Pecan Wood

[dog1234]

Hey guys,

I have read many, many threads here on green wood. It seem like 3-6 moths after cutting and splitting would be good if it covered and has air movement. My neighbor has two dead pecan trees in his yard. Last Friday we had a big wind day and he had half of one of the dead trees fall. I jumped on that wood and cut and split it. My question is it appeared to be dry (cured)? Since it has been dead for while do you guys thing it is classified cured and ready to use for smoking?

Thanks

 

[foamheart]

You said you cut it and split it, was the wood grain dry? When you picked up a a piece was it heavy? Was it slightly lighter than you'd imagine it to be? You really should be able to tell if it was still green or not.

Try it, see what you think. If in doubt I'd start with the smaller diameter pieces. They would be farthest from the ground where the sap would have been stored if still green. I don't know about your trees, but mine just budded out about a week ago, two at the most so it would be hard to to use that as a sign. My big old trees are always the very last to bud every spring, I was always told they could sense the weather and you'd get no more hard freezes after they bloom. <Shrugs> But we all know ya can't trust them old farmers....LOL

Baton Rouge weatherman says another big blow this coming before this weekend (Thursday I think) so keep an eye out its always the best time to get wood.

 

[motolife313]

Wood can be down for years and still not season. I know because I’ve been chasing wood for a while and milling lately. Cut into it try and build a fire with it. If it doesn’t burn you now it’s still have too much water in it. Or Lowe’s sells a good moisture meter for 25$. That’s what I use.

this is what you want. Hard to get it this dry outside tho since the moisture is higher outside. Usually my wood goes to about 16% outside. Green wood that fresh cut is usually 25% to 30% or higher. That fresh cut. I’ve gotten oak and apple that looks like it’s been been at least couple years because the bark is off and full of bugs and it’s at 25% but I’m in the PNW and it rains a lot so you might be ok if your in a dry area

 

[indaswamp]

Definitely not dry here in south Louisiana...we avg. 7- inches of rain a year. Though it does get hot in the summertime.
That's a cool moisture meter moto...did not know they made one that cheap, might pick one up....thanks for posting.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Nice find on the wood as said make a fire and see how it burns.

Warren

 

[indaswamp]

I'm actually getting some free pecan wood myself this week. My uncle called yesterday to tell me his neighbor had a pecan tree fall down with the strong spring storms that have been rolling through. Might go cut it this afternoon if the rain holds off long enough.

 

[Hawging It]

Probably not ready yet. Let it age for a couple of months.

 

[dward51]

It also depends on how you cut/split it and how you intend to use it.

Cutting into thinner splits will dry it faster. If you are using it in a charcoal burner, cutting it into fist sized chunks or "mini-splits" (short splits) will also speed up the drying. For use in a stick burner, there are a lot of techniques for pre-heating and drying wood as part of the staging for use in the firebox. I have a couple of boxes of split/chunked pecan from a blow down in storage in my basement. Super dry by now, but it's my back stock. I also like to only use bark-less Pecan for my smoking in my WSM (which is why I use chunks and not full splits). May not matter for a stick burner though.

I've never used green Pecan, but there are a lot of folks and commercial restaurants who use "green" hickory all the time (and prefer it).

 

[pineywoods]

Green pecan will not burn very well from what I've seen and used. After hurricane Michael you could have loaded semi loads of downed pecan in N Florida and S Georgia. Pecan does not last as long as hickory, oak, or cherry after it's dry split and stacked

 

[dog1234]

Thanks guys,

The wood is pretty dry in my opinion already. I have cut several trees in my days that were green and this is defiantly not that green. I would say its light in weight compared to the size of the logs. I am using it in a stick burner. The piece that I had access to is the top of the tree, so I guess that's good, I guess due to the sap if any is properly lower to the bottom closer to the ground. I have cut it into 8" long pieces and split it. 8" is about all I can get in my fire box as it relatively small. I guess I will let it dry out more, for a few months.