Mold has grown on some of my smoking wood. My first thought was that the cooking fire will destroy any nasties. But, my second thought was that I should take no chances and just get rid of the wood.
The older I get, the more I realize I took a LOT of unnecessary risks in my younger, dumber years. I'd junk the wood and not risk it. Wood is too cheap and health is too dear. I don't go looking for trouble these days and this is potential trouble.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
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Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
Heat will destroy spores...but when exactly. I agree with Jon Solberg that if you're going to use it, preburn it so that you're in the clear. I am not sure if it's necessary to junk it or not...but then again playing it safe never hurt anyone. After all, it's just wood. It does grow on trees.
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
I was with @Pocketkettleblack. Now I'm not sure. The issue is toxins that CAN be produced by molds or odd smells (but not all molds are toxic - just ask Mr. Roquefort). But usually the amount of mold is small in comparison to the total wood and the process of burning completely alters all the chemicals, so I wonder if toxins could make it through the process. I have not done a literature search yet and I doubt anything has been written. I do think that as others have suggested, scraping off the visible molds and burning it down to embers will probably makes it safe. Last week I gave my new wood burning pizza oven a test drive and when I opened the plastic garbage can the wood was stored in it smelled pretty musty. The process involves burning the wood to embers in the center of the oven and then pushing it to the side or back and adding a fresh log. The pizzas were killer and there was no hint of mold (or wood smell for that matter).
Glad I was able to find this post. Found a few logs with mold on them today when I went to start the smoker. My pile isn’t covered, at the direction of my wood supplier, so I would think it’s getting plenty of air. Maybe it needs more direct sunlight?
Mold spores are omnipresent, especially on wood. If it's turning punky toss it, otherwise I doubt it will be a problem once subjected to high heat. No science here, just looking at it practically.
It's a split by split decision with me. First I will just knock the mold off the bark or try to debark the split entirely. If it's punky I toss it in a pile and use it as the wood building my coal base in the next cook. We got a local supplier that is now selling debarked red and white oak. It's a bit more expensive but I'm not convinced of any particular advantages that it might bring over wood with the bark on. I'm sure I have burned a good amount of mold over the years in my stick burner. Never any ill effects.
Hurricane Harvey mold wrath. I tossed it. Heck, insurance paid me half price for this box of rotten peach, apple and cherry! Can't complain. I tried to use it cus I'll eat anything, but it did give off some "off smoke" smells. I was mainly worried about the flood waters that flooded this box. Them waters weren't exactly clean. And the mold looked pretty scary up close. I would rather use clean wood.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
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I have a little bit of mold on the surface of some of my logs. I don't usually worry about it too much. if it is just a thin layer of mold on the end grain, I throw it on the fire. I have never had major issues with mold.
I store the bulk of mine out at my Dad's property, he gets plenty of wind of the lake to keep things dry. You need to make sure the wood it elevated, in a well ventilated area, with partial or full sunlight to really keep things nice.
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