Commercial vs. wild woods

[smokincoalkracker]

Excluding the fact that commercial smoking woods found on store shelves are over priced, but convenient. Does the quality/quantity of smoke really differ between the two? I'm all for free fuel, but I was wondering about the quality. Some commercial brands really vary in price for seemingly the same products such as Weber or Jack Danials brands compared to "No Name".

 

[bassman]

Wood is wood, as long as it's suitable for smoking. Jack Daniels wood is just shredded up oak barrels that have had whiskey in them. One of the fun things about smoking is collecting different woods (for me at least). The handy part of commercially packaged wood is that we don't have hickory or alder in our part of the country.

 

[desertlites]

I a cabinetmaker so have plenty of diff typs-I do buy apple-and ya wood is wood-hit a cabinet shop for alder-oak & cherry.

 

[yodelhawk]

I used to smoke with the stuff that I pruned off my old crabapple tree and had great results. Just make sure you dry it first.

 

[alx]

Quality can be issue with storebought.I ran low and chopped a hickory up in october and my sister needed hickory a month later so she went to home depot, as the hickory i chopped wasnt dry.The hickory she bought was dried out and the smoke smelled disgusting.If the wood is bagged green with no circulation of air , it seems to get funky.This is not always the case with storebought ,but she waits for my wood now.People who sell firewood also sometimes will let you by small amounts.

 

[shooterrick]

Well for the most part wood is wood. The price for wild from free to whatever you are willing to pay. I do buy pecan locally in 50 lb potatoe sacks from Acadamy. They call them mini logs and run about 10 bucks a bag. The bags are open air weave so never had a prob with mildue or mold. I am buying a half cord of pecan cause i dont have the time or inclination to go find someone who will let me cut theirs. I did just help a friend take out a pear tree he needed removed and hauled the wood home but will be August probably before dry.

 

[jdt]

I agree free is always best but my bbq supply store is actually part of a landscaping and nursery place, they sell prebagged chips as its to much work but the chunk is by the pound, I get hickory and oak from another place so pretty much all I buy is fruit wood here but they have a good selection.

http://www.hawgeyesbbq.com/BBQ-Woods.html