- Dec 21, 2019
- 1
- 0
I just bought a fantastic offset smoker and am trying to learn on it. I have some wood I purchased from the county that was advertised as "seasoned." Well, joke's on me: It wasn't. Some pieces read as much as 60% MC. Holy guacamole.
I've been seasoning the wood for a number of months now and it seems like some of the smaller drier pieces are ready to go---my moisture meter puts them at around 16-22% or so. Yet these pieces, many of which look to be red oak, don't burn all that well. Lots of hissing, lots of nasty smoke, no clean fire. I've tried adjusting the firebox door, including leaving it wide open. The fire is still lethargic at best.
Is there a reliable way to tell a wood's MC apart from a moisture meter? Why would logs registering a fairly seasoned MC still be burning like crap?
I guess I'll get some kiln-dried wood from Lowe's while the rest of this stuff seasons, but that's only because I'm desperate.
I've been seasoning the wood for a number of months now and it seems like some of the smaller drier pieces are ready to go---my moisture meter puts them at around 16-22% or so. Yet these pieces, many of which look to be red oak, don't burn all that well. Lots of hissing, lots of nasty smoke, no clean fire. I've tried adjusting the firebox door, including leaving it wide open. The fire is still lethargic at best.
Is there a reliable way to tell a wood's MC apart from a moisture meter? Why would logs registering a fairly seasoned MC still be burning like crap?
I guess I'll get some kiln-dried wood from Lowe's while the rest of this stuff seasons, but that's only because I'm desperate.
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