BBQ Talk #11 - The Difference Between Cooking with Naturally Aged and Kiln-Dried Wood

[@bladesofarmour]

Joe, you continue to impress the bbq community with knowledge and inspiration! I know I speak for many when I say "We Love you" and your bbq wisdom, thanks so very much! I cannot tell you how many times that I bought wood chunks from the big box stores and the chunks were so dry and with no moisture at all. This is a big help!

[@knoxavebbq]

Glad I can help! Those things have their purpose. So does kiln dried wood. There are also some places that turn out amazing food using only kiln dried wood, but it’s just not my preference. Thanks for the support.

[@Rednef088]

Joe coming through with that nuanced bbq info. I'm always looking to learn the details between the lines. The why's more than the what's. Thanks for the bbq talk videos Joe. Appreciate it all the way from Australia!

[@JDM_MSK]

This was very helpful. I was trying to decide between kiln dried and seasoned wood from my local supplier. TY

[@knoxavebbq]

Glad this helped! Definitely check my other videos for more tips.

[@RandyAllenYo]

I have quite a mixed bag of seasoned wood (time wise) on my rack right now - that trick of the different sounds when you drop the logs is game changing...thanks Joe!

[@Schilks]

This video solved so many problems I was having, you’re the man 👊🏼

[@knoxavebbq]

Glad to help!

[@apollocr3164]

Another great video amigo!

[@frankrodriguez8990]

Tried it your strategy today. Had great results. Your flipping awesome, i don't care what the say about you. The strike zone went to the smoker. The other dryer one went to my santa maria grill. Noticed the fire management on the offset went smoother. Lesser Spikes in temperature.

[@knoxavebbq]

Glad this helped!

[@evilnoriega]

Thank you for the informative videos. I'm looking to start my own bbq business and I'm trying to get educated on cooking with large offset smoker(500+). Most guys on here are doing tutorials with backyard cookers. So your experience is greatly appreciated. Hopefully you can do a video on managing your meat(placement and rotating) inside your Primitive smoker. Thanks again!

[@knoxavebbq]

I’ll try my best.

[@charlieellenburg3465]

Thank you brother, i wish I would have known this 2 years ago when I started offsetting

[@knoxavebbq]

We all live and learn. Glad I was able to help!

[@theftworthrealtor]

Great vid and comparison, it did sound just like a strike at the bowling alley…😂…I’ve got some post oak that my dad has had sitting for 10yrs, it’s so dry and ignites with zero effort, so I use a few of these on the bottom when getting the fire started in the pit…I learned the hard way that the dry wood burns too hot and fast as well as not giving much of any smoke flavor…

[@knoxavebbq]

Just gotta learn from experience

[@mannvsfood]

Another good one Joe. I bought and tried some of that kiln dried stuff for my Oklahoma Joes offset and not only did it burn too fast and like you said, doesnt really make a good coal bed... The ones I got seemed extremely dense. Not a fan.

[@knoxavebbq]

for sure man. you live and you learn. im not you can't cook with kiln dry. i know there are some places that put out some great food with it. it's just not my preference.

[@derekpierson7412]

I got mine stacked up in the garage. Thank u craigslist!

[@charlieellenburg3465]

I about gave up on offset smoking using kiln dried wood in the beginning. Couldn't regulate Temps at all. Using natural aged wood 15-20% moisture is the 🔑 to my success

[@do7229]

This is great information. I have a question on whether you notice a difference in using wood from the trunk of a tree compared to using branches (from smaller 3"-4" to larger 6" or larger branches). I've noticed that smaller branches tend to be more dense and don't burn as well even after being seasoned so I usually just reserve those for campfires. Thanks for your videos.

[@knoxavebbq]

I don’t really using small branches. I’m not sure why, but they seem wax almost and don’t burn so well because it doesn’t have as much surface area.

[@etamonte0304]

Can I use seasoned wood from the company hot wood ?

[@knoxavebbq]

I haven’t heard of that company before so I can’t say.

