Hello all, I live in central FLorida where woods like Misquite are not
readily found. However, Oak trees flourish in abundance. Is oak a decent
hardwood to use for smoking and grilling? I usually use a gas grill but I
miss the old days of cahrcoal and smoking meats. I am thinking of
buying/building a smoker and I have ready access to litterally tons of oak
for cooking and smoking.
I use it when I go camping but that is an open fire type of cooking, I am
curious how well it would do in a closed cooker system, whether the
impurities and resins in the oak would do more harm than good to the meats
cooked in it.

Thanks for the info

John T McD.


--
We sleep peacefully in our Beds becuase Rough men Stand Ready in the Night
to visit Violence on those who would do Us Harm......G.Orwell

John T. McDougald wrote:
> Hello all, I live in central FLorida where woods like Misquite are not
> readily found. However, Oak trees flourish in abundance. Is oak a decent
> hardwood to use for smoking and grilling? I usually use a gas grill but I
> miss the old days of cahrcoal and smoking meats. I am thinking of
> buying/building a smoker and I have ready access to litterally tons of oak
> for cooking and smoking.
> I use it when I go camping but that is an open fire type of cooking, I am
> curious how well it would do in a closed cooker system, whether the
> impurities and resins in the oak would do more harm than good to the meats
> cooked in it.
>
> Thanks for the info
>
> John T McD.
>

Oak is *EXCELLENT*. Just make sure that it has dried. I like to add the other
woods for a different smoke flavor, but I seem to keep going back to oak. I
like it best, and since it's free, that makes it all the better.

BOB
also in central Fla

John T. McDougald wrote:
> Is oak a decent hardwood to use for smoking and grilling?

Oak is most excellent. Livin in Texas I have easy access to hickory
and mesquite yet my base wood is and will be oak.
--
-frohe
Life is too short to be in a hurry

John T. McDougald wrote:

> Hello all, I live in central FLorida where woods like Misquite are not
> readily found. However, Oak trees flourish in abundance. Is oak a decent
> hardwood to use for smoking and grilling?

Heavens yes, it is. It's my preferred wood, both as wood and as
lump.

My pal is moving from the Napa Valley and he offered me his stash
of barrel staves; it's mostly French oak and it's well-soaked with
mostly Zinfandel. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Dana

"Dana Myers" > wrote in message
...
> John T. McDougald wrote:
>
> > Hello all, I live in central FLorida where woods like Misquite are not
> > readily found. However, Oak trees flourish in abundance. Is oak a
decent
> > hardwood to use for smoking and grilling?
>
> Heavens yes, it is. It's my preferred wood, both as wood and as
> lump.
>
> My pal is moving from the Napa Valley and he offered me his stash
> of barrel staves; it's mostly French oak and it's well-soaked with
> mostly Zinfandel. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
>
> Dana

Yea barrel staves are awesome. I have 2 barrels that were full of Jum Beam
Burbon and wholy cow does that wood smell good!

Dirty Harry wrote:

> "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
> ...

>>My pal is moving from the Napa Valley and he offered me his stash
>>of barrel staves; it's mostly French oak and it's well-soaked with
>>mostly Zinfandel. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

> Yea barrel staves are awesome. I have 2 barrels that were full of Jum Beam
> Burbon and wholy cow does that wood smell good!

I haven't cooked with bourbon barrels, just wine barrels,
and I can't say that I can detect an influence from the
wine stain in the wood. Do the bourbon barrels impart
a detectable flavor?

Thanks -
Dana

"Dana Myers" > wrote in message
. com...
> Dirty Harry wrote:
>
> > "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
> > ...
>
> >>My pal is moving from the Napa Valley and he offered me his stash
> >>of barrel staves; it's mostly French oak and it's well-soaked with
> >>mostly Zinfandel. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
>
> > Yea barrel staves are awesome. I have 2 barrels that were full of Jum
Beam
> > Burbon and wholy cow does that wood smell good!
>
> I haven't cooked with bourbon barrels, just wine barrels,
> and I can't say that I can detect an influence from the
> wine stain in the wood. Do the bourbon barrels impart
> a detectable flavor?
>
> Thanks -
> Dana


