Offset cooker fuel: SCAM!

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mph33

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This has probably been discussed a thousand times here and I have posted about this in the past as well. Where in the hell can you get good wood in Georgia(Metro Atlanta North) for your offset cooker? I know a lot of you will say that I should get the green wood and store it for a year and a half and then it'll be readily available at any given time when I want to cook. I've tried Craigslist, marketplace on Facebook, and random wood sellers on the side of the road... I bring my moisture meter with me and these idiots will claim that their wood is burnable. When is 42% moisture burnable unless you've got a super hot bed of coals (can pretty much forge steel) is the only way you can burn it. I've also reached out to barbecue restaurants without any luck. they're getting greenwood too because most of them are using those Southern pride gas cookers and they use wood for smoke.

What if I'm going to cook right now? I don't think the Kingsford splits are that great. They come out of a kiln oven, they're very dense, they're expensive, they split weird and half the bag is hell to get to burn Right without smoking like crazy.

At this point I'm almost willing to drive a couple hundred miles with a big trailer and load up with a couple cords of wood. I'm in the trucking industry I can borrow a flatbed or a step deck trailer and I will load that son of a gun down with wood.

Rant Over:
 
Have you hit up any tree services to see what they do with their trees after removal? I might start there. Other folks mention lumber mills if there are any in the area.

If you need to buy out of a store you're buying Kiln dried. Other than Kingsford check out B&B which is carried by Academy & Ace. Not cheap, but solid products.
 
I'm not sure what else I'd do in your situation. I imagine that you have called every single wood supplier in the greater Atlanta area, surfed CL, called all the local tree services and orchards and have still come up with diddly.

The little wood cooking I do on my vertical is with 40# bags of hickory or pecan from in front of our grocery store. It is on the pricey side and the pieces are not consistently sized. I do have to take a hatchet and hammer to split it down to a size I like better- but I'd guess that's just part of the game, regardless.

I have a 60 gallon tank in my garage, plenty of tools and some skill. I could make a pretty nice offset. But then my addiction to wood would be in full effect. I'd have to do all the things your are doing- and I just decide to put it off.

The majority of my cooking will stay charcoal and wood chunks...maybe a pellet cooker if I catch one on sale.

Good luck on your hunt.
 
onemanlan said:
Have you hit up any tree services to see what they do with their trees after removal? I might start there. Other folks mention lumber mills if there are any in the area.

If you need to buy out of a store you're buying Kiln dried. Other than Kingsford check out B&B which is carried by Academy & Ace. Not cheap, but solid products.
Click to expand...

^^^This!

There are quite a few tree companies in my area that sell smoking wood for a reasonable price. Call up a few tree companies in your area and ask for bbq smoking wood they might have. I bet you'll find some!

Not only that, you're in Georgia! Call or go to your nearest peach orchard and see if you can buy some from them.
 
Nice bed of B&B Competition Char Logs And B&B splits work great in my Offset. I use a basket on a grate that allows airflow under around and atop the the fire. Stack wide open door open about 3-4 inches. In a barrel you have a basket, there is the vortex, there are V V shaped fire grates, kick ash baskets in ceramic etc etc. Compact or at least “tight group” fires seem to be touted in most methods of cooking with live fires.

I mean even the Big Boys Of BBQ in social media have burn barrels where they’re shoveling hot coals into their offsets. That or a flame thrower. Seen one using lighter fluid. Not everyone has time, patience nor skill to start their cook fire like you’d start a fireplace and hours later you have perfect coals. As my base I’ve used lump, briquettes, Char logs once that calms down and glowing Ill add a split and shortly thereafter begin cooking. 1 chimney unlit and about 3/4 chimney lit to get my base. There is no dirty smoke no off taste and the blue is so thin it’s barely visible. A split can be added every 30-45 minutes

As to firewood. Look at some of your local Q Joints, ask who their local wood supplier is.
 
Wood method of a DFW friend. I think my friend knows where every Pecan tree is in and around Arlington. Parks-Golf Courses-Rivers etc. after every big storm and most high winds he makes his rounds gathering pecan limbs. When he’s at his hunting lease near Anson, or is that Albany- anyway he’s gathering Mesquite. He uses a bed of B&B Oak lump in most of his cooking with wood he’s gathered. He is an excellent cook. Two offsets and one SOB with internal fire box. Even uses that combo in his open air fire pit.

