water, water all around... where to find wood in CT?


 
A

adam clyde

TVWBB Pro
I live here in Stamford, Connecticut, just outside the NY border. With all the trees around, you'd think there'd be smoke wood aplenty. If it is, I wouldn't know... nor would I know how to find out, cut it up, or season it. So a retailer is my best bet.

this not being a prime bbq place, I'm really struggling to find out where to find some smoke wood. Last year I picked up a 10lb bag of hickory chunks from Wal Mart. But that was in the summer and this time of year neither Wal Mart, Home Depot nor my local hardware stores sell hardwood chunks. If they do, it is mesquite chips.

Seems like Internet sources would just be far too expensive to ship. I suppose I could do the pellet route...

Any ideas?
 
There's plenty of oak, hickory, apple, and cherry in New England. But if'n ya aren't gunna harvest it yerself, then, ask around your town. Someone with a big lot of land maybe? Any one with a wood stove is going to (or should) know where some good dry oak is.
 
Ask at a local tree service company. My brother owns one up in W Hartford. It's amazing how much wood he acquires. With land prices/rents as high as they are in Conn and with the space, labor and time involved to stack and season wood he ends up trashing all that he doesn't keep for himself.

You'd have to find someone willing to separate out the wood you wanted and hold it for you, and you'd have to season it yourself. But I bet if you offered to bring some smoked butt as a trade ... Might be worth a shot.
 
Ditto on the tree guys. My experience is that they will give you all you want. Even logs by the truckload if your willing to cut/split/stack it yourself.

When you see them working in your neighborhood, just ask. If you hear a wood chipper, go check it out. They will probably even cut you a few manageable pieces. There probably is a lot of oak in your area and some apple if you are in an area with old farms, so good smoke wood should not be that hard to come by.

Also your town public works might also have a pile. In my town they dump what they pick up behind the recycling center. What people don't take eventually gets chipped.

To season, keep it off the ground and protected from rain/snow with good air circulation to dry it. Get a couple of cinder blocks, 2 lengths of pipe keep it off the ground. Find a scrap piece of exterior plywood just a little bigger than the wood pile to act like a roof, and just nail it down, it will last a few years.
 
I don't know about CT, but you might wanna check your local county shopper or such thing that comes in the mail free. Here in TN, every week I get something called The Marshall County Shopper. It's just a want ad kind of thing. There is always firewood for sale, listed in the ad by type of wood and cost per rick/cord and the type of wood the seller has, maybe you could check that. This time of year you could probably get it on the cheap. I'm sure there's no wood shortage in CT.

BTW, that's some beautiful country up there, in the summer of course
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Adamclyde, the best success I've had is to just keep askin' around, or be in the right place at the right time. Friends or neighbors with wooded land could be the best...

I am blessed with living across the street from a guy who works at a high-end lumber wholesaler. He keeps me well stocked with sugar maple, red oak, white oak and cherry. I keep him well stocked with pulled pork and chicken wings....

Spread the word to friends and family that you're always looking for wood. My parents went to get their Christmas tree a couple of years ago and ended up with a trunkload of apple for me....

Vernon's thread looks like a great deal. You could try that people's woods place in R.I., shipping for you is probably the same as what they quoted me, even though you're about 100 miles away (I don't miss that drive down the Merrit at all!)

I have noticed around here that the stores that you mentioned have their BBQ stuff out already....

Good luck,

Rob
 
thanks folks - good advice. sounds like the best bet is going to be asking people around for wood. I'll have to check out what they have.

Brian - good advice on how to season. Only question is, how long does it take? Weeks? Months? Does it go faster if I cut it down into small, smoker sizes, or keep it in split logs?

Sorry for all the questions folks. I'm a hopeless city boy, so trees and wood and all that don't come naturally!
 
I grew up in that area but I didn't Q back then so I can't offer that much help. You might want to check out that arboretum off of High Ridge road. You can also check out the apple orchards. I don't remember where they are but I know there are some in some of those backcountry towns. As far as seasoning goes you generally want to let green wood (fresh cut) sit in a sun/wind exposed area with some sort of rain protection for 9 months to a year, depending on the weather. Don't completely cover it under a tarp as this will act as a humidifier and rot the wood.

The Home Depot and Lowes up here in Boston carry Hickory and Mesquite chunks year round. You should check them out. Good luck.
 
The grocery stores sell split hikory and oak in a bundle of maybe 14 inch pieces wrapped in plastic. Its seasoned firewood. Can this be used in a WSM when cut down into chucks? It is very inexpensive. TIA
 
Seasoning it is easy.

