wood age


 
j biesinger

j biesinger

TVWBB Platinum Member
does anybody have any thoughts, opinions, facts etc on the longevity of wood? I like to buy spices in smaller quantities so I cycle through them every six months or so. However wood isn't as easy to come by. I got a nice bundle of apple wood two years ago, went back to the source to get another and it was clearly a bundle that was split about the same time. It wasn't rotten but the wood was very grey. Some of my wood is kept inside in buckets so it doesn't look as weathered, however I'm wondering if its possible that it loses something overtime. Obviously it drys, and loses some of the aromatics present in green wood, but what about after the first year?
 
J,

I may be mistaken about how the wood fares out in new york, but here in colorado as long as the wood stays our of really intense sunlight and doesnt get exposed to lots of moisture, it should keep for a long time. I have wood chunks that are at least 3 years old and I have kept them in the garage in a paper bag. The wood isnt decomposing at all, even if the coloration looks a little different on the exposed surfaces and the surface when you make a new cut into it. In your region, relative humidity and other elements that I dont have to consider may come into play.

Smoke on

Hunter
 
I'm no expert, and I've heard conflicting opinions, so I'll just offer my own experience.

I've got apple, cherry and oak that I cut locally and chunked when I bought my WSM in 2005. All are kept in a shed; dry and out of the sun, same as I do with the store bought hickory and mesquite. All produce smoke, and I can definitely tell which is burning, just by the smell.
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JimT
 
Hey JB,

No expert here either. The wood I want for smoking, I keep in my garage. Most of it has been in there over a year, none of it is rotting, no bugs that I can see, still looks great.

The wood I keep for campfires / etc is out back, stacked, and about 4" off the ground. Some of this is getting spongy, seems to always be some potato bugs on it, etc. Not that you couldn't get some of this wood in nice shape for using, but it will stay as campfire.

So my suggestion would be to keep the wood you want for chunking / smoking inside a shed or garage or basement, and use it year after year after year without any worries.

I would not worry about the color of your current wood or the wood you are going to purchase. If it's not infested with bugs and/or spongy or rotten, chunck it up and get it under cover and it'll be fine.

BTW, would you mind sharing your source? I'm getting low on apple myself.

Todd
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm wondering if its possible that it loses something overtime. Obviously it drys </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
j, yes it loses alot if it gets too dry. I once ordered wood online and it came as you describe, very gray and dry. It basicly did nothing but burned up. I threw it all out. The ideal moisture content for smoke wood is 30% moisture. If the wood gets too low in moisture you really don't get anything from it. I would stay clear of grey weathered wood. And as mentioned above, store all your smoke wood in side if you can. HTH
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">BTW, would you mind sharing your source? I'm getting low on apple myself. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

two years ago around this time, we went out to blackman farms.

http://blackmanhomesteadfarm.com/

we picked some apples and bought some little bundles of wood.

we ended up calling him and going back later in the spring. we talk up mr blackman quite a bit. he mentioned that he had lots of other smokable wood (hickory, oak, maple, pear) on his property that they split for firewood when they have nothing better to do in the winter. we tried to convince him to put some little bundles together for us. I'd appreciate if you call him up and let him know that you'd be interested in smoke woods, maybe it will get him going. he's certainly into various gourmet products, i think this would fit into his deal nicely.

but like I said, I went back again this summer and the bundle I bought seemed to be bundled a long time ago (probably from that original batch).

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> It basicly did nothing but burned up. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

hmm, I'm trying to up my smoke. I keep adding more and more wood, and not getting more flavor. could be my wood's getting older and older. and make sense with the chips I bought that didnt have much flavor, the could be too dry.
 
I smoke using wood that's been exposed to the weather and setting out on my front porch for about 2 years. Still works the same as always.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by tjkoko:
I smoke using wood that's been exposed to the weather and setting out on my front porch for about 2 years. Still works the same as always. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
If it's under a roof of the porch, that's night and day verses being out in the weather uncovered and exposed to the elements. No comparrison there. When the wood turns grey from being sun baked for a few years it yields nothing really in terms of smoke and flavor.
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I went out on a site visit with a biologist and wetland scientist here recently. Just so happens I am working on an approx 500 acre site project in the area - it has high bluffs along the Cape Fear River. Hickoy trees galore. These two gentlemen had to come to the site and provide some information for our project - turns out one of them smokes turkeys every Thanksgiving. Didn't seem like an every weekend type of smoker, but an annual. Anyway, he said that the shells from the nuts provide the richest smoke. These contain the most sap where the flavors come from. I explained I am using a offset stick burner - he recommended using the smaller logs with the most bark rather than large split logs. The bark contains the second most sap. He did mention that for the shells, he would soak them overnight.

First time I heard the sap theory although I always heard green was better than too old. Hear a range of time on how long logs should cure - have heard from 2-6 months. But not much longer than 6 months...burns too hot and the sap has dried out.
 
I'm with Bryan S on this one...I believe the moisture content of the wood has a great deal to do with the flavor it imparts....Thats why Smokinlicous has the mositure content of the wood on the boxes you buy.
 
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