When I first took the barrel apart and the wood was still wet inside the
smell was unbelievable. Now that they have been laying around the bourbon
smell is almost gone but I think the wood has a slightly sweet smell still.
I'm a relative BBQ noob so I have no idea how it compares to normal oak.
Going to smoke some ribs with it tonight :-)
Dirty Harry

"Dirty Harry" > wrote in message
news:YBMyc.702627$Pk3.53810@pd7tw1no...
>
> "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
> . com...
> > Dirty Harry wrote:
> >
> > > "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> >
> > >>My pal is moving from the Napa Valley and he offered me his stash
> > >>of barrel staves; it's mostly French oak and it's well-soaked with
> > >>mostly Zinfandel. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
> >
> > > Yea barrel staves are awesome. I have 2 barrels that were full of Jum
> Beam
> > > Burbon and wholy cow does that wood smell good!
> >
> > I haven't cooked with bourbon barrels, just wine barrels,
> > and I can't say that I can detect an influence from the
> > wine stain in the wood. Do the bourbon barrels impart
> > a detectable flavor?
> >
> > Thanks -
> > Dana
>
>
> When I first took the barrel apart and the wood was still wet inside
the
> smell was unbelievable. Now that they have been laying around the bourbon
> smell is almost gone but I think the wood has a slightly sweet smell
still.
> I'm a relative BBQ noob so I have no idea how it compares to normal oak.
> Going to smoke some ribs with it tonight :-)
> Dirty Harry
>
>
I think you'll find that like Jack Daniels' pricey bourbon/oak chips, the
bourbon smell and flavor goes up in smoke.

Jack Curry
-plain oak is cheap, plain oak is great-

Jack Curry wrote:

> I think you'll find that like Jack Daniels' pricey bourbon/oak chips, the
> bourbon smell and flavor goes up in smoke.

It's amusing you mention this - I was joking with my friend
about the JD chips as we loaded up the staves and he
commented "yeah, JD probably buys barrels from anyone,
then they're Jack Daniels' barrels, right?"

;-)

Dana

"Dana Myers" > wrote in message
m...
> Jack Curry wrote:
>
> > I think you'll find that like Jack Daniels' pricey bourbon/oak chips,
the
> > bourbon smell and flavor goes up in smoke.
>
> It's amusing you mention this - I was joking with my friend
> about the JD chips as we loaded up the staves and he
> commented "yeah, JD probably buys barrels from anyone,
> then they're Jack Daniels' barrels, right?"
>
> ;-)
>
> Dana

LOL, yea I got these barrels at 50 bucks a pop (Canadian) but then i also
made 15L of 35% swish outta each of them frist. I think I got my money's
worth...Also going to try to build some of this stuff:
http://www.calvines.com/cat/Wine+Stave+Furniture.html

Dirty Harry wrote:

> LOL, yea I got these barrels at 50 bucks a pop (Canadian) but then i also
> made 15L of 35% swish outta each of them frist.

Damn. I was gonna ask if you made swish first... LOL

> I think I got my money's
> worth...

I'll say!

> Also going to try to build some of this stuff:
> http://www.calvines.com/cat/Wine+Stave+Furniture.html

That's pretty cool. My pal was suggesting that I could
clean, sand down and oil up a stave or two and use then
to serve "schnacks", that's not uncommon around the Valley
(that is, the Napa Valley).

Dana

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 01:50:52 GMT, I needed a babel fish to understand
"Dirty Harry" > :
>
>LOL, yea I got these barrels at 50 bucks a pop (Canadian) but then i also
>made 15L of 35% swish outta each of them frist. I think I got my money's
>worth...

Pardon, but what exactly is Swish?

Lewzephyr wrote:
> On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 01:50:52 GMT, I needed a babel fish to understand
> "Dirty Harry" > :
>
>>LOL, yea I got these barrels at 50 bucks a pop (Canadian) but then i also
>>made 15L of 35% swish outta each of them frist. I think I got my money's
>>worth...
>
> Pardon, but what exactly is Swish?

Harry can fill in the details better than I can, but it is
the practice of taking a recently emptied whiskey barrel
and filling it with some water. There's still a fair bit
of alcohol left in the barrel and the water is used to
bring it out. You need to move the barrel around periodically
to maximize the process, hence the name 'swish'.

I've never done it myself, though.

