On 28-Jul-2004, "TFM®" > wrote:
> Tranch749 wrote:
> > As someone who is completely new to this BBQ cooking, I have many
> > questions, most being answered in the FAQ. What I can't seem to find
> > is an answer to where one goes to get the wood for smoking. Not the
> > lump charcoal, or chips and pieces in the bags, but the logs I read
> > some people are using. I also recall, from a discussion on this NG I
> > think, someone mentioning the wood has to be a year old before you
> > can cook with it. Is this true, and can someone tell me why?
>
>
> When I cook with logs, I get them right from the source........trees.
>
> Aging the wood is where you'll find a lot of opinions. Personally I prefer
> pretty green wood for offset cooking, and dry for barrel burning to make
> coals for direct cooking.
>
> Then again, most of my offset experience was in a huge-ass block pit with a
> giant firebox. I could keep a massive bed of coals in it and toss in a
> couple green logs every hour or so. They'd catch right up and burn clean,
> and they give off a lot more aroma when green. YMMV. Seems most folks with
> little metal offsets have trouble with smoldering and/or creosote.
>
You summed that up quite well fats. My NBS just isn't big enough to handle
the size of fire needed to burn raw logs without generating acrid smoke or even
creosote. I have to use a lot of draft and crack the cook chamber lid some to
(control?) the temp. I've pretty much given up on trying to cook with wood only.
I can get away with throwing a 2-1/2" log on top of a pile of burning lump for
the smoke and that works pretty well. The fairly large log lasts a long time and
does not tend to flare up.
> Green wood in a burn barrel for coals means you have to keep the barrel full
> to overflowing just to produce minimal coals. Most of the fire's energy is
> used drying the wood.
>
> If you cut your wood in the winter and keep it under cover, it'll be plenty
> dry by summer.
>
>
> TFM®
That's just my 2¢. (ALT-0162)
--
M&M ("When You're Over The Hill You Pick Up Speed")
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