Crazy question.
 

Was at the watering hole tonight and was talking to an older guy who told me this.

He claims that you can speed up the process of drying freshly cut wood in the oven. Told me that he puts wood in with a cracked door for 24 hrs at the lowest setting then burns it in his egg. I feel like this is complete BS. I told him I would be doing it this weekend... :P

But I think the real question is if youre in a bind can this be done? No way can 24 hrs be enough or this method correct.

But maybe the pessimist inside of me won for the day.

So.. WHO is wrong.

I'd say it would depend on how large of pieces we are talking. Obviously smaller one would dry quicker. Not sure about the 24hrs though. Seems fishy to me. Also, IMO seasoning fire wood isn't just drying it out. Its allowing the log to die and completely dry out on a more molecule level and I just don't see that being possible in a 24hr period. Just my opinion and not really backed by science, but hey, BBQ isn't a science! :grin:

If the pieces are small enough it is possible, but the microwave is much faster.:D

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

I'd have to agree that the size and type of wood would really matter but
seems that drying wood in the oven for 24 hours is very inefficient.
I understand that dry wood is not seasoned wood either though I do not know the specifics. That and if you overdry the wood it burns too fast, too hot.

Im sure I could dry all my firewood in a kiln but is the energy cost greater then the end product value? Smoking wood or egg fuel might be even a smaller scale.

And cost/benefit analysis is rarely involved in my BBQ projects, just ask my wife.

Here is a link to a paper on wood seasoning:
http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extm...NR/FNR-155.pdf

Yes...it is completely plausable to dry/"season" wood in an oven, over night. It's basically a small scale compartment kiln. And if he's just using chunks or smaller pieces for his egg, I'd say that 24 hours is plenty of time to get them to a useable stage. I often dry green wood in my vertical chamber of my offset while I cook in the main chamber.

One sawyer where I took a log to be sawed had a solar kiln, so solar drying firewood may be a way to use one form of "green" energy to enhance another form of green energy ?

Bill

Older guys are smart. :cool:

There is no substitute for experience ....having an appreciation for that makes YOU smart ! :grin:

I did it with fist sized chunks in my UDD. Probably took I little over 30 hours for mine to be dry.

I guess you could test it for yourself and try a cook to see how it works.

Having worked in a large sawmill in South Dakota years ago, we kiln dried wood and air dried wood depending how much moisture the wood had in it. If it had a lot it went to air dry until the moisture went down and then to the kiln. The temp in a kiln was at about 240 if I remember right because the water in the wood has to reach boiling point 210/212, with good air circulation between the boards at around 600 fpt air moved. Plus we are talking pine which is much less dense than oak, hickory or just about any wood used to cook with. Also the bark was removed, bark traps moisture much longer, this could take up to two days.

Considering all that, don't think you are really doing much except running up a utility bill, there is a reason we don't cook in wooden pots in our ovens. :-D

A better way to go would be to pre burn to coals or just pre heat wood so it catches fire and does not smoke as much. In my case I don't use all wood so I have no problem using green wood in moderation. If you are concerned you can heat logs in your smoker if you have room or place on smoker.
Dave

i've grilled damp logs to dry them. wouldnt do it in an oven in da house. they sometimes catch fire.:doh:

that said you should be fine unless you broil da buggah.