Ever think about getting a stove or an insert? If you're out there scrounging gnarly silver maple, you've got the hoarding bug, and it piles up pretty quick.
Nah, doesn't really make sense in our current house, but hopefully one day. Main reason I started hoarding was because I got into smoking brisket and pork, so started seeking logs to offset the cost. My first haul of red oak is coming ready now, so threw them in with some duck a few weekends ago and it was worth it! My end game after helping my friends out is going to be trying to market and sell bundles for fire pits to folks around me and fund my smoker meats or even a new smoker! Love coming here though to see how folks who have the space and dedication do it!
Today I shuffled wood around, working on the Master Plan ("by which some people are singled out to get nothing for no reason" - old Steve Martin bit). I moved red maple out of the shed, and into the basement, creating a cubbyhole for some apple, and a little cherry. Then I moved some birch and mixed hardwoods to where the apple used to be. I'm trying to reclaim a wasted strip along the pool between the patio and the fence.
I must admit I had to chuckle a bit because I began to think it was like someone rearranging their wine cellar. "I'm moving the Syrahs over with the mixed Cabernets and Merlots to make room for the Pinot noir. Then I can move the Chardonnay up to the cabinet in the dining room....". Donno why, it just tickled me! Very nice looking stacks and firewood! Represents a lot of work!
It is a lot of (probably unnecessary) work, but I'm tired of a hodgepodge of stacks all over the property. 10+ cords on a third of an acre takes some finessing.
Man, you were not kidding about how gnarly this Silver Maple was to split. Good thing I have the hydraulic splitter now because I would have needed the day off tomorrow if I had to do this by hand! Was worth it though. Smells great, sounds nice a dense. Gonna make for some good cooking come fall and winter!
Thanks Midwinter. All my wood I scrounge comes from Craigslist. I got lucky today since this is the first time I've scored pecan. It's a rarity here in St. Louis. It's all going into the smoker.
The amount of wood you have represents a lot of work. I was not funning you about extra work. Here in WA State we don't have the great variety of hardwoods to scrounge. If I had good access of different primo hardwoods I would be separating them in specific stacks also. As it is, it is just mostly Fir with some serendipitous hardwoods mixed in. My wine cellar only has four bottles in it, Mostly Fir, some Madrone, Cherry and Locust! (not counting the Deodar which is slightly vinegary.
I get a large variety of wood as a consequence of dump scrounging. Oddball ornamentals, every kind of birch and maple, red and white oak, elm, cherry, poplar, basswood, and ailanthus, pine and spruce which I generally leave alone, and every now and then, black and honey locust. One time I got some Chestnut. Never found any hickory though. The urge is to classify it all into separate stacks, which makes sense for oak, but I try not to get too nutty. It's nice to be able to put my hand on a particular type, depending on how I want the fire to burn.
Broke down half of the cherry today, cutting it in half, then splitting it. Finally, remove the bark using the press. It is a more tedious process, but this is being processed to be used in my smoker. Through (delicious) trial and error, I've come to the conclusion that the bark just ruins the flavor - too much moisture retained. So, I take the time to remove it. Bottom of the aluminum drum is stacked properly, with the rest just thrown on top. Let this season in the Virginia sun and by fall, I'll be rolling with some fresh cherry for my chicken and pork!
That's interesting about the bark being no good for the flavor. Makes you think, though, why would it be? The bark must be made out of different components than the wood.
Nice, didn't know about the bark, but also didn't know you really had to season wood for smoking. People always soak wood chips to get them to smolder and smoke so I thought perfect, just use unseasoned wood! I always smoke fish in my crude 55 gallon barrel smoker with unseasoned cherry and get good results, but that's fish fillets and eels and its a relatively quick hot smoke.
I only use seasoned cherry without the bark as well. I never soak my chips. I have read arguments both ways and tried it both ways and I cant really tell the difference so I save myself that step.
Yeah, if the wood is too wet, it just sits there and smolders - not the best. I tried using 3 month seasoned red oak last summer to do a brisket and it just would not catch and burn. Temps dropped, brisket took forever and the end result was disappointing - had to resort to Kingsford to finish the job. When you are burning actual sticks of wood, you want them as dry as possible - just easier to burn and control. The reason wood chips are soaked is because they are so small that if they were completely dry, they would completely burn before any smoke was emitted. The soaking causes them to smolder and emit a bit more smoke than they would otherwise. As for bark - I generally steer clear because of moss, fungus, etc that grows on the outside. Figure, its worth the extra effort to peal that off to make me more confident in the final product!
For cooking I would peel the bark off. Especially if you live in an area with poor air quality as bark is porous and has been found to be a time capsule for analyzing the pollutants that have been endemic in the area for decades. A good fire ( and probably the high temps in a catalyst ) likely incinerate them, but the low heat levels smoking food you're going to eat ? I think not. I could be wrong, but with food I wouldn't take chances.
Most people around here that I know use seasoned wood and then soak it briefly. I have heard that western WA Cherry and Apple have a fungus on them that causes the smoke to impart a bitter taste. Everyone seems to agree that debarking is a good policy regardless of type of wood! Overwhelmingly, Alder is the general use smoking wood. It pairs well with most meats as well as with fish which many woods don't. I don't know that I would take the trouble to debark wood for a cooking fire because by the time you have a healthy bead of coals, most all the aromatics have burned off. As an aside thought, eastern WA orchards sell half cord baskets of limb and cull wood which people on the west side buy for smoking and camp wood. The idea of using wood for cooking or smoking that has been regularly sprayed with pesticides does not attract me at all! wolfpackwx that is good looking Cherry that you have there! It will certainly yield a pleasant smoke!
Alder...a wood I wish I could get access to! I've resorted to using cherry, apple and peach for salmon and other fish - but most recipes call for Alder if you can get it.
