Insects in Wood


 
C

Chip H (Hersh)

TVWBB Member
Ran into a sweet deal on some apple and cherry logs, got a truckful for $10!
Split the wood, and found some of the logs had insect tunnels running through them. Didn't see any bugs, but the remenets were there.
Should I have any concern using this wood for smoking? I cut the split logs into fist size chunks, and did not see any bugs, just the decayed insides of the wood.
Thanks.
 
When you say remenents, do you mean the trails of the holes they dug, or bits and pieces of their dead bodies? Not that it matters much either way. It happens to a lot of wood, and I wouldn't worry about using it to cook with.
 
You said that SOME of the logs had remnants of insects. Does that mean that some of the wood did not have any damage? If so, for $10, I would just pull out the good wood and build a fire with the rest.

I wouldn't use any wood in cooking that wasn't clean and solid. My guess is that there's probably nothing that would hurt you (may leave a bad flavor), but when it comes to food, I would err on the side of being safe.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jerry N.:
You said that SOME of the logs had remnants of insects. Does that mean that some of the wood did not have any damage? If so, for $10, I would just pull out the good wood and build a fire with the rest.

I wouldn't use any wood in cooking that wasn't clean and solid. My guess is that there's probably nothing that would hurt you (may leave a bad flavor), but when it comes to food, I would err on the side of being safe. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
As Jerry said, Black ants, (carpenter ants) can leave behind a foul smell in the wood. For $10.00 I'd toss the the not so good wood, and just use the good wood.
 
I've never dealt with the carpenter ants out here in the west. As far as what I've seen, most of the insect holes were from small worms that probably met their fate at the beak of a woodpecker.

If I saw a seasoned hunk of wood that was full of thick larvea or something, yeah, I wouldn't cue with it.

Just needed to clarify that.
icon_smile.gif
 
Here in the Midwest, we are dealing with an emerald ash borer infestation. I cannot even "legally" load my lograck and transport to any adjoining county here in NE Ohio! I have "something" eating my wood, and have had for years! You can stand in my woodshed and hear them chewing/scraping on warmer days! What cracks me up is our egotism in thinking we can stop a "force of nature" by quaranteening!!!!! We could not stop Dutch Elm Disease, we could not stop the notorious Zebra Mussels (which turned out to HELP the Great Lakes,and we cannot manipulate ,or change the global climate! Cook them bugs!
 
Yep, I am in a quarantined county, also. I can't go camping one county over and take my own firewood.
I'm pretty sure they are carpenter ant tunnels, and it is just in the very middle of the wood. No sign of leftover carcasses. Guess I won't use any that is not solid and clean.
Thanks.
 
Hi Chip,

I don't worry too much about insect artifacts in wood.

I purchased a bag of Weber branded hickory wood last summer. I was out of hickory and needed some in a hurry. So, I bought the last bag at my neighborhood hardware store. It was the worst wood I've ever purchased. It had wood coated in dirt--likely mud originally. It had what appeared to be wood that had molded. And, it had wood that contained apparent insect artifacts. And, some pretty good wood. About half the bag I deemed unusable. I didn't worry about the insect artifacts. See below:

WeberWood.JPG

Weber Branded Wood

Muddy-Dirty.jpg

Dirty (Dried mud) Wood

ApparentMold.JPG

Apparent Mold (Photo doesn't do justice to the apparent mold.)

InsectArtifacts.JPG

Insect Artifacts

###
 
I would be more concerned with whatever bugs that decided to leave that wood and contaminate my house, than contaminating a cook.

Tom, the west has Carpenter Ants also. I had an infestation in my cabin up highway 4 in Arnold a few years back. Very interesting creatures. My daughter and I watched a colony in action. They would drop a grain of sawdust from their excavation, off the end of a log, forming a pile on the ground. Other Carpenter Ants would remove a grain from that pile and spread out and form new piles. More ants would disperse those piles. I surmise that this so they don’t leave a noticeable pile of sawdust right at the entrance of their home. My daughter, maybe 10 at the time, allowed as how ants really have to work hard. She said that she had thought it would be fun to be an insect and never have to work. Her observation changed her mind.
 
Im using a pile of apple wood from an orchard w/ bug holes in em. I've been burning it for as long as I've had my wsm. Im not saying use em', but Im not worried about em at all. Its some of my fav. most popular wood. Then again I may turn into a worm someday kind of like that old zombie movie... (forgot the name) the zombies would get burnt up and the smoke made the people become them. ...so ya thats me one day
icon_biggrin.gif
 
Yeah, if I were to get nutted up over this, then what does that say about all the rodent hair and feces particles that are allowed into our breakfast cereal, in minute quantities?

Oh, yeah, I'm not eating carbs.
icon_smile.gif
 
My son and I took an apple tree out of the backyard last summer and I know it's got some evidence of bugs in there, but it won't stop me from using it when it's fully seasoned. That's just me, though. If you were worried about it then don't use it, you can't be too safe.
 
What harm can it do? People eat chocolate covered ants don't they? Me? No, but some people do.
 
It is not like we are talking about putting the "insects" in contact with your "food". We are talking about putting the "smoke" from the burnt insects on your "food!"
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Hutson:
It is not like we are talking about putting the "insects" in contact with your "food". We are talking about putting the "smoke" from the burnt insects on your "food!" </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
A few bugs yeah no biggie but...
The waste that a carpenter ant colony leaves behind in the wood is pretty powerful smelling stuff. The apple tree I cut up a few months ago had carpenter ants in it. I left behind that section of the tree. It had a foul smell like amonia and limburger cheese. If you want to cook over woood that smelled that bad, have at it, I'll pass.
 
On the subject of wood, I landed about 15 lbs of good size chunks of Apricot (can't beat free!) wood from a buddy who cut one down just recently. So the question is how do I go about curing this stuff - is it okay to use green?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Joey K:
On the subject of wood, I landed about 15 lbs of good size chunks of Apricot (can't beat free!) wood from a buddy who cut one down just recently. So the question is how do I go about curing this stuff - is it okay to use green? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Joey, The smaller you break it down, the faster you can use it. If broken down into small chunks say in the 1" X 1" X 3-4" range, it only needs a month to dry. I've been drying green apple wood beside the coals stove in 5 days. Cut and split some of it into the size pieces you use on the WSM. Then 1/2 split some (leaving some double the size you normally would use) and some unsplit. This will help to make the wood last longer (slow the drying down). FYI. Don't ever store fruit wood on the ground and IMO outside. All types of bugs and insects love fruit wood. I keep all my fruit wood inside in the garage.
I use green apple all the time, never used green apricot though. I see know reason why you can't use the green apricot, just use half your normal amount, and break it down a little further to get a better burn with less chance of smoldering. I'd use it green. HTH
EDIT: Never, ever use green Mesquite wood, EVER!
 
Bryan, educate me as to why we shouldn't use green mesquite? I never use mesquite anyway, and my thoughts tell me using nearly any green wood might create more resin or sooty smoke, but is it because mesquite is so strong and "tangy" on it's own that using it green becomes disgusting overkill?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top