Seasoned wood?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

wanbli

Fire Starter
Original poster
Mar 14, 2009
64
10
Near Flint Michigan
I bought a load of hickory a couple of weeks ago. I think it's greener than I thought it was. I seasoned my pit with it and now the inside is glossy instead of smudgy looking. Did I load it up with creosote ? The smoke smell is still very strong and there's no fire. If it is creosote, should I scape the inside clean and start over with a more seasoned batch of wood?
Which brings up the next question. I have a bunch of BIG trees in my yard. I'm talking 60 to 75 foot silver maples, ash and a red oak and some smaller crimson king maples (40 to 50 footers). There are always dead branches, some of which are quite large. If they've been dead on the tree for a year are they seasoned when you take them off? My neighbor has a 40 to 50 foot mulberry that has a bunch of dead branches on the bottom , he said I could take all of it I wanted.
I've burned the dead branches from all of the above in my open pit and cooked over the coals, that works fine. I know when I'm burning them they burn clean. With little or light smoke. Would they also work in my smoker? If so, I've got a good summer worth of wood I can collect in a couple of days. Free & I likes free
biggrin.gif
 
I do believe it is the glossy black look you are looking for not a smudgy looking black. At least that is how mine looks. I can open mine up and it has a wonderful smokey sent to it.

Use that wood like ya stole it, it should be good.
 
Glossy black is what yer lookin fer, means good seasonin on the steel.

As fer the hangin branchs, as long as ya can burn a piece an moisture don't seep out the end, it should be fairly well seasoned. Stop burinin that stuff in yer fire pit an put it in the smoker man!
 
These branches definetely have no sap in them. So I'm going to take RickW's advice and use it like I stole it. lol. Thanks for the replies. When using an open pit and coals creosote isn't an issue. If there was any it was burned out before the grate went over the coals. The hickory burns clean too. Thanks again. Peace, Wanbli
 
You can use green ('wet') hickory and other woods if the fire's hot enough. A big commercial smoker that needs to fill a large smoke chamber can burn hot enough to use such wood; a small offset is problematic.
As for your dead branches - by all means use 'em!
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky