Cedar Fire Wood Firing Your Oven Discuss Cedar Fire Wood in the Oven Management forums; dmun, Drying them out is not an issue as they almost instantly extinguish and float very high in the water. ...

[Wiley]

dmun,
Drying them out is not an issue as they almost instantly extinguish and float very high in the water. A moment to scoop them off (I toss them on a waiting old cookie sheet set at an angle so the clinging water can run off) and they are virtually dry and surprisingly clean to handle. Another nice aspect of doing it this way is the charcoal is black and shiny not covered with a film of ash as had it "died by suffocation" in a closed container.

Just a case of "different boats, different splices" :-)
Bests,
Wiley

[texassourdough]

Hey Wiley!

Assuming you live in WESTERN Washington - you need to dry your wood! That area is a SWAMP!

Here in San Antonio we have enough dry weather it isn't ususally a big problem but I do keep a trash can full of dry wood and sometimes use the oven to dry (preload like you do). A good practice but do leave the door open a bit... and best wait until it has cooled down some.

As dmun says, put the coals in a good trashcan and you will have DRY, good charcoal!
Jay

[slbrickman]

I should not admit this but, out of frustration I got this great idea to dry my firewood on a gas grill! You know the rest of the story, right??

I have never seen flames belching from every opening of a covered grill like this before!!

[Wiley]

Now Jay,
Even in a swamp their are some areas drier than others. I live in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains and the small island on which I live gets on average of 18 to 20 inches of rain. However, if one were to drive 20 miles to the south you will double that number (and have about the same rainfall as Seattle). The really wet areas are on the west side of the Olympics where many areas classify as a "rain forest" with many times the rain we get.

Bests,
Wiley

[texassourdough]

Hi Wiley!

I love Oregon and Washington! I fly up a couple of times a year to fish for steelhead - will be on the Grand Ronde this fall and hope to fish the Skagit next spring. With all your drizzle I just couldn't pass the comment up! Even with only 18-20 inches I assume it mainly comes in drizzle and wood piles get pretty wet (or at least damp). So I was confident wood drying was smart!

Be well and Bake On!
Jay