Choosing and finding wood

[readie]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Does anyone have any experience of using smokeless fuel? I live in London (UK) and think I may get complaints from the neighbors if my oven curing is anything to go by (a lot of smoke from the wood brought from the petrol station: not sure what it was).. Was thinking about buying from this web site: Seasoned Logs - Coal - Smokeless Fuels : Smokeless fuel

any advice? Thanks Simon

[gjbingham]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Thanks Jim,
I was kind of thinking the same thing. You could see the pitch pouring out of the wood and onto the floor of the oven while it burned. It looked like a pouring cauldron of fire.
G.

[CanuckJim]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

GJ,

Just an adjunct to your post. Here, we have a lot of red pine that was planted mainly as a pulp/paper source. It's very fast growing and has become a bit of a pest tree, like box elder. The problem with it is along the lines of your yellow pine, I think. Whether the wood is seasoned or not, the bark retains a lot of oil/pitch/resin. It makes one heckava mess in a fireplace, woodstove or WFO, and I heartily recommend that my customers reserve it for mid-summer bonfires. It's one of the few woods I won't burn in my oven. Overall, I think that our ovens burn so hot with such complete combustion that the softwood/hardwood/creosote issue does not apply. Me? I'm just looking for that monster fire.

Jim

[gjbingham]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Found this interesting discussion of creosote formation on the web:
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What REALLY causes creosote to build up? Creosote is the condensation of unburned, flammable particulates present in the exhausting flue gas (smoke). The actual cause of creosote condensation, is the surface temperature of the flue in which the flue gas comes in contact. Like hot breath on a cold mirror, if the surface temperature of the flue is cool, it will cause the vaporized carbon particles in the flue gas (smoke) to solidify. This condensation is creosote build-up. If the wood you are using is rain logged, or green, the fire will tend to smolder. Wet wood causes the whole system to be cool, and inefficient. But, dry wood means a hot fire! A hot fire means a hot flue, and a hot flue means much less creosote.

Back in the early 1980's, tests were conducted to discover which kind of wood created the most creosote in a regular "open" fireplace. The results were surprising. Contrary to popular opinion, the hardwood's, like oak and madrone, created MORE creosote than the softwoods, like fir and pine. The reason for this, is that if the softwoods are dry, they create a hotter, more intense fire. The draft created by the hotter fire moves the air up the chimney faster! Because it is moving faster, the flue gas does not have as much time to condense as creosote inside the chimney. Also, because the flue gas is hotter: it does not cool down to the condensation point as quickly. On the contrary, the dense hardwood's tend to smolder more, so their flue gas temperature is cooler. Thus, more creosote is able to condense on the surface of the flue. So, saying that "fir builds up more creosote than oak" just isn't true! It is a misunderstanding to think that it's the pitch in wood which causes creosote. It's not the pitch that is the problem, it's the water IN the pitch. Once the water in the wood has evaporated, that pitch becomes high octane fuel! When dry, softwoods burn extremely hot!
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I tried some Yellow Pine in the oven last night. It burned very hot but left everything absolutely black . Assuming the previous discussion is true, I guess I won't try that again, at least until this stuff has sat around a couple of years to get bone dry.

[ricocamus]

Re: Mango

Here in the Philippines most of our firewood is well under three inches.
We have a lot of Mango, and some Mahagany. We also use Santol and
Nara. These are woods that many of you have not heard of. I beleive that
part of the problem I had/have with my oven is not getting it hot enough.
JJ

I am also in the Philippines and would be very interested to hear about where you get wood and what kind you use. I am seriously planning to put up an oven and any tips would help.

Thanks in advance

[Archena]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

It'll burn off - the problem with creosote is that it's flammable and so it is dangerous when it builds up in chimneys.

[fullback66]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Can you start you fire with Pine or cedar? I know I would not cook with this type of wood. Is it O.K. to start my fires with this wood? Would the soot burn off after I get a good fire started. Maybe not in the chimney.

Would the sap of pine get on the floor of my cooking area? Or would it burn off?

Is it alright to burn the bark? Its just wood right.

thanks
fb66

[ChristopherBlair]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Hi, Jim,

I appreciate the response. I will order my Ash and burn away. The gentleman i spoke with said he has maple, red oak, locust and other sorts i have read about on here seasoning as i write this for what i think to be pretty good pricing. I would like to get some of the red oak or maple for next season.

Christopher

[CanuckJim]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Christopher,

There are many colors of ash, including yellow and black. All are prized by chairmakers for their straight grain and the ease of steaming and bending it for chair backs. It's a hard wood, splits easily and burns well when cured. I've burned a lot of yellow ash with good success. Go for it.

Jim

[CanuckJim]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Christopher,

There are many colors of ash, including yellow and black. All are prized by chairmakers for their straight grain and the ease of steaming and bending it for chair backs. It's a hard wood, splits easily and burns well when cured. Go for it.

Jim

[ChristopherBlair]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Hi, Guys,

Since I couldnt find anything on here about it, is Ash wood okay to burn. I read it was a hard wood and assumed it would be okay. I can get some pretty cheaply here in Cincinnati and hoped it would work.

If anyone has used it, i would like to here how it does.

Thanks,
Christopher

[CanuckJim]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Mike,

You're in a good way. Hickory is hard and burns well, giving off lots of heat. If it's red oak you have, it's one of the highest BTU woods out there. Either way, you win.

Jim

[mkmadan]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Has anyone used Hickory in thier ovens? I just purchased and installed a
Toscana 90 and will be done with the curing tonight....
I purchased some seasoned Hickory and it seems to be firing well. I have some regular oak "fireplace" firewood as well....
thanks,
Mike

[Acoma]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Scored a pickup load of Mesquite (2" to 4" thick pieces). Client of mine just cleared a pasture with dozer and was piling it up to burn.....
Trying to get out and get another load before it all burns

Way to go.. tell him you will take it all. What a gold mine.

[jwnorris]

Re: Choosing and finding wood

Scored a pickup load of Mesquite (2" to 4" thick pieces). Client of mine just cleared a pasture with dozer and was piling it up to burn.....
Trying to get out and get another load before it all burns

Great find. I just picked up some apple and am looking forward to trying it out.

J W