what is the good kind of wood

[maver]

Looking up almond wood for cooking with google suggests it is an excellent wood for this - described as clean burning, long lasting and high BTUs, if you have a source try it and give us your feedback.

[james]

I'm from the central valley of California, where there is a lot of almond. Hey, the Modesto minor league baseball team is called the "Nuts". Sadly, they are no long a part of the Oakland As minor league system -- but they do throw bags of almonds into the stands between innings. We have a number of owners from Nor Cal that can get almond wood, and it is excellent. If you can find it, give it a try.
James

[CanuckJim]

Ash is very common here in Southern Ontario and is highly prized as a furniture (for steam bent chair backs, canoe ribs, and such) and stove wood, because of its high BTU content. It has virtually no aroma when burning, and it burns hot, so it should be fine for pizza. Citrus likely fine, as well, but be sure to season it well.

Jim

[jwnorris]

A neighbor here is Orange County California tells of a place on Portola in Irvine that has a stockpile of citrus [and maybe avocado] wood that it is looking to get rid of. How does citrus [or avacado] work for pizza or other cooking in an oven?

[james]

Make sure that it's dry (or age it yourself), and you're in great shape. The pefect wood size is about 3" diameter and 12"-16" long.

I've been burning a plum tree I cut down, and it's very good.
James

[Richard]

Taking down a few trees in yard and would season iof this is a good wood choice.

[CanuckJim]

Richard,

White birch qualifies as a semi-hardwood if it's of the ornamental variety. It's straight grained and easy to split for the larger pieces (wedges & sledge). However, the bark is quite resinous. I'd certainly use it, but be sure to season it well and strip off the outer bark once it's dry and before using for fuel to prevent black oily smoke and creosote (though this will probably burn off). The oily smoke from the bark won't do you pizzas any good. To remove the bark, score it deeply around the circumference about every foot, then peel it off. If you go camping, tightly roll up the bark: makes great fire starters. Or maybe build a canoe?

Jim

[jayjay]

Jim, James and all:
I have to tell you that we used walnut in caskets and the caskets
rivaled the expense of the mahagany.
We have some mahagany here and I may use some scraps of it.
I once red a poes about wood,
I only remember the last line or so, but it talked about different
types of wood. It ended up with:
Ash wood wet or ash wood dry,
a king can warm his slippers by.

I understand that besides making great baseball bats,
as wood burns about as good as any other.

JJ