How long to season oak in Texas?

[Wiler77 1566]

I've got a 1/4 cord of live oak from tree limbs we cleaned up from a tree last winter. About half of it is split from 6-8 inch diameter logs, and half are full logs in the 4-5inch diameter range.  All stacked in a 1/4 cord stand.

I don't remember the exact date everything was cut and split, but no later than March 1st.

Any rough idea as to how long it should take to season to be used as firewood?  I just ran out of my other rack and am wondering if the wood from last winter is ready.

I live in Driftwood, and the wood has been properly stacked for good airflow and gets plenty of sunshine.  I can't find any good rule of thumb online, but surely after the heat we had this year with very little rain it's dry enough to burn, right?

[Lerka Lerka 1086]

I had to do a double take. Thought I was reading a Chad Briscoe post. 

[Bregs 225]

tree fiddy

[SKJ 1311]

@immamac can you help me with this?

[Fastbreak 3981]

Oak usually takes close to a year. But maybe with the weird weather it could season in 9-10 months.

[Trey3216 15344]

Yeah, as little as it rained last year, you’re probably good for firewood.  I’d wait til summer if you’re looking to use it on a smoker.   

[immamac 42835]

You can burn any wood you want. You aren’t cooking with it. It’ll burn. 

[SquishMitten 10403]

For firewood, I think you’re fine now. For cooking, probably want to wait until spring/summer. But I’d just toss a few logs on a fire and see how they burn. 

[SquishMitten 10403]

I’ve got so much wood from that storm I started burning it almost immediately. It’ll all burn eventually if you’ve got hot coals. 

[JesusSweatDuck 17781]

Usually about a year 

[texasdago 7567]

I've wondered about this too... if using it inside in a fireplace, just remember that if it is too smoky, it will put off more creosote so you want to make sure you have your chimney checked regularly.  We've got a decent amount too from last year but I'm about to go split a quarter-cord of properly seasoned wood from a nearby firewood supplier for burning inside.

[Bateshorn 9927]

I spent one miserable late winter/spring in New England burning wood for heat, I have thoughts. There's a difference between burning wood in a fire pit vs. fireplace/stove. Green wood is awful to burn in a firebox: smoky, prone to flameout/smolder, slow to coal, coats the chimney/stovepipe with creosote.  In a firepit, you burn enough scrap lumber to get a fire going, you can burn damn near anything if you don't mind smelling like firepit.

Compared to Eastern White Oak, Southern Live Oak seems to cure faster, especially in Texas heat.  If you want to ensure quickest seasoning, fold a tarp over to a width to cover the top of the wood stack and weigh down with a few logs to keep the bulk of the rain off.  As previously stated: The general rule of thumb with most hardwoods (oak) is about a year, but if you have a good airy, dry, sunny location, you might be able to get away with 9 months. 

Edited January 10 by Bateshorn

[TXLNGHRN10 341]

The spilt stuff my be fine now, but the rule of thumb for oak is a year.  

[Brisketexan 105064]

Oak is a good choice for firewood.

[UT_OB1 2217]

I typed your thread title in Google without your bullshit stream of consciousness and got better answers than what you’ll get here in a few seconds. 

[Bateshorn 9927]

1 minute ago, UT_OB1 said:

I typed your thread title in Google without your bullshit stream of consciousness and got better answers than what you’ll get here in a few seconds. 

[TexasEd 8066]

I was under the impression that Live Oak was only good for firewood and that regardless of how long you age it that it would give meat a undesirable flavor if used for smoking.

Too much tannin or something in Live Oak/Red Oak.  Need to switch to white oak, pecan or mesquite for smoking meat.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10229]

6 minutes ago, TexasEd said:

I was under the impression that Live Oak was only good for firewood and that regardless of how long you age it that it would give meat a undesirable flavor if used for smoking.

Too much tannin or something in Live Oak/Red Oak.  Need to switch to white oak, pecan or mesquite for smoking meat.

A lot of BBQ places use it, but it's going to be well seasoned, likely 2 years minimum

[texasdago 7567]

Just went and picked up a 1/4 cord out at Kinser ranch off of Fitzhugh for you Austin gents... went with a neighbor and split it since I didn't need a full quarter.  Just wanted wood that would be set aside from Freezemageddon III 

$130 quarter cord seasoned oak (in case anyone cares)

https://firewoodandmulchaustintx.com/product-price-list/

Edited January 10 by texasdago

[CleverNickname 1308]

Try this, I hear it's good on anything:

[Steel Shank 9421]

Generally, in situations such as this, I immediately lay pipe and don't look back.

 

You're welcome.

[davidg 4036]

It was 105F or higher most of the summer. Consider those pieces kiln dried and burn them up.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21872]

On 1/10/2024 at 8:28 AM, immamac said:

You can burn any wood you want. You aren’t cooking with it. It’ll burn. 

As long as it’s not treated lumber.  That will get the cops called on by your neighbor

Edited January 14 by NeverMarryAStripper

[kangsta 50]

I split a cords worth of live oak, red oak, and cedar elm from that storm as well (Austin) and it's all burning just fine in the outdoor fire pit this year.  Haven't used them inside but I think they'd be just fine there too. 

Edited January 14 by kangsta

[ROFL BOX 6647]

Sidebar / mildky related:

If you live in South Florida & have one of the rare houses with a chimney (or you have a fire pit), Melaleuca when burned smells like Eckrich type sausage.