Dana

"Dirty Harry" > wrote in message
news:YBMyc.702627$Pk3.53810@pd7tw1no...
>
> "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
> . com...
> > Dirty Harry wrote:
> >
> > > "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> >
> > >>My pal is moving from the Napa Valley and he offered me his stash
> > >>of barrel staves; it's mostly French oak and it's well-soaked with
> > >>mostly Zinfandel. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
> >
> > > Yea barrel staves are awesome. I have 2 barrels that were full of Jum
> Beam
> > > Burbon and wholy cow does that wood smell good!
> >
> > I haven't cooked with bourbon barrels, just wine barrels,
> > and I can't say that I can detect an influence from the
> > wine stain in the wood. Do the bourbon barrels impart
> > a detectable flavor?
> >
> > Thanks -
> > Dana
>
>
> When I first took the barrel apart and the wood was still wet inside
the
> smell was unbelievable. Now that they have been laying around the bourbon
> smell is almost gone but I think the wood has a slightly sweet smell
still.
> I'm a relative BBQ noob so I have no idea how it compares to normal oak.
> Going to smoke some ribs with it tonight :-)
> Dirty Harry
>
>

DH,

I have been using two types of staves regularly to do my smoking. One is a
Glenmorangie (ex charred sherry cask) and the other is an Ardbeg Islay
single malt cask. When I first used them they were extremely potent with a
high alcohol content in the wood, but after 8 months the alcohol has mostly
evaporated. I do not notice any flavour being imparted into either meat or
fish now, but there was up until a couple of months ago when they were
fresher. They still give off a wonderful whisky smell and are my 1st choice
of smoking wood. There is little difference now to that of normal oak.

Graeme

"Dana Myers" > wrote in message
m...
> Lewzephyr wrote:
> > On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 01:50:52 GMT, I needed a babel fish to understand
> > "Dirty Harry" > :
> >
> >>LOL, yea I got these barrels at 50 bucks a pop (Canadian) but then i
also
> >>made 15L of 35% swish outta each of them frist. I think I got my
money's
> >>worth...
> >
> > Pardon, but what exactly is Swish?
>
> Harry can fill in the details better than I can, but it is
> the practice of taking a recently emptied whiskey barrel
> and filling it with some water. There's still a fair bit
> of alcohol left in the barrel and the water is used to
> bring it out. You need to move the barrel around periodically
> to maximize the process, hence the name 'swish'.
>
> I've never done it myself, though.
>
> Dana

Yea, they age it in the barrels at 90% so there is plenty O' booze left in
the wood. You can put about 10-15L of water into the barrels, put them in
the back yard and give em a kick every day(1/8 turn or so) for a month. It
works with rum, whiskey, or any hard alcohol I guess. My barrels were
bourbon and I got 35% with 15L which is pretty good, 30% would be typical.
You can also do a second rinse and get about 4-5L of 25%...

"Graeme...in London" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Dirty Harry" > wrote in message
> news:YBMyc.702627$Pk3.53810@pd7tw1no...
> >
> > "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
> > . com...
> > > Dirty Harry wrote:
> > >
> > > > "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
> > > > ...
> > >
> > > >>My pal is moving from the Napa Valley and he offered me his stash
> > > >>of barrel staves; it's mostly French oak and it's well-soaked with
> > > >>mostly Zinfandel. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
> > >
> > > > Yea barrel staves are awesome. I have 2 barrels that were full of
Jum
> > Beam
> > > > Burbon and wholy cow does that wood smell good!
> > >
> > > I haven't cooked with bourbon barrels, just wine barrels,
> > > and I can't say that I can detect an influence from the
> > > wine stain in the wood. Do the bourbon barrels impart
> > > a detectable flavor?
> > >
> > > Thanks -
> > > Dana
> >
> >
> > When I first took the barrel apart and the wood was still wet inside
> the
> > smell was unbelievable. Now that they have been laying around the
bourbon
> > smell is almost gone but I think the wood has a slightly sweet smell
> still.
> > I'm a relative BBQ noob so I have no idea how it compares to normal oak.
> > Going to smoke some ribs with it tonight :-)
> > Dirty Harry
> >
> >
>
> DH,
>
> I have been using two types of staves regularly to do my smoking. One is a
> Glenmorangie (ex charred sherry cask) and the other is an Ardbeg Islay
> single malt cask. When I first used them they were extremely potent with a
> high alcohol content in the wood, but after 8 months the alcohol has
mostly
> evaporated. I do not notice any flavour being imparted into either meat or
> fish now, but there was up until a couple of months ago when they were
> fresher. They still give off a wonderful whisky smell and are my 1st
choice
> of smoking wood. There is little difference now to that of normal oak.
>
> Graeme


Yea its also sounds better when you say " I smoked it with burboun soaked,
toasted white oak. LOL.

