Choosing and finding wood

[Xabia Jim]

All....

I think you have two basic types of wood for WF ovens......

....that used for cooking where you want to add flame or flavor....whatever you can find locally is quite different around the globe. (We have dense southern pine, olive and orange here.)

....and that used to heat it up an oven which is anything you can get your hands on....particularly if you are pulling the fire in a bake oven. I've noticed a lot of ovens here using pallets. They are firing their ovens with them...getting BTU's....may or may not be using for the cook fire.

I heat up using junk wood and finish with aromatics of choice.

[CanuckJim]

XJ,

Agreed. I'll burn just about anything, including pallets, to get the heat up for bread baking where the fire is pulled. For other things, I have a special stash of fruit wood (apple, pear and cherry) that I use for aromatics when needed.

Jim

[noosab]

Hi,
I burn whatever is at hand for the stove that heats the house. This year it's madrone and oak. We are unable to detect any smoke flavor in anything we cook in our oven (33" ID and 15" high inside) as long as it is pre-heated before the food is put in and the door in not in place. That seems to be regardless of how big the fire is while things are cooking. The only way we get things smoked, is to close the door almost completely with a fire burning inside. If only glowing coals are left when the door is put in place, no smoke taste seems to transfer to the food even though the coals will continue to burn for up to a day or so.
I can't offer praise enough to FB for all their information on oven design and construction. We followed their directions and now, for the first time in 30 some years, have non-doughy pizza, delicious breads, melanzoni (probably spelled that wrong) etc., and all that without over-heating our house when it is warm outside.
Earl

[aeneas1]

if you are looking for a firewood source try your local craigslist - but instead of searching for firewood suppliers in the "for sale" or "services" sections of craigslist, post your own ad in the "for sale" section and name it something like: wanted - seasoned firewood or wanted - fruit wood. you will be amazed at the responses, at least i was! and it's free!

[noosab]

We paid $150 delivered for a cord of fresh cut olive and $180 per cord delivered for fairly well seasoned oak and madrone. The oak leaves considerable ash, the madrone produces lots of total heat with less ash, and the olive will have to dry some before I can use it to heat the oven.
Most of the pieces of wood are larger than what I hear folks talk about using in this forum.
We try to start our fire with pieces about 3 to 4 inches across (diameter?) using a propane torch as a starter. Once a small self sustaining flame exists the torch is extinguished and normal oven draw fans the flame enough to get the oven up to pizza temperature in about an hour or so. Actually, the infra red thermometer will indicate a floor temperature of 750 deg. F. in the coolest spot after about 45 to 50 minutes but there won't yet be enough stored heat in the bricks to maintain that temperature long enough to yield a really good pizza. About half of the olive wood we just bought is unsplit pieces ranging from about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter. When it dries enough to use, we should be able to join the more conventional oven operators in the forum.
One last thing, We are unable to detect even the slightest odor or taste of smoke in any foods we have cooked in our oven except when we have wanted smoke (BBQ ribs, roasts, etc.) and have produced it by tossing some wood on the coals and immediately almost totally closing off the oven entryway. I think you could burn old tires in there without affecting the flavor of the food, though it would sure stink up the neighborhood and maybe alienate everyone down wind.
Earl

[Richard]

Agree, have never noticed a 'smoke flavor' when using the WFO. have not noticed any difference when using oak or apple wood.
Use of aromatics, fresh rosemary, can impart flavor to the food.
Use my Weber Bullet for getting that ring of smoke and flavor.

[noosab]

Richard, We've never tried adding rosemary. Do you toss some directly on the coals, near the coals, or ad it to the food? We have considerable rosemary in our yard. Deer and other critters don't seem to like it and we can't eat it at anywhere near the rate it grows.
Thanks,
Earl

[Xabia Jim]

Earl, do both. Toss some rosemary branches across the coals so some burns and some smolders. When I open the door to check the food, I usually toss in a new branch, 'bout a foot long or more. It's as much for the air/ambience as it is for the food. Makes the neighborhood comment!

Also, strip off the leaves and add to food or marinades. It's a great accompanyment to garlic.... Roast Meats like lamb, stuff inside chickens before roasting, with roast potatoes.....

[Bacterium]

I've read some post mentioning that Eucalyptus is not good to use when cooking (to add flavour) in the WF ovens
But would it be ok to heat the oven initially (and then switch to a more favourable timber)?

Any other Aussies out there tried Redgum or smilar in their ovens?

Its easy enough to get if you know a local farmer
OR in my case it is closer than that - I have to replace some more timber retaining wall (sleepers) on my property so I might hold onto a few.

Another thing thats a great tip I picked up - Rosemary.
I'm always trimming this bush in my back garden.....now the off cuts can be used in the oven instead of filling up the "green waste" bin

[Richard]

would not recommend Eucalyptus as it is very oily and unless you plan on having a chimney sweep come by, would not use.

have four white birch trees that need to be removed. Has anyone use this? What are the characteristics of the wood, i.e BTU's (a lot or a little), ash (lot or little) etc

thanks

ps agree with Xambia on use of rosemary, in fire, on food it all works