Where to get hickory chunks for smoker cooking

I am new and this is my first post.

I did a search on the forums and found people looking for planks. Not what I was looking for. Chips are not in the plan either.

I usually get bags of nice chunks at Walmart. Clear bag so you can inspect the contents. Seasonal and often sell out fast (a tad expensive as well).

I am dreaming of my beloved brisket and shoulder...

Mmmm....

Home Depot usually has large bags of both Hickory and mesquite.

Thanks!

Berger Brothers is also a great rescource. They have a fairly large variety of chunks and chips. You can also get larger quantities

Berger Brothers Charcoal
1176 N Cherry Ave
Chicago, IL
(312) 642-4238
M-F (Closed Sat/Sun)
7:30am - 4pm
Cash only

Panther,

Chicago Firewood is a good resource and quite close to Berger Brothers.

Enjoy,
Gary

Chicago Firewood
1300 N Halsted (Rear Lot)
Chicago, Il
312-335-9696

Is chicago firewood open year round?

We drove by last week around 3:30 in the afternoon on a weekday and the gates were shut -- the sign listed hours only for winter months

maybe they had just "gone fishin"?

griffin's wife wrote:Is chicago firewood open year round?

We drove by last week around 3:30 in the afternoon on a weekday and the gates were shut -- the sign listed hours only for winter months

maybe they had just "gone fishin"?

GW,

I haven't been in a 5-6 months, my current wood needs well supplied by a BBQ loving neighbor with 30 wooded acres in Wisconsin, but I've gone, and also sent any number of people, to Chicago Firewood during the summer months.

Possibly a change of hours or maybe, as you say, just gone fishing.

Enjoy,
Gary

When I stopped at Toni's Liquors in Skokie a couple of weeks ago, I noticed several different kinds of woodchips for sale including fruitwoods like apple and cherry. I don't remember if they had hickory. Last summer, I bought a bag of hickory from Food-4-Less in Evanston. It was the Kroger house brand (who knew?). It was in big chunks and was cheap. I imagine they only carry it during the BBQ season.

Toni's Liquors
4033 Old Orchard Rd
Skokie, IL 60076
(847) 673-0045

Food 4 Less
2400 Main St
Evanston, IL 60202
(847) 492-1904

Menard's also has bags of hickory (both chunks and chips).


Do any of the other places mentioned have wood other than hickory or mesquite? (which is all I have found so far in Chicago).

Has anyone seen Oak?

G Wiv wrote:Panther,

Chicago Firewood is a good resource and quite close to Berger Brothers.

Enjoy,
Gary

Chicago Firewood
1300 N Halsted (Rear Lot)
Chicago, Il
312-335-9696

I second chicago firewood..although their hours do tend to be flaky..
if you dont mind mail order you can use this place as well..good line of rubs and sauces in addition to a great variety of woods (already chunked out and very clean)

Hawgeyes BBQ
http://www.bbq-grill-smokers.com/

Ace Hardware carries Weber's brand of

Hickory Chunks
Hickory Chips
Mesquite Chunks
Mesquite Chips

I used to be able to get them at the Jewel in Bartlett, but not since they rebuilt.

I know they are a quality product. Chips good (soaked) for the grill, the chunks work great in Alton Brown's terra cotta hot plate smoker (dry).

Nancy

For all of your grilling/smoking needs -- planks, chips, chunks, etc. -- head to www.BBQWoods.com

OK, so I have decided to fire up my Weber Smoker, but the probelm is that I need to get my hands on some Apple Wood. Does anyone have a source out in the Western Suburbs where I can get my hands on some Apple Wood chunks for smoking.

I would like to stay out in the western suburbs...

THanks.

Hi,

Royal Oak Farms in Hebron sells apple wood. They are closed for the season, but may allow a pick up.

I realize you may not go to Hebron. My next best suggestion would be to call apple orchards in your region. They very likely have a stockpile of apple wood from culling and pruning.

Regards,

KevinT wrote:I would like to stay out in the western suburbs...

Kevin,

No idea on the Western suburbs, but Berger Bros sells boxes of apple wood perfectly sized for the WSM. You can load up on lump charcoal at the same time.

Enjoy,
Gary

Berger Brother's Charcoal
1176 N Cherry Ave
Chicago, IL 6062
312-642-4238

I have the apple wood, but it was just cut down 2 days ago. Is there anyway to use this wood or is it too green? I used a chop saw to cut it into 2" chunks and would like to use it on Thanksgiving.
thanks for your help, Bill

I go to Cabelas and find the nearest location http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... 4887&Nty=1
They have Apple,cherry,oak,hickory,maple?? why and fruit? Best of luck and would love to hear how your going to do it on the WSM?? I got a 26" Kettle I do mine on

I know we have some barbecue experts around, and I wanted to ask for peoples advice/experience with harvesting their own cooking woods for smoking. I have access to essentially an unlimited amount (based on my usuage levels) of apple wood. Was just curious if I need to age the wood before using, if it was okay to use green, any thing to look out for when using fresh wood for smoking.

Thanks for any and all input!!!

If you're going to use the wood as the heat source, you really should let it season before trying to burn it unless you have an air-assisted pit like an Oyler which requires green wood. What is your heat source?

Very important to make sure the trees haven't been treated with pesticides.

Bill/SFNM

The trees are on fairly secluded private land, I suppose there is the possibility that a crop duster could have hit them, but I think that is very unlikely.

