Real Wood for cooking

Sorry to start another thread but ive looked on bookoo and craigslist and asked friends. Where would I go to find real wood for cooking? Im trying to move away from charcoal briquettes store bought and instead trying real logs.

Im guessing the nearby lumber mill isn't a good choice nor is the home depot. I can't exactly log the Mark Twain National Forest either. For those of you who get real wood, how would I get some?

 

Whenever I need wood I get it from my Amish friends.

 

When Apple & peach orchards around me remove old trees for new trees I go an cut logs and stock pile them. You can also make a couple $$ and sell to people who do a lot of smoking .

 

Craigslist look for cherry, apple, plum, hickory, pecan, white oak. Depending on what you're cooking will determine what you wood to use.

 

I get the organic hardwood lump charcoal from lowes. Good stuff.

 

Um I go cut what I want......

It isn't that hard to find desirable cooking wood and someone who has it that doesn't want it. Offer your services in exchange for the wood. I recently got a years worth of apple, all I did was ask. Simple enough

 

Trees. Go to the trees.

 

Aren't there certain trees I shouldn't cook?

And isn't logging a small amount illegal in national forest? Even though I guess it's not to cook a campfire with the wood if you're camping

 

Sure you dont want to use just anything, most of the best woods have already been named here except mesquite. Also lil secret of mine... hedge believe it or not tastes pretty good.


Oh and one more hint.... don't go to the national forest

Oh and no matter how long you cook a tree it still tastes like a tree. I suggest using the wood to cook food, preferably meat.

 

Out here you can get permits to cut wood in the national forest. $20 for four cords.

 

Can't believe someone in a rural area nearby isn't selling fire wood?! Other than that oak, apple, cherry, hickory and even ash are great to cook over and have a nice bonfire.

 

true people cut in NF all the time. I believe some even have designated areas.

Depending on where you are, NF may not have the most choice wood.

 

I never woulda thought to try hedge to smoke with. We're covered up in it, I'll have to give that a shot next time. We've got a lot of hickory here and that's my go to for what we can cut off our property. We also have a lot of mesquite we use that buddies will truck up from Texas.

 

I have some apple trees that died a few years back that worked really well for the sweet smell,love hickory too.

 

is this for a wood stove or a wood pellet grill?

i use a pellet grill, and they sell pellets at pretty decent prices. the pellet grill also doubles as my oven.

 

Maple is good too.

 

I use pecan... I have 4 trees that are always dropping limbs. I smoke with the wood but control the temp with the gas; best of both worlds. Apple wood is really good too.

 

Agreed! My folks still live back in New Hampshire and they're covered up in sugar maple on their property. That's my favorite wood to smoke anything pork with.

 

Someone told me maple or some other tree that has sap, would junk up your grill?

 

I've been grilling and smoking year round for the last 5 years and haven't noticed any resin build up from the wood. I have heard sap can be a problem in wood stoves with chimneys. I've never seen sap build up result in a chimney fire tho. Urban legends of burning wood...