Choosing and finding wood

[heliman]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

I have been given some olive wood - is that any good for smoking?

[david s]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

You West Australians will smoke anything!

[JOSHUAFINANCIAL]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

hi all,
thanks for the great information and the laughs.
Craigslist seems a great resource to find free and for-a-fee supplies.
But in regard to types of wood and their properties, I found this table easy to read and helpful. I wouldn't have any way to know how accurate, but it looks pretty...
Burning Wood - Which is the Best to Burn?

[teecee]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

The wood source issues here in Thailand are somewhat different from those in other climates but an exchange of information is always helpful to someone.

Some types of hardwood can't be cut except by special licence. However, we still have forest and jungle that supplies plenty of fallen or finished trees. My wife owns rice land and even that yields some suitable wood at times.

The main issue for us is to find kindling wood. It goes fast and we can't run off to the jungle with a machete every few days. This is what we do:

1. For lighting the fire we use coconut tree bark, eucalyptus offcuts and broken pallets.

2. To get the fire up to speed we add more eucalyptus and harder wood.

3. For the remainder of the day we use 3" to 6" hardwood logs for slow burning.

Some woods contain oils and we avoid those in case they contain toxins.

[cobblerdave]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

teecee
thanks for the reminder....havn't been to Thailand for 20 yrs. One thing I do remember is the smell of burning gum leaves. Aparently eucalupius there are grown as a fast growing hardwood but the leaves dont have the right types of bugs to eat them and the wrong type of bugs in the soil to break them down. So the leaves must be sweep up and burnt...... It was a nice homey smell when your so far from home.

Regards Dave

[teecee]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Hi Dave.

Eucalyptus is grown for paper making and as a building material. It makes good straight poles of hardwood and my wife has used it for the structure of her Tiki style restaurant. You just have to watch for signs of the darned termites in cut wood.

The smell of wood smoke from country fires loses it's appeal after a few years! It's quite pleasant around the restaurant as she fires up the oven in the morning, though.

[Kiwi_in_canada]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Have done a search on using punky or wood with fungus with no real luck.
Any insight into hazards or taste imparted by either heating the oven with? Or burning it with food in the oven?
Cheers

[Spunkoid]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Punky or rotting wood is starting to decompose. It has a much higher moisture content than wood that has been split and seasoned, or at least it takes longer to dry than solid wood and once dry is usually much lighter in weight. It will not burn as hot as solid dry wood as it has less fiber hence lighter weight. As far as toxins or release of toxins, I have not seen any studies to indicate that is an issue.
If I had a choice, I usually stay away from punky wood unless it is just the odd piece and I have a hot fire already, even then I am just burning it to get rid of it.
As a Kiwi in Canada, especially Ontario, you readily have access to some pretty nice hardwoods, so much that I am jealous. Split them and let them season and you will have some very nice wood that burns hot and clean.

[Archena]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

FYI: rotting wood makes wonderful compost! Bust it up and add it to the pile!

[Kiwi_in_canada]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

thanks Spunkoid, just wondering if i need to be super pickey about my wood, hard to be pickey when its free too!! mostly red oak and maple so with a few punky bits scattered in the mix i cant complain. all seasoned indoors for a winter with fans on it... think im golden.

[wotavidone]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

I've just been skimming this thread. Apologies if this has been discussed before, but its fascinating how people view the calorific value of timber as being wildly different across the various species.
See, I've always thought that all timber has pretty much the same calorific value. Yet there have been tables posted in here that show a massive range of values.
I've always wondered how it came about - and now I reckon I've figured it out!
Its because many people have to buy their wood by volume!!
From my point of view, a kilogram of dry (zero percent moisture) wood is pretty much the same amount of energy, no matter what the brand.
But not all woods have the same density, so if you are buying wood by the cord, a volume measurement, you are getting wildly varying amounts of energy for your money.
When equal size pieces of pine and redgum are burned, people think there is a lot more heat in the redgum. There is, because the redgum piece weighs more.
That's bothered me for years - why people think differently about wood than I learned in chemistry class.
Here in OZ, they are supposed to sell firewood by weight. If they are honest enough to do that properly, a lot of crooks use estimated weights, then you'll get the same amount of energy whether its pine or redgum. Then its just the characteristics of the burn you need to worry about and the combustion products.. Do you want the wood to give up its energy quickly in a fast burn (pine) or release it more slowly (redgum)? And how do you feel about acid gases, etc.
On the subject of whether eucalyptus wood is safe for food. We always smoked our ham, bacon and metwurst in redgum smoke, and I'm still here to tell the tale. I still smoke fish using redgum turnings. If that hasn't killed me, I don't think cooking a pizza in redgum fired oven will either.

[Erdbeereis]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

How is poplar wood for pizza oven use? I think I'll be able to get some soon and was wondering how it would do.

Erd

[cobblerdave]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

[QUOTE=wotavidone;129491]I've just been skimming this thread. Apologies if this has been discussed before, but its fascinating how people view the calorific value of timber as being wildly different across the various species.
Gudday
I look at at this way...
A overfull barrow of "slash pine" offcuts will not be enough to bring my oven up to temp for a pizza cook. I'll use it ... you bet cha but I'll finish it with good hardwood after removing the excess ash.( the hardwood smells better when the pizzas are cooked to)
A 2/3 barrow of well dryed hardwood would do the job and no excess ash to clear just push to the side.

Regards Dave

[Neil2]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

"From my point of view, a kilogram of dry (zero percent moisture) wood is pretty much the same amount of energy, no matter what the brand."

Quite right Wotavidone. Most firewood (hardwood or softwood) produces about 12 to 13 million BTUs per ton.

In fireplaces or wood stoves, hardwood is prized in part because a lower volume is used (you need to load the stove less often) and less ash is produced per BTU. In a wood fired oven this is less of a consideration. Buy what ever is cheapest by weight.

[Spunkoid]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

thanks Spunkoid, just wondering if i need to be super pickey about my wood, hard to be pickey when its free too!! mostly red oak and maple so with a few punky bits scattered in the mix i cant complain. all seasoned indoors for a winter with fans on it... think im golden.

You're right, you are golden... and I'm jealous. Don't worry about a few pieces being a little punky. You've got access to some pretty nice hardwood. In Alberta, white birch is prized for burning in a wood stove or fireplace. In Ontario, some people will only burn it if they have no other choice.
There has been some interesting discussion about energy release per pound, etc. There is a difference in energy release between wood species. It is more than just density, but also composition. To suggest that all species of wood burn the same is like saying that all grades of coal burn the same too.
My Grandmother used to burn poplar in her wood stove and used it to cook bread in the clay oven out back on their homestead. She could stoke the stove full of poplar without too much concern. Dry tamerack on the other hand burns much hotter and if you left the damper open on your stove, it would burn hot enough to warp the stove.
Here is a link to a chart about the burning characturistics of different wood species.
Burning Wood - Which is the Best to Burn?