New Canadian WSM owner (soon)


 
J

Josh Lessard

New member
Hi folks. I'm in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and I should be the proud new owner of an 18.5" WSM on about December 27th. I'm really looking forward to learning how to do real barbecue over the holidays. :-)

I've been looking around at the various forums and I'm quite impressed with the level of knowledge and the general willingness of people to help out the n00bs. To that end, I was wondering if any fellow Canucks could tell me some of the better places to get wood chunks. I've looked at smokinlicious.ca, and they have wood chunks for $26.30 per half cubic foot, shipping included. Is this a decent price? Are there any better options out there?

Any and all comments and suggestions welcome. Looking forward to becoming one of the gang!
 
Josh,
Congratulations on the WSM. You'll enjoy it.

I can't help with Canadian wood prices. I usually buy at Home Depot and pay around $6-7 for a 5 lb bag or around $13 for an 18 lb bag. HD usually has mesquite, hickory, cherry, and apple some of the time.
 
I use the smokinliciuos.ca sugar maple all the time, but I buy it locally in Ottawa for $25 a 1/2 cubic foot bag, which is about what you'd pay for it online. I also use apple wood that I get from a local apple orchard 5 minutes from my house in the spring. They generally clean up the trees in the fall, then leave the wood out to dry all winter. I get as much as I want for about 5 bucks, then I trim it down to chunk size on a miter saw and leave it in bins in my garage. Best of luck when you get your WSM on the 27th, and feel free to ask questions if you have any.
 
Like Stuart said check out the orchards in your area. If you know any one that has a wood stove and buys cords of wood for it you can usually find yourself some oak or sugar maple in their wood pile. Elmira has lots of sugar bushes around so you can always check with them to see if they have any sugar maple you can have.
The only wood I usually pay for now is mesquite.
 
Does buying wood from Home Depot, orchards, or sugar bushes not concern you health-wise? Wouldn't such wood usually be treated with chemicals?

Thanks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Josh Lessard:
Does buying wood from Home Depot, orchards, or sugar bushes not concern you health-wise? Wouldn't such wood usually be treated with chemicals?

Thanks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't know of any sugar bushes that spray their trees. Orchards typically spray but if the apple isn't going to kill you when you eat it I don't see how the wood would. I wouldn't use firewood that is sold in the bag at stores or scrap wood from a wood shop because they are often treated with pesticides but if you get it from a guy with a wood lot I doubt he is spraying his wood.

A face cord of split and seasoned hard wood costs around $100 which is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying bagged chunks. My SIL heats with a wood stove and they buy 4-6 cords of wood per year so ever time I visit I grab a couple chunks of oak from her wood pile. Then I split it and cut it into the right size chunks with my miter saw.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Josh Lessard:
Does buying wood from Home Depot, orchards, or sugar bushes not concern you health-wise? Wouldn't such wood usually be treated with chemicals?

Thanks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

When I get my apple wood I always select bigger pieces and never use the bark. I trim about 3 inches off each side of the "log" and then split what remains to the same size as the smokinliciuos chunks. Even if the spray the outside, I doubt it would penetrate very far into the wood. Also, like Bob said, you can eat the apples that have been sprayed without any harm...
 
Most of the time I use maple that I trim from the trees in the backyard, so haven't tried sourcing any online wood. Home Depot in Halifax doesn't carry chunks - just wood chips.
 
Welcome Josh. I'm in Toronto and get my wood from Smokinlicious. It may not be the most cost efficient but it's delivered to my door in de-barked, usable sized chunks. They also have a great selection. I've never had any issues ordering online and shipping is quick.

Good luck !
 
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