South Florida Firewood

[tony boca]

What are people burning in South Florida? I know we have Australian pine and Live Oak. Has anybody been using these?

[RTflorida]

Have not tried the Australian pine, although my firewood guy gave me a great chopping stump he had cut from a very large Assie pine.

Live oak as well as Laurel oak burn very well and hot, with a traditional oak aroma.

Stay away from the Swamp oak, grows mostly in areas that get flooded or don't drain well. Burns well, but lets off a noxious black smoke when burned...really nasty, the smell stays in your nose for several days. It must have something to do with nutrients/minerals that it takes in growing in the muck.

Hickory is also quite prevelent here in cental FL......simply the best in my opinion.

RT

[larrya1049]

I burn a lot of Live Oak and it burns real well and has a real nice smell to it. I also got a load of mahogany a while back and it burns good too. Australian pine is not actually pine but is a real dense hard wood that's real hard to cut when its dry. I bet it makes the perfect chopping stump. Due to the high density of the wood it also burns really intense. It's also considered an invasive species in south Florida and is being ripped out and thrown into land fills. After a hurricane I always stock up on wood because it's laying everywhere.

[tony boca]

How about black olive?

[larrya1049]

In general Olive wood is very dense and burns very hot once it starts burning. It also has a pleasant smell.

[tony boca]

I know it's a rough estimate, but how many logs are being used in a firing of a 42" oven?

[tony boca]

I bought some (seasoned?) Australian Pine. It seems to burn alot of black smoke.

[larrya1049]

Sounds like it's not fully seasoned. Some people in the group have suggested loading wood back in to the oven after it cools down a bit to dry it out the wood for the next burn. Almost kiln like drying it. You could try splitting the wood up first which will be a pain in the butt with Australian pine.

[Jen7fl6]

I'm in Central Florida, just getting started with Primavera 70. Still trying to get it cured but bought some "seasoned" oak and hickory wood that is not burning well and smoking a lot. I'm thinking it needs more drying time. How are fellow Floridians handling their wood seasoning in this rainy and humid climate?

[Gulf]

Originally Posted by Jen7fl6

I'm in Central Florida, just getting started with Primavera 70. Still trying to get it cured but bought some "seasoned" oak and hickory wood that is not burning well and smoking a lot. I'm thinking it needs more drying time. How are fellow Floridians handling their wood seasoning in this rainy and humid climate?

You may be right. What you purchased may not be "well" seasoned. I'm not from South Florida, but from a subtropical climate. Try getting it hotter, quicker. Use very small dimensions of the wood. Try splitting the hardwood you purchased into smaller slivers for the starter fire. You might want to use a little well seasoned softwood as a starter or kindling. Start with a smaller mound, and add increasingly larger wood as the blaze will accept it.