# New to forum and smoking, wood question



## MMC (Feb 19, 2020)

Hello everyone!
I just got my first offset smoker, a OKJ Highland reverse flow. Did my first cook this last weekend. I used a 50/50 combination of store bought Cowboy Brand Hickory Logs and Kiln dried oak from a local wood supplier. I live in Brooklyn, NY so as you can imagine there’s not a lot of easy places to find firewood nearby. I did a 2.5 hour smoke at 275 before wrapping. As I was quickly running out of Hickory I decided to use only Oak after wrapping. I was having difficulty keeping it lit. I was keeping the large firebox door open for 5 minutes or so after putting on new logs to give them time to really catch, which they did, but upon closing the firebox door they wouldn’t keep well lit. I was keeping the vents open at the way, and even cracking the vent door a few inches but couldn’t get over 225 or so. I bought a moisture meter and the Oak was reading around 20-21% on a freshly cut end. I can only find Kiln dried wood immediately around NYC, I’m wondering if I should be seasoning the kiln dried oak longer to get a good burn, or what mistakes I was making.   Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Matt


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## sawhorseray (Feb 19, 2020)

Welcome from Gilbert, AZ, you landed in a great spot Matt! Since moving from California eight months back I've been using these hickory splits from Cabelas. The splits actually need to be split again quite often,  a 3 pound single jack and a hand ax does the job quite nicely. It's not as cost effective as driving out into the woods and chopping up your own, but then there's the fact you won't be burning up any gas, it arrives at your doorstep, and you won't require a trip to the ER to get your leg sown back on! RAY






						Western BBQ Mini-Logs | Cabela's
					

Buy the Western BBQ Mini-Logs and more quality Fishing, Hunting and Outdoor gear at Bass Pro Shops.




					www.cabelas.com


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## WildewoodBBQ (Feb 19, 2020)

Congrats on your first smoke!! I’m in the process of refurbishing one of those smokers I picked up used last month...  

That being said, I have heard that it can be harder to keep temp up on these, it’s good to leave the air inlet door cracked open, not just the air vent..  were you reading the temp off the factory temp gauge at the top or have you added an additional thermometer closer to grate level? 

I have also not had personal experience with it yet, but B & B makes a hardwood lump charcoal that burns very consistently and puts off good heat. It’s also very reasonably priced at an Ace Hardware, only $16-$17 per 20lb bag. 

What were you making if you don’t mind me asking? Ribs?


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## TNJAKE (Feb 19, 2020)

Welcome from Tennessee. If you need wood, Lonnies is more than good!


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## sawhorseray (Feb 19, 2020)

TNJAKE said:


> Welcome from Tennessee. If you need wood, Lonnies is more than good!



MMC lives in New York City Jake. Does Lonnie's serve that area? RAY


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## radioguy (Feb 19, 2020)

Welcome to SMF!  After you wrap use charcoal or put it in the oven.

RG


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## TNJAKE (Feb 19, 2020)

sawhorseray said:


> MMC lives in New York City Jake. Does Lonnie's serve that area? RAY


Lol I'm not sure it's from the wood chuck commercial. "Dang woodchucks quit chuckin that wood" lol


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## gary s (Feb 19, 2020)

Welcome and Howdy from a Wet East Texas

Gary


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## sawhorseray (Feb 19, 2020)

gary s said:


> Welcome and Howdy from a Wet East Texas Gary



Yeah, sounds like you folks are in for quite the soaking, stay safe! RAY


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## MMC (Feb 19, 2020)

sawhorseray said:


> Welcome from Gilbert, AZ, you landed in a great spot Matt! Since moving from California eight months back I've been using these hickory splits from Cabelas. The splits actually need to be split again quite often,  a 3 pound single jack and a hand ax does the job quite nicely. It's not as cost effective as driving out into the woods and chopping up your own, but then there's the fact you won't be burning up any gas, it arrives at your doorstep, and you won't require a trip to the ER to get your leg sown back on! RAY
> 
> 
> 
> ...





sawhorseray said:


> Welcome from Gilbert, AZ, you landed in a great spot Matt! Since moving from California eight months back I've been using these hickory splits from Cabelas. The splits actually need to be split again quite often,  a 3 pound single jack and a hand ax does the job quite nicely. It's not as cost effective as driving out into the woods and chopping up your own, but then there's the fact you won't be burning up any gas, it arrives at your doorstep, and you won't require a trip to the ER to get your leg sown back on! RAY
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Hey Ray!
Yeah, that’s a much better deal than the .75 cubic feet of Hickory I got at Lowe’s for $20.  I like the guys I got the Oak from locally they will sell me double split Oak for $16 a bundle which seems about what people charge here in the city. Just trying to figure out if I should season them longer after the kiln drying to get a better burn. Planning on some long brisket cooks and hoping to keep my wood prices down with longer burning Oak... if I can actually get it to burn well.


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## MMC (Feb 19, 2020)

WildewoodBBQ said:


> Congrats on your first smoke!! I’m in the process of refurbishing one of those smokers I picked up used last month...
> 
> That being said, I have heard that it can be harder to keep temp up on these, it’s good to leave the air inlet door cracked open, not just the air vent..  were you reading the temp off the factory temp gauge at the top or have you added an additional thermometer closer to grate level?
> 
> ...