[@eyefearnobeerbeer717]

Great video. Thanks man!

[@Kooly1]

I’m in South Florida. We don’t have local places or people that sell seasoned firewood, only kiln dried from a big box store or restaurant store. Any suggestions on a reasonably priced way to get seasoned wood to my area?

[@knoxavebbq]

Hard to say…. I would ask around and see what other ppl offer.

[@bigstevessmokemchokembbq8746]

Thx for the info...question. I recently purchased some oak that seems to have a somewhat high moisture content. When I add it to the box it's sizzle and smoke,but not really burn hot. Can that be a problem over a long cook?

[@knoxavebbq]

You’ll just need to pay attention to it more and possibly feel the fire soon than expected.

[@bryantpartazana6356]

Here in Florida is rains every day or at least 3 times or more a week. You can’t keep a wood pile and let it dry out naturally because it won’t ever dry due to the all the humidity in the air and the rain that soaks it every other day

[@knoxavebbq]

That’s a bummer. Hopefully you can find a space inside to at least keep it out of the rain.

[@dgmickley]

Look up solar kiln. You can downsize it to your liking.

[@dgmickley]

Solar kilns don’t get as hot as major kilns. Plus the wood rests every night at reg temp

[@laithrahahlaeh8123]

Hi brother thanks for the video you do every time like to ask you I live in apartment and I need to do catering Business in ironwood TReager can you tell me what I need to do to have good castmer and tel me secraet so don’t lose Always I need to be in the toeb the smoker can feet 5 brisket how many pound you think I need to pay each brisket thanks for your help

[@paulwolfenbarger378]

This explains a bit. Living in the desert kiln dried wood dries out quickly. I will need to sort out methods to age wood to a controlled moisture content.

[@knoxavebbq]

See if you can get green wood and just keep it, especially if you’re not cooking very often.

[@chrishabgood8900]

I find cherry wood is awesome on pork.

[@knoxavebbq]

Fruit wood is great.

[@BestBBQShow]

Gimme that good white oak!

[@mustangguy6242]

It is not the “same thing”. The whole point of this was to compare seasoned and kiln dried. Waste of time! And it took over 9 minutes for you to get to the part that I realized I was wasting time.

[@knoxavebbq]

👍

[@brisketwizard8004]

first!!

[@ChrisMinchella]

Hey so not to go full woke on anyone but like, just thinking about the longevity of BBQ as an industry and cultural touchstone - this style of cooking requires a ton of wood from trees that take 20 years to reach maturity. Is the industry doing anything to reforest so we don't run out of BBQ wood in the future?

[@BestBBQShow]

BBQ is slow cooking so the fire isn't very big. The wood isn't being used that fast and any wood guy in Texas can tell you they'll never run out. If you're worried about trees I'd look at paper production, deforestation for farming and even guitar production.

[@ChrisMinchella]

@@BestBBQShow I'm concerned about those too but this was more along the lines of "because of climate change the river in Lynchburg is drying up, threatening the future of Jack Daniels" type of thing.

[@BestBBQShow]

@@ChrisMinchella BBQ isn't a large contribution to climate change. You can listen to my podcast (#124 Dr. Sarah Place) all about sustainability and beef production. The fires we cook on are similar to a fireplace at home. Unless you're in LA it's legal to use your fire place.

[@jeans3490]

Dude. Stop. Smh 🤦🏻‍♂️ Trees are meant to be harvested. Like a crop. Or you can do like they do in California and do NO forest management, NO removal of trees - and have deadly wildfires year after year. (Don’t California my Texas!)

[@ChrisMinchella]

@@jeans3490 I don't understand what forest management has to do with a question about sustainable supply? I'm subscribed to a channel about BBQ. I'm fine with burning wood for cooking and do a fair amount of it myself. I just wanted to know if this was something people were taking into consideration and the answer appears to range from "yes" to "yes but with needless amounts of snark". You fall in the latter category.