Living down by the Gulf Coast, I was imagining a scenario in which a major hurricane had hit and I had decided to stay put. Now, this wouldn't be a worst case scenario, but one in which I might be out of power and perhaps gas for a week or so, maybe 2. I was also thinking, what if I ran out of charcoal to cook with? What to do? Well, use wood i guess. So, if I were to go scavenging for wood, I was wondering if there are any types of wood that would be harmful to use, say by either imparting some kind of toxic effect to the food, or toxic fumes that might be inhaled. I know the more common types of wood that folks cook with (oak, apple, misquote, hickory, pecan), but there isn't exactly an abundance of those sort of trees in my neighborhood. Suggestions?
Definitely don't cook with pressure treated wood as it's treated with Arsenic. Also, make sure your not throwing on wood composite materials that are mixes of wood fibers and glue or wood residue and plastic. Ditto for woods that are stained, painted, varnished or coated in anything. I suggest storing up some good old hickory to have some great barbeque:thumb:
Well I wouldnt cook with pressure treated woods or any processed lumber. Playground wood was sprayed with arsenic at one point.
If you are talking natural trees, though not really a tree, oleander is pretty toxic. Ficus trees and rubber trees are more rare, but I wouldnt cook with these either. Marginally ones that you might want to burn last are camphor and castor trees. Not nessecarily toxic, but can make you neaseous.
Any resinous tree - pine, evergreens etc ~ Pine, spruce, cedar-evergreens of this sort are really not usable as the sap content can leave soot on the food. They also contain high levels of tannin, which is used primarily in curing animal hides. Oak also contains tannin so it would not be good to use. Willow or other soft woods are not good to use either as when they either contain too much water or when dry burn too fast. Fruitwood trees are my favorite followed by mesquite then hickory
Hmmm I have to respectfully disagree with the above. I have cooked many many times with pine, cedar and oak. In fact oak is one of the best tasting ones. The resin and sap will also burn off pretty quickly leaving hot coals the cook with.
Don't use plywood, particle board, sealed deck or pressure treated lumber.
I don't know of or heard of any American trees that are dangerous, there are some Brazilian/(rain-forest) trees that I wouldn't mess with..but, I'm not a scientist(I was a cabinet maker,woodworker, carpenter).
I live on the gulf coast and one thing we have no shortage of is Oleander! I hate oleander! It's poisonous so don't cook or even burn it in fire pit. Toxic smoke.
Oak is not only fine, but preferred by many. I have many friends on the competition BBQ circuit that use it. Pine and cedar may not be great as fuel woods because of resins, but cedar planked salmon sure is tasty!! :
Make sure that the area in which you get your wood does not have poison ivy. Ingested smoke from burning poison ivy can cause serious problems including lung damge. Sometimes, there are no leaves on the vine. The vine is probably dangerous when burned. If a person is very sensitive to poison ivy, it can be dangerouse to burn wood that had (but no longer has) poison ivy on it.
Other types of trees to not burn are
Oleander
Mountain Laurel
Rhododendrons
I wouldnt trust Yew - as its poisonous to cattle, not sure about the human. There isnt many Yew trees left due to this problem so are usually in Church Yards etc where cattle werent allowed to go.
Out west, the predominate options for firewood are pine, fir, cottonwood and aspen. I've used all of the above for cooking with no major issues. As stated above, pines and firs can leave a soot on the food if its pretty sappy. If you keep to dry, less-sappy pines/firs it's not a problem. Cottonwood is good stuff. Burns very clean (altho it burns pretty fast). Cottonwood fires produce very little smoke, which has many benefits. Dry aspens make good firewood as well. In the western US, I am not aware of any poisonous woods. Heck, I've used dry sage brush for camping in the desert where even junipers are scarce and it burns good...
I got into an argument about this a long time ago with some on the site at the time actually threatening me.
So I am going to phrase this a bit differently.
Your best bet is to not burn as everyone else said, any processed or treated lumber of any kind.
Green wood (here is where I got eviscerated) is not good for a stove period! It leave behind creosote.
Seasoned wood of any med-hard verity is best but not mandatory.
Cotton wood however is in fact a good wood overall, but strip the bark off, it stinks like hell.
In New Mexico we also have Pinon (relative of the pine but not the same) and juniper!
Oak defiantly, but best to let it season first. Otherwise like wine it can leave a bitter taste.
Thank you all for your great suggestions and recommendations. There are actually quite a few oak trees around here. When I lived in Texas, that seemed to be the preferred wood to cook with. The famous Salt Lick restaurant in Driftwood, TX use a combo of oak and pecan shells for their fires. Man, the aroma of that place when you first pull up and step out of your vehicle just made your stomach get real excited. I could have sat outside of that place all night, just smelling that heavenly smoke. Anyway, I might just go out one day and identify the various trees growing around my house, make a mental note of where the best ones are.
I have heard that repeatedly being around a burning pine-fueled fire can result in "pine lung." I spent about three days around pine fires and I felt congested.
About 35 years ago, the L.A. Times ran a story about 3 guys who were camping in the desert, outside of Palm Springs. The were cooking meat over an open fire. They were all found dead. The firewood they used was Oleander.
Taking this a step further.... If you do not have any type of wood to burn, then what other abundant resource would you burn to cook with? What else is available in your area (Gulf Coast)?
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