Smoke wood longevity

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Hi all,

I only have about 4 or 5 WSM sessions under my belt, so I'm a real newbie, but so far everything has tasted great.

I can't seem to find much smoke wood locally (eastern Iowa) other than hickory/mesquite. I ordered some cherry and alder off the internet, and will soon be ordering some Oak.

My question is re: the longevity of the wood once I have it. I have searched this forum and seemed only to find comments about storing in a dry environment. It may take me a long time to use up the 30+ pounds of chunks that I will have. Any concerns about it losing some its flavor?

Thx for any input.

Mark Taylor
 
MC,

Is this store near you? I know they are in Iowa. I just received an order of wood from them and they carry any kind you can think of.

wwww.hawgeyesbbq.com
 
Ideally you want your smoke wood to contain 30% moisture. That's why fresh cut wood with all that moisture in it is so strong and overpowering. Over time as the moisture content of your wood becomes less so does it's ability to provide smoke flavor. As long as you are getting the desired flavor from your wood then continue to use it. I'd say about 2 years max would be about as long as it would still be ok to produce smoke flavor. YMMV
 
Bryan, does this depend on the type of wood? I've had hickory in my garage for years(way more than 2) and it still seems to produce that great hickory smell when ignited. But I have noticed of late when using the WSM versus my old Brinkmann that I need to use more of the hickory to get the flavor I want. It seems to be milder.
 
I'm not saying it won't just that it looses some of it's flavor over time because the longer it sits the less moisture it has in it. The dryer it becomes the less smoke flavor it will produce. I think that as long as it doesn't get punky/spongey on you you would still get flavor from it. You just might have to use more wood to get the same amount of smoke flavor verses fresher wood.
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Thank you to all for your input, it's very appreciated from this WSM rookie!

Mark
 
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