In fly fishing there are lots of adjustments that can be made before changing your Fly, in this case your Cooker
 
Throw away the dang moisture meter and burn some wood.

You’re making this way more complicated than it needs to be.

There is suitable wood all over north Atlanta.

The further north you go, the easier it is to find.
Go as far as Dahlonega and the wood will just jump in your truck as you drive by
 
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SirPorkaLot said:
Throw away the dang moisture meter and burn some wood.

You’re making this way more complicated than it needs to be.

There is suitable wood all over north Atlanta.

The further north you go, the easier it is to find.
Go as far as Dahlonega and the wood will just jump in your truck as you drive by
Click to expand...

I've tried burning wood under 25% in my cooker it doesn't burn worth a crap. Probably has a lot to do with the design of the cooker. I know a lot of guys that like to burn green or wood cuz they think it adds a better flavor to the meat but you got to have great air flow and a big fire box. That's something that old country Brazos doesn't have
 
After the crazy freeze we had in Texas most of the seasoned firewood was burned by people without electricity. I bought some firewood but a lot of it is kind of green, maybe around 25%. It's a little harder to deal with but I'm managing to get along fine. I've got great air flow in my pit. I'm cutting the splits down smaller and using more of them rather than trying to burn one big stick. The greener wood does break down into really nice coals.
 
As easy as it sounds, you really need to know how to use a moisture meter( not saying you don’t) but the pin style will only go in 3/8 deep and wood outside will show wet at that depth just due to moisture in a vapor form ( humidity) My Company uses hammer probes and check for specific moisture and then you will know. You can get false readings from meters also, there is a art to it and folks are not use to them.. If you use the one you have, slit the wood the probe it, that would give you a better moisture content because you will be dealing with Bound Water..Good luck on your find, there is a lot of hardwood around you.
 
It would be a bit of a drive, however Alabama Firewood Producers in Pelham, AL cuts, splits oak and hickory for restaurants. You can buy seasoned or green wood. It is sold by the pound. I have been using them for years. I purchase their wood that is too short to sell. It is usually around 15 to 16 inches long. A quick trip thru a cut-off saw and a Kindling Cracker and we are good to go. They deliver however I do not know how often they are in the Atlanta area.



http://alabamafirewoodproducers.com/
 
I've given up trying to find perfectly aged wood. Everyone tells me it's seasoned and my little meter makes up numbers. Here's what I do when I get down to about 25% wood left:

Buy smallest size splits they have
Bring it home and cut all down to final burn size
Use up rest of old wood before starting on new
Load 4 pieces of wood along the outside of my fire basket inside the firebox to dry out before throwing on (Some guys will place on top of fire box)

This combination has allowed me to have pretty consistent results.

There are other little techniques you can employ while cooking:

Begin with good bed of lump coal to get things started
If a piece of wood feels lighter than you'd think then it's likely very dry and will go up quick and hot.
If a piece of wood feels heavier than you'd think then it's still damp and will burn longer.
If your fire is too hot then push the wood further in the coals or pull the piece of wood further from the cook chamber
Fire likes to run up things so if you place the wood at an angle it seems to help light.


These are my observations from about 1.5 years of playing around. I am in NO way an expert but I've gone from stress and frustration to enjoyment and satisfaction. It's funny but now I look forward to variations in wood and conditions. Its fun to figure out how to keep the temp consistent and smoke clean.

I'm sure what works for my situation will vary from yours. Keep with it though and you'll find what works!
 
Dixie Chicken said:
It would be a bit of a drive, however Alabama Firewood Producers in Pelham, AL cuts, splits oak and hickory for restaurants. You can buy seasoned or green wood. It is sold by the pound. I have been using them for years. I purchase their wood that is too short to sell. It is usually around 15 to 16 inches long. A quick trip thru a cut-off saw and a Kindling Cracker and we are good to go. They deliver however I do not know how often they are in the Atlanta area.



http://alabamafirewoodproducers.com/
Click to expand...

OMG You're my hero. Thank you so much for this resource. I'm hitting them up soon! Is their store front open to the public or do you need to wrangle them ahead?

edit: NM. Just called them. Sounds like a nice operation. Definitely going to snag some wood here in the near future. Thank you once again !!
 
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Onemanian - They are not open on the weekends. The wood I purchase is just inside the gate in big piles. The oak (both red & white) are piled together with the hickory separate. The last time I purchased it was .12 per pound. You scale in, pick your wood from the piles, load, scale out & pay.
 
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