B&B Post Oak

[Johnny Booth]

Saw some B&B Post Oak at Ace, I cannot get natural post oak in Florida and so decided to give it a try in my Franklin offset.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/outdoor-living/grills-and-smokers/grilling-chips-and-chunks/8019848

The ‘logs’ were odd shaped, all different sizes, some whole branches, lots of knots. I could not use it without splitting and cutting most of it. The wood also left a grey patina on my stainless water pan, which usually turns a dark brown during cooks.
The wood burned ok, but the smoke flavor was more pronounced and harsher than our local oak. The flavor and ash inside the cook chamber may indicate that is was just too dry for good BBQ.

Anyone else experience this with other B&B wood products?

[jfmorris]

I bought a couple of those bags of post oak, but mine were more like mini splits. I used them mostly as smoking wood along with charcoal, and cut them down with a saw and a hatchet. Or I toss a few into the offset firebox, along with regular oak or chacoal. I use them almost every time I do a brisket on the kettle or kamado, and think they work well, but have not used them as my primary fuel source.

I use a lot of B&B wood chunks, along with their charcoal, and find their wood to be high quality. However, when it comes to a few chunks of smoking wood, I don't think moisture content is as big a factor as it is if you are burning wood as your primary fuel source.

[Troutman]

I use them, buy them from my local Academy. I have a log splitter, I break them down to smaller sticks. Love post oak, it works well with almost everything.

[Johnny Booth]

🤔 This makes me think something else was going on. It was a dry day in St Pete, very low humidity; something that is rare here. My water pan is usually still 1/2 full after a cook, this time it was almost empty. I’m gonna do this again when the humidity is normal. (High). Troutman jfmorris. Thanks for the experienced feedback. 👍

[Troutman]

One thing to remember, especially with chunks, is they kiln dry the wood. They don't have time to wait for the natural curing so they speed up the evaporation process. Sometimes you get overly dried wood that tends to burn quickly and not produce the volatiles that are necessary in a good smoke profile. As good as B&B is, it's still better to source your own fresh cut and let it age imo. Most of us don't have that luxury unfortunately.

[MsTwiggy]

The B&B wood is available at my local Ace. I can't get the big splits of post oak as you show here. I have asked them to order it and they can't seem to get it, they have all the other species in big splits pecan, mesquite, apple, cherry, and hickory. I use their pecan splits in my kettle with my Santa Maria grate when I cook sirloin caps. I have several bags of the smaller chunks that are fist sized and weigh 3-5 ounces each. This wood is terrific and its my favorite smoke to add, period. I have looked at other vendors but it is almost $100 to get a single box of oak splits. I am still looking for a reasonable source for that.

[Johnny Booth]

I agree with Troutman. Where possible, local hard woods that are naturally cured are preferable for stick burners. I have a source, just a long drive. ☹️