"Dirty Harry" > wrote in message
news:qLOzc.764132$oR5.224597@pd7tw3no...
>
> "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
> m...
> > Lewzephyr wrote:
> > > On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 01:50:52 GMT, I needed a babel fish to understand
> > > "Dirty Harry" > :
> > >
> > >>LOL, yea I got these barrels at 50 bucks a pop (Canadian) but then i
> also
> > >>made 15L of 35% swish outta each of them frist. I think I got my
> money's
> > >>worth...
> > >
> > > Pardon, but what exactly is Swish?
> >
> > Harry can fill in the details better than I can, but it is
> > the practice of taking a recently emptied whiskey barrel
> > and filling it with some water. There's still a fair bit
> > of alcohol left in the barrel and the water is used to
> > bring it out. You need to move the barrel around periodically
> > to maximize the process, hence the name 'swish'.
> >
> > I've never done it myself, though.
> >
> > Dana
>
> Yea, they age it in the barrels at 90% so there is plenty O' booze left in
> the wood. You can put about 10-15L of water into the barrels, put them in
> the back yard and give em a kick every day(1/8 turn or so) for a month.
It
> works with rum, whiskey, or any hard alcohol I guess. My barrels were
> bourbon and I got 35% with 15L which is pretty good, 30% would be typical.
> You can also do a second rinse and get about 4-5L of 25%...
>
P.S. the barrel has to remain sealed when it's shipped or all the booze will
evaporate in a day or so...The wood corks really seal good though, I
remember opening mine to take a whiff and there was a lot of pressure built
up in the barrel.

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 17:22:20 +0100, "Graeme...in London"
> wrote:

>
>"Dirty Harry" > wrote in message
>news:YBMyc.702627$Pk3.53810@pd7tw1no...
>>
>> "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
>> . com...
>> > Dirty Harry wrote:
>> >
>> > > "Dana Myers" > wrote in message
>> > > ...
>> >
>> > >>My pal is moving from the Napa Valley and he offered me his stash
>> > >>of barrel staves; it's mostly French oak and it's well-soaked with
>> > >>mostly Zinfandel. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
>> >
>> > > Yea barrel staves are awesome. I have 2 barrels that were full of Jum
>> Beam
>> > > Burbon and wholy cow does that wood smell good!
>> >
>> > I haven't cooked with bourbon barrels, just wine barrels,
>> > and I can't say that I can detect an influence from the
>> > wine stain in the wood. Do the bourbon barrels impart
>> > a detectable flavor?
>> >
>> > Thanks -
>> > Dana
>>
>>
>> When I first took the barrel apart and the wood was still wet inside
>the
>> smell was unbelievable. Now that they have been laying around the bourbon
>> smell is almost gone but I think the wood has a slightly sweet smell
>still.
>> I'm a relative BBQ noob so I have no idea how it compares to normal oak.
>> Going to smoke some ribs with it tonight :-)
>> Dirty Harry
>>
>>
>
>DH,
>
>I have been using two types of staves regularly to do my smoking. One is a
>Glenmorangie (ex charred sherry cask) and the other is an Ardbeg Islay
>single malt cask. When I first used them they were extremely potent with a
>high alcohol content in the wood, but after 8 months the alcohol has mostly
>evaporated. I do not notice any flavour being imparted into either meat or
>fish now, but there was up until a couple of months ago when they were
>fresher. They still give off a wonderful whisky smell and are my 1st choice
>of smoking wood. There is little difference now to that of normal oak.
>
>Graeme
>
Perhaps you might contemplate keeping the staves sealed in a plastic
bag in oreder to 'extend their shel life, Graeme.

Harry
>