Filling the porch with cook wood

[jacktheknife]

Gentlemen,

Howdy,

Another real cold April morning here on the farm.
I have two full horse troughs of split cook wood and a bunch of longer pieces laid out ready to cut to length ie. 4" - 9" and split, probably two more troughs full. Today I am planning on going down in the woods, cutting up a bunch more 'oak' logs and dragging them up to the 'kitchen wood yard'. A cold day like this one is a good wood cutting day and I may as well get busy as the summer heat is coming. I have enough wood to basically last the summer but am getting into cooking with wood more and more and don't want to run out.

Meal #1 is to be last nights Pizza and later for meal #2, a burger is defrosted and waiting. Hard to beat a burger is and with a spray bottle of water and the lid that came with my little grille to fight flame ups, cooking a burger on a wood fire is no problem.
I cut wood for the 'Oklahoma Joe' smoker 9" or less. And for burgers on the little 'Weber' grille, half that size.
I checked my old 35mm camera and I still have 14 pictures left so I'll photograph the cook wood pile and try to post the picture's here on the forum for everybody's enjoyment. Nothing like a big pile of cut up cook wood on the porch to inspire one to excel at cooking over a fire. And rather than the old horse trough or a cut down barrel to store my cook wood in I made two net wire barrels, easier to see the wood and it looks better.

Cooking over a fire is an interesting subject. With a summers worth, 6 months, of cook wood cut up, I will be able to concentrate on the smoking and the cooking of meat.
The guy who owns the 'Hickory House Cafe' up in Lancaster has been there for decades, smokes real good meat, and has better beans than 'Spring Creek BBQ'. I was in there yesterday and asked him about seeing his fire pit which is out back. Yes, he told me and some time when they are not so busy I'll check it out. They 'smoke' their meat, "300-350 degrees", but aside from that I have no idea what kind of set up they use. I remember he mentioned a rotisserie or revolving meat rack. I am interested and I will follow up on this interest and report the findings.


Thank you...


Jack the Knife
{and his pack of BBQ tasters}

[Admin]

Apr 10, 2011 9:18:36 GMT -5 jacktheknife said:

Nothing like a big pile of cut up cook wood on the porch to inspire one to excel at cooking over a fire.

Aint that the truth. ;D If I can get my act together this summer, I'll have one heck of an outdoor cooking system set up.

Best of luck with the BBQ's Jack

[TRAPnHUNT]

I live in a pretty populated area so I cant be cutting down my neighbor's tree for firewood. I have a good number of businesses in the area that have wood pallets stacked high. A few times per year, I'll go by these places with one of my trailers and ask if I can have some pallets since most places don't send the empties back. Most of these are made of oak and I seek out the clean pallets that don't have oil & other contaminates soaked into the wood. When I bring them home, I cut them up and pull the nails. This serves me well for my outdoor cooking over an open fire and the wood is already dry. If I go to buy split oak, it cost a small fortune around these parts!

[jacktheknife]

Gentlemen,

The cooking porch is looking better and better. I cut and split wood yesterday and will again today when I can walk. I'm so tired I am just sitting here unable to even go get me a beer, and that's tired.
It is almost June and I have become obsessed with getting these 'net wire barrels' full of cut to length and split cook wood before it gets too hot. Y'all will just have to see them. Their pretty big at first glance but try and fill them with grille wood 3" 4" long and split small enough to cook hamburgers. You work all day and dump your cook wood chips in there and the barrels just never seem to fill.

Their filling, I just need to spend a few more days on the wood job
and then I will photograph the cook porch and it will be worth it.

I can walk well enough to go for another beer so ...


Hell with pain, punishment, fear and boredom!
rules, laws and short fat cops in every bodys face.

Freedom & Fun!

[patricimo54]

Jack you are diffidently one of my favorite here in the swamp. I wish you would send me your personal location info so that I might be able to visit you some time.

Looking forward to your cooking porch pics.

[jacktheknife]

Gentlemen,

Just came in from cutting Oak and dragging it up to the kitchen wood yard for slicing in 4" sections and splitting in the morning. I waited till 8:00 to go out again and it was not so bad. A good breeze was blowing and I got more than I thought I'd get cut.
Tomorrow early I plan to run the Stihl as long as I can stand the heat. And I may have enough cook Oak to fill all three net wire cook wood barrels this week! I am obsessed with getting a good picture of the cook porch as it just makes me think of other 'wood fired cooking adventures'. The filling of the barrels is a great chore but like everything one does frequently it gets easier as one gets more efficient. Next year it will be easier.


Knife...

[yooperdug]

When I read your posts,its as if Im right there on your porch with you.
Now you got me hungry for BBQ ans beans!! ;D ;D

[jacktheknife]

Gentlemen,

Still filling the net wire, cook wood barrels and filled them considerably today, within a foot of the top on 3 barrels!~
It was easy with a big downed Oak with no limbs or knots on the wood face, but these smaller Oaks are slower. I can 'see the light at the end of the tunnel' as it were. I must have gotten into a mental space amidst the middle of the barrels which made them seem to never fill. Anyway, I have enough crap cut and drug up to the kitchen wood yard, to fill them all and fill them I intend on doing this week. It is getting hot.

The wood job is getting near the end and just in time. I have 400'-500' of deep ditch to dig this summer and fill with gravel. Of course I'll photograph that too.


Made some real good Spaghetti tonight!


Luck and Later...


Knife

[jacktheknife]

Gentlemen,


Good morning, sunup here at the farm and today after pancakes I cut cook wood. The barrels are going down from use and I may never get them filled. But I plan on getting outside soon before it gets any hotter and crank the Stihl. Drove all over town yesterday and paid two friends back $20. each for beer. Took a rooster to the Aggie for sale and got a bottle of Wazine,
{poultry wormer} It was so hot I almost died and came home and went to bed at 10:30!

Today, my work away from the farm done, I can stay home and work here. I love farm life as I spent 30 years living in my truck and am quite tired of it. At home on the farm I can work all day without spending money on gas. Work fixing up my own place rather than fixing up others places. This year I hope to have most of the basic things done around the house and next year I can concentrate on the yard work. The yard looks s**tty because after my bad wreck 11 years ago I started landscaping the yard but with no money for gravel, rail road ties, concrete or blocks I couldn't finish the work but just left it undone and I hate it.

I dug a 145' ditch 12" wide and 12" deep in my driveway with a broke back and two years later covered it up because I didn't have any gravel and my Dad wouldn't help. The yard used to have grass but is just dirt now. It will take another year to get the yard looking decent and it is not all that expensive but it does take money.
I have a trailer that I can haul gravel in if it had tags, and they are on the list. Manure too! I know a stable where they will give me all the manure I can haul off and load it for me with a front end loader. But the trailier needs tags...

Next year the yard and the poultry housing materials get all the money. This year it was the house, and one day I may get the old Hacienda fixed up. Today however....the net wire cook wood barrels are getting low. I'll finish my Organic Peru coffee then before breakfast drink a few beers for pain, eat and get to work.
It is hot and when I started filling the cook wood barrels it was cool. I better hurry so as to take a picture of the cook porch and post it on the forum.

Y'all take care and wish for some cool weather and some rain.


Jack the Knife...