I found a place that sells 30# bags of dry applewood logs for $10. I
bought one bag to try in my WSM. I've never used wood before, always
oak lump, cuz that's all the lump I can find in Seattle except
mesquite and Cowboy (varnished carpentry scraps, usually, it seems).

A couple questions:

Is $10 a good price for 30 lbs of apple wood?

Should I expect more than one all-day Q sessions from that much wood?

Do I need to remove the bark from the wood?

From the FAQ, I learned that I should probably get the wood burning
before I add it to the WSM, to avoid wasting heat. Are there any other
tips you can offer a first-time user of real wood?

Approximately ow many logs should I have in the WSM at a time? I know
the answer is probably "depends on your WSM, the wood, and the
weather" but a ballpark figure would help anyway.

Thanks,
Gavin

"Gavin" > wrote in message
news:Vufgc.162240$JO3.96433@attbi_s04...
> I found a place that sells 30# bags of dry applewood logs for $10. I
> bought one bag to try in my WSM. I've never used wood before, always
> oak lump, cuz that's all the lump I can find in Seattle except
> mesquite and Cowboy (varnished carpentry scraps, usually, it seems).

You're in Seattle and you can't find lump? Dude! All the True Value Hardware
stores have it, or will order it for you.
--
Ivan Weiss "Bush, Bush, where's my job?"
Vashon WA Gone to feed your greedy mob!"
-- The Mugwump campaign, 2004

"Gavin" > wrote in message
>
> Is $10 a good price for 30 lbs of apple wood?

Depends. I just trimmed about 30 pounds from my apple tree and it cost $0
and a little labor.


> Should I expect more than one all-day Q sessions from that much wood?
YES



> Do I need to remove the bark from the wood?
No
>

>
> Approximately ow many logs should I have in the WSM at a time?

None. The WSM is designed to work with charcoal. Use some chunks on top of
the charcoal to give off a smoke. Or burn down a bunch of chunks to coals.
Ed

Gavin wrote:
> all the lump I can find in Seattle except
> mesquite and Cowboy (varnished carpentry scraps, usually, it seems).

You've found "varnished" pieces in Cowboy? Seems pretty unlikely to
leave any trace of varnish after the charcoal making process but some
"unburned" pieces of wood do get through. I understand the aesthetic
problems with "carpentry scraps" but wood is wood and most scraps (even
in a factory setting) happen well before the finishing/varnishing
process. One would think it would be easy enough to keep out any
trimmed sections of finished flooring, etc.

Or, is this just a BBQ Urban Legend?

> wrote in message

> I understand the aesthetic
> problems with "carpentry scraps" but wood is wood and most scraps (even
> in a factory setting) happen well before the finishing/varnishing
> process. One would think it would be easy enough to keep out any
> trimmed sections of finished flooring, etc.
>
> Or, is this just a BBQ Urban Legend?
>

One of my hobbies is woodworking. I always have scraps of cherry, oak,
maple. I use the trimmings to smoke with. No reason not to. It is the same
wood as from the tree, but it is kiln dried and then shaped. I often give
away bags of it to others. There is a lot of scraps at a plant that makes
moldings etc, so using them for charcoal is a smart thing to do.

I doubt you will find anything with a finish on it. Finishing is done well
after any trimming or cutting to size.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome