Is It Safe To Use Firewood That Has Been "Miced" For Smoking/Cooking

[Old Glory]

Could try spraying with a 1:3 ratio of vinegar:Water. Smokilicious Woods Blog recommends this for mold.

https://www.smokinlicious.com/blog/should-you-grill-with-moldy-woods/

[RonB]

Your friend could always preburn the wood either in a small burn barrel, or a dedicated spot in his yard. Then add the hot coals or the burning wood to the smoker as necessary. Either should get rid of anything nasty.

[JGo37]

I always get a village of western fence lizards... I appreciate them keeping the insect population low, and am careful not to take any to the smoker, especially in winter while they're hibernating.

This is an interesting question, and I'm guessing that if the food in question is pasteurized properly that safety concerns are satisfied. Being that there is a long history of fired-wood cooking and this has never come up before, I'm thinking it is not an issue. Fortune favors the brave and stupid?

[JackJ]

It's quite the eco system in my wood piles. I try to keep them tidy, but plenty of insects (especially in the hickory!) and small rodents (both mice and chipments) take up residence. These critters then entice arachnids and snakes, large and small, to move in and start feasting. But a visual inspection is all I use to decide whether a piece of wood is used for cooking, and most pieces remain clean (visually). I'm assuming that that any nastiness is incinerated (though I can't be sure), and that anything trace left behind just enhances my flavor profile. YMMV.

[Donw]

Generally exposure to 167F or above will kill viruses. Adding the wood to an already burning fire should be sufficient to kill a virus. I would for good measure remove any feces and allowing time in the sun to dry out any liquids. Here is a link to the CDC resources page. https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/resources/index.html

[Steve R.]

I wouldn't burn droppings in the smoker. But your friend already knocked all of that off before restacking, so I wouldn't worry about it unless you're planning to eat the wood. Any outdoor woodpile is going to have this stuff present. It's already a good idea to heat up the next log or two before adding them to the fire, and this should take care of burning off any nastiness that may be on there.

[epope011]

Obviously the easiest solution is to dispose of the firewood and purchase new. Given that is pricey and painful, my next suggestion would be to burn some for a few hours in the firebox but without any food being cooked. Any germs or viruses would be killed in the heat/fire, but I am not sure about any smells or unsavory tastes. Burn it, and then examine, see what happens. Lastly you could try a small bit of food and make sure its cooked completely. Good luck.

[jfmorris]

Well, having had a woodpile for every house I've had, since I've always owned houses with wood burning fireplaces, I would guess that virtually ANY wood pile, no matter how neatly stacked and off the ground, covered with a tarp, or uncovered, is a haven for roaches, bugs and other varmints.

I'll be really curious to see what the consensus is on this subject, as I've just burned wood from the woodpile. I don't know that I've ever had mice live in the pile, but I know I've seen chipmunks run behind it when chased by the dogs, and I would be surprised if you didn't find a bug or two, and I've got it off the ground a few inches in a large rack I built, sitting on a paved concrete pad and covered with a tarp.

[zx11ninja]

Greetings all.


A friend mine has a very touchy situation regarding his woodpile, and I didn't know how to answer it. Therefore, I need to borrow on the expertise of all knowledgeable people.

Last Fall, my friend split and stacked his firewood so it can be seasoned. Fast forward to this Fall, he wants to use this firewood. Unfortunately, when he uncovered the stack, he found evidence of mice living in the pile (droppings and an old nest). Wearing gloves and an N95 mask (very smart), he took each split from the stack and threw it against his asphalt driveway to knock off the droppings from those splits that had droppings on them. He then re-stacked the splits onto a log rack he built that keeps the splits and un-split logs 2 feet off of the ground.

Even if all visible droppings have been removed from the splits and logs, there could have been mouse urine on them as well. So, he is unsure of whether or not the splits are safe to use in a smoker.

In researching on the Internet, one post on a bulletin board suggested to pre-burn the outsides of the splits/logs before placing them into a smoker.

Another post suggested that it is safe to just put the split into the firebox, as the intense heat would burn up any nastiness.

Even if the split is placed into the firebox to get burned up, it doesn't burn up immediately. Therefore, my friend is highly concerned about the possibility of any unseen droppings still present on the split turning into dust that would carry the Hantavirus in it. That dust would contaminate the entire inside of the smoker (no food put in smoker yet).

The Internet says the following will kill Hantavirus:

-dish soap.
-bleach/water solution.
-30 minutes exposure to sunlight.
-temperatures of at least 140F (a roaring firebox exceeds this many times over).





If anyone can please give me sound advice and guidance on whether or not it is safe to use "miced" log splits, I would greatly appreciate it.


Take care.
-Z