How to buy wood chunks??? (Rookie here)


 
John C in Vegas

John C in Vegas

New member
Brand new guy here. Don't know squat.:)

I haven't even done my first smoke yet, but I've found out one thing... buying various wood chunks in Las Vegas ain't exactly easy.:)

I bought my wheels for the WSM today and will be giving it the first light tomorrow (hopefully). I went to Bass Pro Shop today and bought some apple wood chunks in preparation for actually cooking something this coming holiday weekend.

So, I'm wondering... Where do you folks buy your wood? Bass Pro Shop has a decent selection, but there's gotta be a better source somewhere. On-line, or just stick with BPS??

Thanks in advance.
 
Depends what you're looking for. If you just want the basic woods like apple, cherry, hickory . . ., then I guess the most important thing is price. Home Depot, True Value and many other places on-line have wood. The hard thing to beat is a local supplier due to shipping. So if BPS has a decent selection and their price is competitive, I'm guessing you'll have a hard time doing better on-line.

If you want something different, then on-line may be your only option. I've seen a number of people here recommend www.smokinlicious.com but I've never ordered wood on-line due to cost and good local availability.

Personally, since you have a decent wood source, I'd be more interested to see if you could find some good charcoal. IMHO, a good lump charcoal makes a lot more difference in flavor than the various different types of wood I've tried. If I can get some apple and hickory, I'm good. What I can get locally is some really good lump, like Wicked Good or Stubbs. Best I can do is Royal Oak, and that's not all that great.
 
Of those three listed above by Booker I have found the most selection at Home Depot. Maybe it is just in my area. Home depot seems to usually have a bit more of an organized grill section. Not the actual grills per say, but all the accessories etc. At least it seems so to me.

But yes all three would work
 
Bob Ivey said:
Another good source for premium wood is http://www.thewoodshedoc.com/.
Quality wood and very helpful people.
Click to expand...

I agree with Bob. All their wood is naturally dried and aged. Whereas the big box stores stock kiln dried woods, nothing wrong with that but I can tell a big difference in the quality and the taste.
The woodshed does ship although Barb and I always stop by to say hi and get some wood when we go to California to see the kids.
You may be quite happy with the wood from Home Depot.
Also if you have a firewood supply place check with them to see if they have any cooking woods.
 
Maybe you could check out various Farmers Markets in your area?

The wife and I were at a local market at Bernardo Winery in the San Diego area and I "stumbled" on a stall selling wood chunks for bbq!

I walked away with some small bags of wood I haven't seen anywhere else: white wine oak cask chunks and plum - both of which I've used with great results.
 
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Keep it simple when just starting out. Use whatever is available and adjust to your taste.
Once you figure out how your WSM runs in your backyard then you can start to compare different sources.:wsm:

Tim
 
Here is a good place to get some info on the different types of wood:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/woods.html

I used to use hickory and mesquite because they seemed like the popular woods the BBQ joints liked to use around here. I rarely use them at all now, they are a bit strong for my taste. I love using pecan, apple and cherry wood.
 
Bought a bag of pecan and orange wood chips the other nite from Academy ,I will use them on the electric smoker along with my performer I expect good results ,not sure about orange but chicken sounds like a match
 
I know it's Vegas so l don't know about the area. With that said, if you have any fruit farms that would be a good place to start for variety. In Michigan l have a good selection of apple and cherry wood to chose from. Some farmers will sell and some won't but it never hurts to last.
 
Bob Ivey said:
Another good source for premium wood is http://www.thewoodshedoc.com/.
Quality wood and very helpful people.
Click to expand...

I went to that site, then found some links on where to order wood online.

But then when I go to sharpegourmet.com, and go to "Wood Chunks", they aren't listing any right now.

Where can I find an online site which has Wood Shed woods? (Or is it called "Sharpe Gourmet Cooking Wood")?
 
Arun, Saw Patty and crew cooking BBQ at Cable airport in Upland yesterday. Good people. Oh.. I get my bulk smoke woods and charcoal from them. Also, the Woodshed is a major supporter of BBQ in California. The California Barbeque Association, CBBQA, also holds most of our BBQ classes there.

Here's a link to their retail suppliers....

One suggestion would be to give them a call this week. As noted earlier... Good People !

Bob

ADDED : As far as not finding the Sharpe Woods on the site, looks like they are redoing their website. Give Patty or Renea a call.
 
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Bob Bass said:
Arun, Saw Patty and crew cooking BBQ at Cable airport in Upland yesterday. Good people. Oh.. I get my bulk smoke woods and charcoal from them. Also, the Woodshed is a major supporter of BBQ in California. The California Barbeque Association, CBBQA, also holds most of our BBQ classes there.

Here's a link to their retail suppliers....

One suggestion would be to give them a call this week. As noted earlier... Good People !


Bob

ADDED : As far as not finding the Sharpe Woods on the site, looks like they are redoing their website. Give Patty or Renea a call.
Click to expand...

Agree with Bob, Barb and I have been using the Woodshed for a few years now and the ladies really go all out to help you with whatever you need. Last time we stopped there to pick up some wood on the way to see our kids and grandkids they asked us if we had tried olive wood for smoking. We hadn't so one of them said let me get you a sample to try, That sample was a 50# bag of wood.
Like Bob said Good People!
 
My local ACE stocks both Weber chunks and another brand that's cheaper but I forget the name. Home Depot sells it too but I haven't tried theirs yet.
 
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