This is my first offset, only smoked on a kettle before. I did the whole firebox sealing with RTV silicone and gasket and sealed the cook chamber with Gaskets as well and it’s not leaking any smoke. Metals not as thick as those $1000 units but not a bad smoker for $200 (on sale). Did a few racks of ST Louis ribs and they turned out great. Didn’t have a problem keeping temps with the Hickory/Oak mix. I think the store bought Hickory burned well(but burned up fast) went through the whole .75 cubic foot bag in 3 hours.


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## MMC (Feb 19, 2020)

MMC said:


> This is my first offset, only smoked on a kettle before. I did the whole firebox sealing with RTV silicone and gasket and sealed the cook chamber with Gaskets as well and it’s not leaking any smoke. Metals not as thick as those $1000 units but not a bad smoker for $200 (on sale). Did a few racks of ST Louis ribs and they turned out great. Didn’t have a problem keeping temps with the Hickory/Oak mix. I think the store bought Hickory burned well(but burned up fast) went through the whole .75 cubic foot bag in 3 hours.



And I am running a grate level Thermoworks smoke thermometer. :)


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## gmc2003 (Feb 20, 2020)

One other option would be to burn charcoal with wood chunks mixed in. I wonder if you may have more options for wood on Staten or Long island?

Chris


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## HalfSmoked (Feb 20, 2020)

Lot of good info as is the basis of this forum. A great place for info and support.

Warren


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## kruizer (Feb 20, 2020)

Welcome to SMF  from Minnesota.


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## sawhorseray (Feb 20, 2020)

MMC said:


> Hey Ray! Yeah, that’s a much better deal than the .75 cubic feet of Hickory I got at Lowe’s for $20.  I like the guys I got the Oak from locally they will sell me double split Oak for $16 a bundle which seems about what people charge here in the city. Just trying to figure out if I should season them longer after the kiln drying to get a better burn. Planning on some long brisket cooks and hoping to keep my wood prices down with longer burning Oak... if I can actually get it to burn well.



It certainly wouldn't hurt to store the wood inside someplace and let it dry out a bit longer Matt. Another great piece of advice came from 

 gmc2003
, get some Royal Oak lump charcoal and combine it with wood for your fire. My SQ36 just eats wood up on a long smoke like a porkbutt or beef ribs, it takes what it takes. Cabelas also sells bags of wood chunks that work well with charcoal, got a lot of different flavors. Whatever you decide on you'll want your wood as dry as possible, wet wood will give you bad smoke. Take some pics, post up your cooks! RAY






						Western BBQ Cooking Chunks | Cabela's
					

Buy the Western BBQ Cooking Chunks and more quality Fishing, Hunting and Outdoor gear at Bass Pro Shops.




					www.cabelas.com


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## SecondHandSmoker (Feb 20, 2020)

Everyone has given you great advice especially about using charcoal for heat and then adding the splits for smoke production.  
You could also try warming up the wood splits first by placing them on the top rack for a few minutes before tossing them into the firebox.


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## HalfSmoked (Feb 20, 2020)

Opening to place on top rack in my $.02 worth is letting out the heat you are trying to raise.

Warren


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## MMC (Feb 20, 2020)

gmc2003 said:


> One other option would be to burn charcoal with wood chunks mixed in. I wonder if you may have more options for wood on Staten or Long island?
> 
> Chris



The place I used was in the Bronx, only a 30min drive (6 miles) when traffic is mellow. NY traffic is no joke. Nice guys though. They brought me in the back and let me pick through the bundles they had and pick what I wanted. And if I call ahead they will double split the splits for a better fit in my firebox. There’s a place in Jersey and deep out in Long Island as well I’m looking into as well. Google hasn’t found me anything in Staten Is, Surprisingly.


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## SecondHandSmoker (Feb 21, 2020)

HalfSmoked said:


> Opening to place on top rack in my $.02 worth is letting out the heat you are trying to raise.
> 
> Warren



I agree, but people do it to help their splits catch.


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## HalfSmoked (Feb 22, 2020)

Thanks for the like SecondHandSmo it is greatly appreciated.

Warren


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## EdP (Mar 27, 2020)

I get the b&b logs from ace hardware website, free pickup at your local ace store.


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## Murray (Mar 28, 2020)

I imagine you would have some tree removal outfits in NYC.  Approach them and explain what your looking for.  Should you obtain some free wood from them it won’t help you now but you might be able to set yourself up with wood for next year after it has dried.


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## MMC (Mar 28, 2020)

EdP said:


> I get the b&b logs from ace hardware website, free pickup at your local ace store.


Just picked up 3 from bags from Ace so I would have plenty of wood to last me through our lockdown. No work=no money, but plenty of time to smoke meat.


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## MMC (Mar 28, 2020)

Murray said:


> I imagine you would have some tree removal outfits in NYC.  Approach them and explain what your looking for.  Should you obtain some free wood from them it won’t help you now but you might be able to set yourself up with wood for next year after it has dried.


Good idea, nobody is removing trees now, but maybe after the summer when things get back to normal.


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## MMC (Mar 28, 2020)

3rd smoke on the new grill. All Hickory working out well


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## Murray (Mar 28, 2020)

MMC said:


> Good idea, nobody is removing trees now, but maybe after the summer when things get back to normal.


Next big wind storm...


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## JWFokker (Mar 31, 2020)

If you can only get expensive bagged wood, it's worthwhile to supplement with cheap lump charcoal wherever you can get it. Much more economical. Makes maintaining a good bed of coals easy too.


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