Choosing and finding wood

[heliman]

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

[david s]

You West Australians will smoke anything!

[JOSHUAFINANCIAL]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Kiwi_in_canada]

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.