White Oak, Finally!!!

Headgear said:

If you have land, a side-by-side is indispensable. I only have 8.5 acres but I fenced it off into four paddocks to rotate grass-fed cows, goats, and free-range chickens. I must have put in 350 posts and I used the heck out of my gator. Back then I had a Bobcat for our business too. I still wish I had it also. But we retired and were done with the animals and sold a lot of it. Some of the funds from that are going to Shirley Fabrication though. So I won't miss my Bobcat too much, lol.

I'm sure you will love having a lean-to also. After getting rid of our equipment, I have found a lot of good personal uses for it. I do think that the slab is a great idea too. You are doing the right thing! Enjoy!

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finally got that SxS for my daughter (and her puppy), she absolutely LOVES it and it has already been extremely helpful as we're getting into spring here and the yard work is ramping up already. :thumb::thumb:

Wood

I agree. I think some folks overthink it. It takes a long time/bad care to lose the flavor from a piece of oak.

IAbrian said:

I cut, split, and store all of my own wood, and my experience with white oak is that it's going to be a long time before it gets "over seasoned". I don't even think about burning it in my cookers until it is at least 2 years old, and prefer 3. Oak doesn't give up its moisture easily especially in our humid summers of eastern Iowa, and I'll assume yours are similar also being in the Midwest. Personally, I think that your lean to looks good as is for wood storage, and I wouldn't worry about the limited hours of sun thats going to hit it under that roof. Off the ground with good air circulation is the biggest thing. Sounds like you got an awesome score on wood super close to your house.

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Assuming European oak isn't much different from any other type of oak, I make sure mine is seasoned for at least 2 years before even doing anything with it. Smaller splits will be fine after 2 years, bigger will need more time. I have oak that is easily seasoned for 5 years and I do not notice any difference in taste compared to other less-seasoned oak.

What wrong with covering with clear plastic?

Big Money Grip said:

I love white oak. They make whisky barrels out of it for a reason!

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... and use it for charred spires.
Recently came by a bottle of Rye & Spire 116 proof.
Good stuff!

To date, I've been disappointed by my experience poking with oak.
Living in New Orleans, I found it tough, VERY tough post Katrina to get someone to deliver wood.

Prior to getting my stick burner a few months ago, back in the day, I'd only cooked on Hickory.
I thought it gave great smoked flavor.

So far, while I get great bark, and smoke rings, tender meats.....it all tastes largely bland to me, more like charcoal than long wood smoked meats.

I dunno if it is that oak is so much milder, or my new smoker has cleaner smoke and the draw it has doesn't allow as much smoke to penetrate or what.

I've been trying to dirty up the smoke a good bit right at the first drop of the meat into the smoke chamber, but so far...haven't been able to get that to work yet.

Are there any other folks out there that are used to hickory, and even a bit of mesquite that find oak to be a bit too mild and flavorless?

I'm new to cooking with oak and still new to a well made offset, so, not 100% sure it is the wood and not user error.

I thought about maybe trying to buy hickory to cook with at academy sport, but that stuff is kiln dried, which I've come to understand will mostly burn too fast and maybe not have the flavor it should?

Anyway....is it just me or anyone else ever have this problem with oak?

Are most of y'all that are big fans of it....from up north where I've found in general, they don't season food as highly or from the south?

Not pointing fingers, just trying to understand the flavor levels that might be out there due to geography...

Thanks in advance...

Cayenne

Pecan should be fairly easy to come by in your area.. it is up here.

cholloway said:

Pecan should be fairly easy to come by in your area.. it is up here.

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my favorite smoke wood, very versatile and abundant down here in AL