Stick burner Wood identification

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Muskie48

Newbie
Original poster
Mar 1, 2023
1
2
Hi All, I'm new to the stick burner game and had the opportunity to stock up on some wood. Does anyone know why some end grain has turned so dark? I'm told this is all oak. I recently built 120gal smoker which I'll share pics soon.


1000009820.jpg
 
Looks like oak to me. I can see thou that some of it was starting to get rotten around the outside edge. I have had some of my oak do that.
 
See how this piece is real white on the outside edge. That is wood on its way to getting rotten/soft.

I bet you can dig a flat tip screwdriver in it fairly easy.

On the pieces that are black on the end, saw a inch off the end & see how the wood looks.

If you saw it off & it looks fine, like the rest of the end cuts. The black could be a sort of mildew stain.
1000000839.jpg
 
I won't make any claims on the type of wood pictured but Oak when weathered will definitely blacken. This small stack of coastal oak has been sitting under my Santa Maria pit for about 5 years exposed to the elements. It sits there mostly for looks.

I have more not as old that was in a covered area that is just as dark but when I recently split it the inside was nice and bright as new wood.

coastal_oak_weathered.jpg


After a little searching here is the same wood in 2020.

coastal_oak_weathered_before.jpg
 
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The end grain is little out of focus but that looks like oak to me. Like others have said the ends getting dark is normal as the wood seasons. One way to tell is that oak has very defined medularry rays which looks like lines radiating from the center of the wood perpendicular to growth rings. Other species have them but on oak they are very prominent.
 
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As Dustin has said, Oak has a very unique grain. Its the easiest wood to ID.

The grain is broken up into small " dashes " ...........


Oak Grain.jpg
 
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