Dumb question: where to buy cheap smoking wood?

[david.b]

I ordered smoking wood for bbq several times from https://ecowoodbbq.com/ and completely satisfied with my purchase. I do not remember exactly, but it seems like I received my order exactly in a week. It consisted of 2 packs: 2L apple wood chips, and 1L tube of oak wood chips. I should say these wood chips were perfect sized and packed. What about the price? I can't say they have the cheapest one. In principle, they also have some promotions on which I got a few times and got something out of their products for free, though there should have been like something to pay extra for delivery. At least the quality was good, but I think there are other stores with lower prices on smoking woods. Can someone recommend some cheap online stores or share their experience? And please provide links or names of stores. I do not consider amazon and eBay.:decision:

 

[COS]

Those prices aren't bad for the chunks, they would be my supplier if I lived there. To me those wood chips are to small, like what I see here in Japan which is pretty much sawdust. I think if you order from the states or any where else the shipping and taxes is going to be expensive. You could try cabelas, they have fairly reasonable prices on wood.

Maybe try to get local wood. Cut it up into chunks and then let it dry.

 

[QansasjayhawQ]

Finding someone who has a desire to cut down an apple or oak tree is an excellent idea.
That's the least expensive route, without a doubt.
I would allow the freshly cut wood to air dry for at least two months, four to six months is better.

 

[Gore]

The packaging from that store is absolutely beautiful and the chips are clean and gorgeous. I think if I bought any, I'd put it in a special case on my mantle. Ninety-five percent of the cost is in those beautiful wooden boxes and in the shipping. As far as smoking goes, you'd do just as well visiting your local public gardens after a storm and snagging a few dead limbs.

And 15 kg of applewood dust for £39.00? That's a waste of £39.00. Can someone explain what you'd even do with applewood dust? All I can think is that I could sprinkle it on my oatmeal. :noidea:

 

[Al Czervik]

Can someone explain what you'd even do with applewood dust? All I can think is that I could sprinkle it on my oatmeal. :noidea:

http://phys.org/news/2014-11-sawdust-gasoline.html

:mrgreen:

 

[Gore]

http://phys.org/news/2014-11-sawdust-gasoline.html

:mrgreen:

Thanks Al, I never considered the possibility of converting that apple sawdust into bio-fuel. According to the link in that article, you can actually convert 9% of the cellulose of that apple-wood dust into biofuel using the two-step process. That applewood dust is composed of approximately 40-50% cellulose, meaning that the conversion rate is approximately 4%. So from that 14 kg container, we can efficiently extract 0.6 kg of cellulose for bio-fuel. Or, if we can trust this brief from Purdue University, 1000 kg of apple dust should yield approximately 40 gallons of ethanol (https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-017.html)

This means that 15 kg of apple dust can produce approximately 0.6 gallons of ethanol, which has the energy of approximately 0.5 gallons of gasoline.

Now, if we assume that the process of converting that apple dust into ethanol is cost-free (which we can do if we live in fairyland), then the cost of an equivalent to 1 gallon of gasoline is a measly £780, which for those of us on this side of the Atlantic comes to only $1000/gallon, a veritable bargain for a carbon-neutral energy source. :thumb:

 

[sturev]

Ya but can you smoke it?

 

[Al Czervik]

Thanks Al, I never considered the possibility of converting that apple sawdust into bio-fuel. According to the link in that article, you can actually convert 9% of the cellulose of that apple-wood dust into biofuel using the two-step process. That applewood dust is composed of approximately 40-50% cellulose, meaning that the conversion rate is approximately 4%. So from that 14 kg container, we can efficiently extract 0.6 kg of cellulose for bio-fuel. Or, if we can trust this brief from Purdue University, 1000 kg of apple dust should yield approximately 40 gallons of ethanol (https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-017.html)

This means that 15 kg of apple dust can produce approximately 0.6 gallons of ethanol, which has the energy of approximately 0.5 gallons of gasoline.