I'd be using the wood for flavor in a Char-griller Smokin' Pro with natural lump-charcoal as the heat source.

Eeek. Pesticides. I hadn't even considered this . . . .

I have some apple wood salvaged from a tree trimming 2 years ago. The wood is nice & seasoned by now, but does any one know what the half-life of a pesticide might be? It's not terribly practical for me to ask if/when the tree might have been sprayed.

Thanks!

Giovanna

For smoking I use apple (actually crabapple) as green as I can get it, sometimes cutting a branch just before firing up the smoker. That way there is no need to soak the wood. Well seasoned wood burns, not smokes, consequently the need soak it. If you are really concerned about pesticides (I wouldn't be), let the wood burn/smoke a little before cooking.

Burning wood in closed fireboxes requires dry, aged wood. For smoking the wetter the better.

FYI-we recently came up with a new technique for our simple Brinkman of putting a least one chunk of wood directly on the electric element. That piece smokes almost immediately and leads to a better smoke ring.

Using your own wood for smoking is very satisfying. I like to use maple for pork, pin oak for beef, apple for seafood and chicken. Using it in combination with store bought wood also works-hickory and maple together works great for pork; alder and apple for salmon!

Giovanna--

In the grape industry, we evaluate pesticides on the basis of either "safe to re-enter vineyard", or "days until harvest". The latter is the more stringent criterion, since the crop--grapes--will either be eaten or made into wine. The longest 'days-to-harvest' interval that I can recall is 66 days. So, if you consider that to be a 'half-life' (which it's not: it's more like a 90%-life), you should be pretty safe.

Oh, an important by-the-way: IIRC, there are no substantial differences among the common pesticides used in both the apple and the grape biz.

Geo

Geo wrote:
In the grape industry, we evaluate pesticides on the basis of either "safe to re-enter vineyard", or "days until harvest".

Geo,

But these are not measurements of the products of combustion released from smoldering wood that may have been exposed to pesticides for many years. When buying fuel for my pit, I really have no way to know what pesticides have been used, for how many years, how recently, what residues may be present, what substances are released when they are heated, how much is absorbed by the meat, and ultimately, what effect they have on the bodies of my family and friends. And what about the smoke I inhale while tending the pit? I even have no way to verify that the "pesticide-free" wood I buy is actually what the seller claims, but I try my best.

Bill/SFNM

Bill, I take your point. But I also have sat myself down, looked at the problem as best I could, and come to the conclusion that a second-season aged grape cutting from my own vineyard is as safe as anything else I could use in my grill/bbq/smoker.

I don't want to get tedious in my analysis here in public, since it would most likely be boring beyond yawns for most folks. But I'd certainly be willing to discuss it with you off-list.

Grapes and I have been involved together since 1971, when I bought my first grape vine, which promptly died. Growing grapes, really good grapes, and making wine, really good wine, can be done in the heart of the heart of the country. But it took a lot of study and learning on my part, and a whole bunch of failures before it started to work. One of the elements is learning the nature, interactions, and fate of the pesticides I must (and I mean "must") use to correctly achieve my goals. I'm most certainly not going to resort to the ad hominem "hey, look how healthy *I* am!". Yet, on the other hand, I think that in the case of many of the chemical products that we use in the industry, two years gives dangers below the noise level of any data we might ever hope to take. If you want certainty, well, sorry, there ain't any. If you want responsible risk, below the noise level of the data, well then, that's where I stand.

Geo
PS. on another topic entirely, my grape-growing partner up here in Montréal has collected his blue clay, and weathered it through this last AWful Winter, and is ready to start construction his Quebecois oven. I'll keep you posted.

Hi all,

I've got my new smoker and I can't stop a smokin'! But I'm wondering if there are any decent places to buy various smoking woods, nearest to Joliet. I've got some local cherry trees that I helped a guy cut down...but where can I get other varieties? I'm not a big fan of the smoking woods found in the bag.

Does anyone sell some good smoking hardwoods? I suppose I could call some various firewood suppliers, but do they keep their trees separated?

Also, there used to be a place that sold their own lump. I think it was in Lockport. Is there anywhere near Joliet that sells their own lump charcoal?



Thanks,
dan

Dan I have a decent supply of apple wood, I would be happy to give you some to try or trade some for cherry. I should be able to get more as I need it. I am in the new lenox / manhattan area.

Hi atomicman

Right now the Cherry is in fairly decent size logs, I still need to break them down. I wouldn't say I have a lot...but I am interested in a swap for some. Let me know via pm.

dan

Thought some of you might be interested in this- I got this idea from the BBQ Brethren BBS. If you live close to a" Do It Best" hardware store, you can go online and order good quality chunks for a reasonable price and they will deliver it to your store for free. While there are several places on the internet that offer free shipping, the cost of the chunks is usually pretty expensive. I ordered 10 lbs. each of Apple, Cherry and Pecan for $27.71(includes tax) which equals to a little over $.90 a pound. The downside is that they will deliver them to the store on the next truck shipment which could be a week or so. If you plan ahead, its a great deal.

The website is http://www.doitbest.com and no, I do not work there or have any financial interest in this hardware chain. I only like to save money.

Keep em smokin'

Our local True Value now sells apple, cherry, and pecan chunks, in addition to the usual hickory and mesquite.

Casper True Value Hardware
100 South Old Rand Road
Lake Zurich, IL 60047-2456
(847) 438-6751