Pin Oak as a smoking wood

[ssandy_561]

We just had our pin oak tree thinned out. I had the tree service leave me anything larger than 2" in diameter. Is pin oak a wood that is good to use for smoking with charcoal on my Weber Kettle? Do I need to "age" it before I use it?

Thanks for any advice

[DWCowles]

Yes it needs to season out for awhile. At least 5 to 6 months.

[KenC52]

Never used pin oak before. I have used white oak and blackjack oak and they were fine. Should work about as well as any oak. And like DWCowles said it should be seasoned. It will season faster if you can split it. I have hickory that I just bought and some of it came whole similar to that in your photo. I went ahead and split it myself so that it would age faster, plus it fits better in my cookers when it is a bit smaller.

[Frozen Smoke]

Never heard of pin oak either. If it's like the red or white oak consider yourself lucky! Oak is some of if not the best smoking wood available.

[lostclusters]

I believe any oak is good to use. I use scrub oak because it is prevalent here where I am.

[HawkerXP]

Looks like a good pile. Yes, split and cut into smaller chunks if your using on your kettle. I love oak with my beef cooks!

[Troutman]

Pin oak is a variety of red oak. Red oak is an excellent fire wood, high btu rating. As was said, just make sure to season it to lower your moisture

[HorseDoctor]

Pin Oak is in the "Red Oak" family. Works great for smoking. As wood looses most of it's moisture out the cut ends, not the sides, it will season (dry) faster if you cut it into shorter chunks. Splitting if make less difference.

[holehogg]

Great advice thanks