considered expendable, to be discarded as trash along with other wrapping elements, at the end of the trip. These pallets are simple stringer pallets, and liftable from two sides.

Slightly more complex hardwood block pallets,

It looks as if they do indeed use hardwoods for some pallets.

 

[azrocker]

I would be afraid they are treated with pesticide etc.

 

[rickw]

If there is the slightest chance of any chemicals I will nix the idea straight away.

 

[flatbroke]

try it and feed the food to the neighbors you dont like and see what happens.

 

[zapper]

Pallets are often treated with pesticides but usually after they are constructed. If you are sure that these scraps are byproducts from the original manufacturing of new and untreated pallets then you have a good source of wood. Many places remanufacture or rebuild pallets and I would not reccomend using the wood from any pallet that has left the manufacturing plant for cooking or indoor heating.

 

[mcp9]

i would not use them. way too risky.

 

[1894]

We got a box and pallet co near here. Oak and maple are the wood of choice . 4x4 chunks are at least great firewood . Grab what you can , check with the company re pesticides , but I doubt those chunks have been treated yet. They are the off cuts of big random length bundles that get cut to length for whatever pallet size they are building that day. Watch out for pine , looks similar when rough cut , weight and smell will help you sort them out.

 

[slim51015]

I work at a pallet co./mill our pallets if need be are treated after assembly. We use all hardwood. The cutoffs prior to assembly are very good for smoking just may have to season them a while. We use a mix of woods like oak, maple cherry, ash.....

 

[rickw]

I stopped by today and talked to the fellow at the pallet company. I asked if the wood has ever been treated with anything. He told me this wood, mainly oak, is straight from the mill and is just plain rough cut oak, not treated with anything what so ever.

If there is anyone else in the Chicagoland area interested they have quite a bit for sale and it's a real good price.