Cut the logs into 12"-16" lengths, split it such that the cross-section is about 3" x 3" or 2" x 2", then stack it - two pieces north/south, two on top of those east/west, as high as is stable. With sunny temps and kept out of the rain, it'll be ready to use in about 3-4 months.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by adamclyde:
thanks folks - good advice. sounds like the best bet is going to be asking people around for wood. I'll have to check out what they have.

Brian - good advice on how to season. Only question is, how long does it take? Weeks? Months? Does it go faster if I cut it down into small, smoker sizes, or keep it in split logs?

Sorry for all the questions folks. I'm a hopeless city boy, so trees and wood and all that don't come naturally! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

John answered the question, size matters, the thinner it is split the faster it dries. It is essential to keep it out of the rain and snow.

For splitting, get a 8# maul, it looks like a cross between a sledge hammer and a blunt axe. I suggest the maul because it is a lot easier to cut yourself with an axe. Stand your 12-16" length of wood on edge. Examine your log, look for an existing crack at the edge. Line up and hit it on the crack. If it is oak it ought to split like butter. (well maybe one or two hits and then it splits like buter.) Let the weight of the maul do 80% of the work. Avoid knots, you will never split them. And the maul can bounce back at you if you hit one. Don't worry if the maul goes into the ground.

Now, is the hobby cutting wood or cooking with it?
 
Might be weighing in a bit late on this but you should be able to get smoke wood from just about any place that sells firewood. Look in the local newspaper, Penny Saver, Want Ad Digest, AdNet Direct, or somesuch advertising rag for firewood dealers. Call 'em up and ask if they have oak, cherry, maple, or whatever. They'll probably be glad to sell you a few logs of your choice. After all, a sales' a sale.

Found a guy here in Rochester that sells firewood - just happened to drive by one date in late August. Stopped and asked his per cord rate for fuel wood. We got to talking and his wife took my kids round the other side of the barn to show them their horses. When I walked back that way, I saw about thirty - easily!! - wood bulk apple boxes filled to overflowing with cherry and apple logs. Sells 'em during the winter at a nearby ski resort. I asked if I could buy a few logs for my BBQ smoker and he said sure, bring your van around and we'll load ya up. Filled the rear of a minivan with cherry and apple for $20. Pays to look around when bringing your kids home from soccer.

'Course, I had to cut and split 'em all, and the wife didn't like the mess and the noise, and the kids wanted to see if the hatchet could really stick into a tree, just like they showed at the Adirondack Museum...

Alan Bosch
"Vegetables aren't food! Vegetables are what food eats!"
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:
Ask at a local tree service company. My brother owns one up in W Hartford. It's amazing how much wood he acquires. With land prices/rents as high as they are in Conn and with the space, labor and time involved to stack and season wood he ends up trashing all that he doesn't keep for himself. QUOTE]

Kevin, most of my water inspections are in W. Hartford. If your bro is trashing bunches of wood, I'd be glad to take some off his hands (in exchange for some bbq, of course), even if I just end up burnin' it in the stove or the campfire. If you get a chance, shoot me an e-mail (see my profile) about this.

Thanks,

Rob
Click to expand...
 
Here in Connecticut we have more trees than people. Im suprised that you cant find wood in the stores. Home Depot and Lowes both have smoke wood and charcoal all year round.
 
Jim -

Yeah, there are trees everwhere around here... and the irony is I'm still struggling to find anything to smoke. I checked the home depots and wal marts and they don't even have wood chips, let along chunks. Costco just got out its 2/24lb bags of kinsford, but HD doesn't even have it charcoal out right now. We don't have a lowes nearby.

Greg - there are apple orchards around, but since I live in a condo, there's no way I can season it myself. Plus, it wouldn't be ready for a while.

Someone earlier had recommended using firewood they sell at the grocery store. I looked at Stop & Shop. This is what it said on the outside, "seasoned hardwood for fireplaces" It didn't say what kind of hardwood it was, nor does it offer any kind of indication what they mean by "seasoned." For them, that may be treated in some way for all I know.

Should I take a gamble and try firewood, not knowing how it was seasoned or what kind of wood it is?
 
Nope.

I recently picked up some 'oak' from the curb. It probably did not age enough OR was not oak.
It was added to my fire and produced a smoke that was foul. I pulled it out of the fire before adding meat.

Just order from cabelas if you don't find some locally. Do not take chances with wood you are not sure of.
 
If you have an Ace Hardware or a Tru Value you might want to try them or go to Weber's page and look for dealers in your area, they will probably have some smoke wood for sale. Just brainstorming here...
 
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