Now, if we assume that the process of converting that apple dust into ethanol is cost-free (which we can do if we live in fairyland), then the cost of an equivalent to 1 gallon of gasoline is a measly £780, which for those of us on this side of the Atlantic comes to only $1000/gallon, a veritable bargain for a carbon-neutral energy source. :thumb:

Ok Gore... I get your point. Not much bang for the buck converting apple dust into ethanol for fuel. :tsk:

Perhaps we can skin the cat another way... I've always had a fascination with thorium and uranium. According to Ratan Kumar Sinha, current Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India, thorium is like wet wood... it needs to be turned into fissile uranium just as wet wood needs to be dried in a furnace. Apple dust when combined with water becomes a form of wet wood. Here's where we need your help... Since thorium can be transmuted into the fissile artificial uranium isotope 233U, which is a nuclear fuel, and wet wood is like thorium, couldn't we convert wet apple dust into 233U and use it as fuel source? :noidea:

 

[Gore]

Ok Gore... I get your point. Not much bang for the buck converting apple dust into ethanol for fuel. :tsk:

Perhaps we can skin the cat another way... I've always had a fascination with thorium and uranium. According to Ratan Kumar Sinha, current Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India, thorium is like wet wood... it needs to be turned into fissile uranium just as wet wood needs to be dried in a furnace. Apple dust when combined with water becomes a form of wet wood. Here's where we need your help... Since thorium can be transmuted into the fissile artificial uranium isotope 233U, which is a nuclear fuel, and wet wood is like thorium, couldn't we convert wet apple dust into 233U and use it as fuel source? :noidea:

I believe you're on to something. If we assume that wet apple dust is thorium, and convert that directly into energy using a fission reaction, then that produces 22,000,000 MW hrs/metric ton, or about 330,000 MW hrs of energy for that bag of Apple dust. If we are smoking for 6 hours (3-2-1 ribs for example :thumb, then we're just talking about 330 million kW. The good news is that you not only can smoke those ribs, but that bag of Apple dust will have enough leftover energy to power 33,000 homes. This sounds like a great deal for only £39, but do any of the Brethren have any experience with the thorium smoke profile? Would it be good with ribs, or should we stick with chicken or beef? :noidea:

 

[Moose]

Thanks Al, I never considered the possibility of converting that apple sawdust into bio-fuel. According to the link in that article, you can actually convert 9% of the cellulose of that apple-wood dust into biofuel using the two-step process. That applewood dust is composed of approximately 40-50% cellulose, meaning that the conversion rate is approximately 4%. So from that 14 kg container, we can efficiently extract 0.6 kg of cellulose for bio-fuel. Or, if we can trust this brief from Purdue University, 1000 kg of apple dust should yield approximately 40 gallons of ethanol (https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-017.html)

This means that 15 kg of apple dust can produce approximately 0.6 gallons of ethanol, which has the energy of approximately 0.5 gallons of gasoline.

Now, if we assume that the process of converting that apple dust into ethanol is cost-free (which we can do if we live in fairyland), then the cost of an equivalent to 1 gallon of gasoline is a measly £780, which for those of us on this side of the Atlantic comes to only $1000/gallon, a veritable bargain for a carbon-neutral energy source. :thumb:

Ok Gore... I get your point. Not much bang for the buck converting apple dust into ethanol for fuel. :tsk:

Perhaps we can skin the cat another way... I've always had a fascination with thorium and uranium. According to Ratan Kumar Sinha, current Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India, thorium is like wet wood... it needs to be turned into fissile uranium just as wet wood needs to be dried in a furnace. Apple dust when combined with water becomes a form of wet wood. Here's where we need your help... Since thorium can be transmuted into the fissile artificial uranium isotope 233U, which is a nuclear fuel, and wet wood is like thorium, couldn't we convert wet apple dust into 233U and use it as fuel source? :noidea:

I believe you're on to something. If we assume that wet apple dust is thorium, and convert that directly into energy using a fission reaction, then that produces 22,000,000 MW hrs/metric ton, or about 330,000 MW hrs of energy for that bag of Apple dust. If we are smoking for 6 hours (3-2-1 ribs for example :thumb, then we're just talking about 330 million kW. The good news is that you not only can smoke those ribs, but that bag of Apple dust will have enough leftover energy to power 33,000 homes. This sounds like a great deal for only £39, but do any of the Brethren have any experience with the thorium smoke profile? Would it be good with ribs, or should we stick with chicken or beef? :noidea:

 

[Al Czervik]

Moose... I thought you might chime in on the thorium smoke profIle question posed by Gore. It's tough to tell though from that picture if you are inhaling or exhaling the thorium smoke.

 

[Moose]

Moose... I thought you might chime in on the thorium smoke profIle question posed by Gore. It's tough to tell though from that picture if you are inhaling or exhaling the thorium smoke.

 

[sturev]

I believe you're on to something. If we assume that wet apple dust is thorium, and convert that directly into energy using a fission reaction, then that produces 22,000,000 MW hrs/metric ton, or about 330,000 MW hrs of energy for that bag of Apple dust. If we are smoking for 6 hours (3-2-1 ribs for example :thumb, then we're just talking about 330 million kW. The good news is that you not only can smoke those ribs, but that bag of Apple dust will have enough leftover energy to power 33,000 homes. This sounds like a great deal for only £39, but do any of the Brethren have any experience with the thorium smoke profile? Would it be good with ribs, or should we stick with chicken or beef? :noidea:

Thorium by its very nature is acidic. So in theory, if you mix some more thorium w/apple juice when you foil it should be great! :biggrin1:

 

[sturev]

BTW, he was inhaling since there wasn't any visible smoke...

 

[Gore]

Thorium by its very nature is acidic. So in theory, if you mix some more thorium w/apple juice when you foil it should be great! :biggrin1:

That is great news! I had no idea. Being acidic, would you recommend a thorium marinade also? I tried searching for a "Grilling with Thorium" cookbook on Amazon, but wouldn't you know it, like always, I can save my money as the expertise is right here in Q-Talk. :thumb:

 

[Moose]

Wow...thanks to Gore and Mongo, this thread ranks #4 on Google if you do a search for "thorium marinade":

Here it is.

:clap2: :whoo: :hail: :dancer:

 

[Gore]

Wow...thanks to Gore and Mongo, this thread ranks #4 on Google if you do a search for "thorium marinade":

Here it is.

:clap2: :whoo: :hail: :dancer:

Actually, it's now up to #3, but I think you should give credit where credit is due. It is actually sturev who has the expertise in thorium cooking. I'm really just a noob, trying to glean what pointers I can. And of course, you are playing Mr. Discrete and not telling us anything about the smoke flavor profile, even though we all can see plain as day that you have inhaled plenty from that picture you posted. We all know this is a secret ingredient in one of your dishes. Are we going to have to turn the lights out to find out which one? :tsk:

 

[Q Junkie]

Let's see here. Acidic marinade, wrapped in foil (lead foil of course). Maybe a heavy water pan....?
I see the potential to power your gas grill and recharge your wireless temperature probe as well. Could it be the formula to a negative carbon footprint for BBQ?
The next new hip thing. How negative is your footprint?

Discuss amongst (sp) yourselves while while I touch my monkey.

 

[Moose]

Let's see here. Acidic marinade, wrapped in foil (lead foil of course). Maybe a heavy water pan....?
I see the potential to power your gas grill and recharge your wireless temperature probe as well. Could it be the formula to a negative carbon footprint for BBQ?
The next new hip thing. How negative is your footprint?

Discuss amongst (sp) yourselves while while I touch my monkey.

 

[Gore]

Dang, Moose, your wife's bright blue hair is a dead giveaway. I'd say you've racked up quite a few thorium-enriched meals. It's not very brethrenly of you not to share your secrets. :tsk: