Wood sourcing

[Potatoe]

Where did you guys buy your wood for stick burning pits? I live in md and not sure if I should just get it from locals that sell it as normal firewood, orchards or what. . .could I also use red or white oak from these folks as well? I'm really wanting an offset but wanna make sure I'll be able to source good wood, I'd love to find pecan and cherry but not sure how to go about it. . .thanks

[ruger35]

White oak is very good, red oak is fine too.

[Kmm]

Watch Craig’s list. Primary Farm and garden section.

[Swine Spectator]

I have found that sourcing wood to cook with is much harder in Northern Virginia than in the South. It is mostly mixed firewood. I have found that watching CL and Nextdoor.com sometimes you can catch someone who is taking a tree down.

Last fall I caught a CL ad for a guy who was planning to take down three pear trees on the weekend. I was there as he was cutting and loaded up for free. I split it myself and have let it cure for ~9 months. I plan to use it this fall.

A few weeks ago I found someone who had taken down and split a large maple. They were selling "trunk loads" for $20.

Before I moved here I only cooked with Pecan or Oak. The only source I have found up here is Cabela's, who sells the Western Brand splits, but they are super expensive (~$30/bag). I treated myself to one bag of pecan.

Bottom line: Where there's a will, there's a way. Be diligent and nimble on CL and you'll have plenty to cook with.

[Monkey Uncle]

Plenty of good hardwoods in MD for cooking. Check out the folks who are selling firewood - their wood probably will be cheaper than wood that is sold specifically for cooking. You should be able to get oak pretty easily, maybe some hickory too. Maple will also do just fine for cooking. If you're in the suburbs, you might find bradford pear, crabapple, dogwood, and ornamental cherry trees. You just need to know what you're looking at. Inspect the load before you buy it. "Mixed hardwoods" are likely to contain some good cooking wood. You might have to take some junk like tulip poplar along with the good stuff. Use that in your fireplace or fire pit.

[Drunk Monkey]

Academy Sports has a descent selection, not sure if that is true when you live.

[redchaserron]

Academy Sports has a descent selection, not sure if that is true when you live.

Yeah but at the Academy here you pay $15 for 1.25 cubic feet. That works out to $1,536 a cord. I just bought a rick of oak for about $80

[TxQGuy]

Red oak is what I use 99% of the time (see my signature below :laugh:) and it works wonderfully! Try and buy wood from an individual rather than a big box store. As redchaserron mentioned, the prices for the tiny little plastic bags of "wood chunks" or the bigger mesh bags of "mini logs" are absolutely ridiculous. To be honest, I do buy those expensive mesquite chunks regularly, as I use them for grilling (and occasionally to start off a long smoke before feeding oak splits). But that is only because I don't keep mesquite splits in my rack since I would never really use a full size mesquite split in any context, and I don't want to bother keeping an axe/maul/etc handy for splitting down my own.

As far as red oak, I pay $80 for 1/4 cord, which is exactly the quantity my little wood rack can hold. That price is neither awful nor great, honestly, but it is like a mile from my house so convenience wins. I could probably find a little cheaper but I'd burn some more gas getting there and back.

Edit: Forgot to add, just saw you mentioned you were from MD. I have a buddy who is from there by way of DE, and he recently introduced me to scrapple, which I freaking LOVE now. I still have some in the freezer and was planning on using some inside a jalapeno popper on one of my next cooks. I figured it would go well with cream cheese and bacon (but then again...what wouldn't). Thought you might find that interesting.

[greenmountainsmoke]

My suggestion would be to look around and make friends. Some orchards are willing to part with wood (branches and such). I work with a guy that cuts his own firewood each year so I would get tons of disks and unusual-sized pieces from him. My brother is a summer camp director and they always have tons and tons of stuff to get rid of.

Bottom line is if you are willing to do a little work you can piece together a bunch of freebies. Around here that means lots of maple and apple, both of which I really like.

[creek bottom]

I was able to find a tree service guy that also sells firewood. After speaking with him, he lets me buy face cords or full cords of oak, hickory, and cherry mixed... Check around with your local tree services and see if they are willing to help you out...

[Potatoe]

Thanks so much fellas, this was kinda what I thought I'd have to do but stick burners aren't something I know about. . . I'm really wanting to get one but the wood sourcing was a major concern. . .id still like to get a hold of pecan around here, but there are plenty of orchards and oaks so I'll make it. . .i just can't get away from the itch of owning a stick burner

[TxQGuy]

Thanks so much fellas, this was kinda what I thought I'd have to do but stick burners aren't something I know about. . . I'm really wanting to get one but the wood sourcing was a major concern. . .id still like to get a hold of pecan around here, but there are plenty of orchards and oaks so I'll make it. . .i just can't get away from the itch of owning a stick burner

You could buy the little bags of chunks/mini logs and they might be sufficient for one or two cooks. Back when I lived in a townhome, i didn't have room for a woodrack, had a tiny entry-level stickburner, and only cooked every couple months. I used to almost exclusively use the bagged chunks/mini logs. Expensive yes, but not really that bad when you only do it 5-6 times a year. I'd say get ahold of any type of wood that strikes your fancy, even if in bag form. It will be fun. I've tried several non-local or harder to find woods that way like apple, cherry, and (to an extent) hickory.


As far as stockpiling wood, the prevailing wisdom from most folks is to use whatever is local. In my case, it is red oak. Post Oak is the more revered and well-known wood associated with Texas, but in my part of the state, Red Oak is easier to find, so that's what I use. Hasn't let me down yet.


You should get that stickburner! :becky: