woods for cooking ??

[fatsnacka]

hi all

im wanting a list of toxic and non toxic woods you guys might know off the tops of your heads im off out with a friend over the weekend and we plan to make spoons and do some cooking and i would like to know what to stay away from and what's safe to use ect

i guess birch is fine as you can tapp it in spring ?
what others do you guys know ??


thanks in advance

Andy

[Martin]

Holly and Yew. Both bad.

Martin

[luresalive]

Holly and Yew. Both bad.

Martin

add Ivy to that

[Marvell]

WIS30 - Toxic Woods (http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis30.pdf) is an interesting document

[Mark W]

Scouting factsheet on the burning properties of wood (http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs315001.pdf) might be of interest

[Dan XF]

I never knew there was such a thing as toxic wood. Holy c**p, looking at that list they all look dangerous. Oddly the one thats makes me itch and scratch (Leylandii) isn't on the list.

[jus_young]

Came away from the RV this weekend and both the wifes and my hands have small blisters. No idea what caused it but that HSE doc suggests any number of woods.

[AdrianRose]

As well as all the great advice above, I would like to add that there is a huge conversation about which woods you can use.

Looking at the title of this thread, one would assume that you will have a campfire and be burning wood for cooking. I have always found that I favour three different woods for cooking dependent on what type of cooking your doing.

For lots of flame, heat and light I go with Birch. But for heat and great coal longevity I favour Ash or Oak.

Ade.

[paulthefish2009]

Mark,marvell, thanks for those links, very interesting. Paul

[chris g]

I personally go with oak or ash most of the time because it last longer and gives off a good steady flame so I don't burn th food quite as fast. Hardwoods are good if your using pots etc but for cooking on sticks and other such means willow and softer woods are best as they provide a long hot flame.

[alvino78]

i tend to try and start with a bed of oak, and then layer up to birch kindling and bark tinder produces a lovely deep heat and quite easy to start!:campfire:

[Adam Savage]

Ash is the king of woods for burning, and beech burns well, even when fairly fresh. We tend to use beech more than others, as they drop their limbs regularly. Birch can give an odd taste to foods (when grilled or roasted), as the oils burn with quite a thick, black smoke. Holly burns without much soot. It was even used for sterilising medical instruments, many, many years ago. Oak will give a nice taste to your food (again grilled and roasted) :)

[KaiTheIronHound]

I dunno how much use it'll be to you guys, but i use a variety of eucalypt woods or acacias like black wattle for long coal life, and pines for lots of flame. Never run across a poisonous eucalypt!

[Bulworthy Project]

Apple wood and wild cherry wood both make your food taste great. They also seem to be some of the few woods not on that list. I would start with a bed of oak though even though it seems from the document that it has its risks.

[Hushwing]

Have been trying dead heather stalk in my woodgas stove (only those stalks that are lying loose on the ground - usually pulled up by passing sheep - as they tend to be slightly more dried out and no danger of affecting the wildlife cover that even burned heather gives) - gives a very good heat, and the smaller bits make good starter 'kindling'; but it can leave quite an oily/resinous layer on your pots.

The amazing thing is that even the burnt or dried out stuff is still usually very flexible and strong - i can see why it was worked into ropes in the 1700s - super strong.

[Fletching]

One of the things I was taught when doing recce in SA (many years ago) is that it's fine to cook over woods you know are non-toxic, and they may even add their own smoky flavour to your food. However, if your unsure about the provenance of the wood you're using - which was often the case out in the veldt, esp. at night, using a 'fire hole' - is that you should only cook over embers and not flames. That way, most of the - possibly toxic - oils have been purged from the fibre.

It's served me well over the years, but I'm a guy that likes smoking my food with apple/hickory/mesquite woodchips when available.

Steve :)

[biker-bri]

Stay well away from Laburnum AKA Golden chain -- All parts of the plant are poisonous, and can be lethal if consumed in excess. Symptoms of laburnum poisoning may include intense sleepiness, vomiting, convulsive movements, coma, slight frothing at the mouth and unequally dilated pupils. In some cases, diarrhea is very severe, and at times the convulsions are markedly tetanic. The main toxin in the plant is cytisine, a nicotinic receptor agonist.:shocked: Copied from Wikipedia

[Hushwing]

Likewise stay away from yew - all wooden parts are poisonous if ingested - bizarrely the red berry (ie the fleshy fruity bit) is edible just not the wooden 'stone' within it or the bark or wood - not that i have dared try the berry yet!! :o

[Adam Savage]

There is still concerns about burning yew for heat, as well as for cooking. as the toxins aren't destroyed with fire, they simply "float" in the smoke. :(

[FishyFolk]

Up here in the arctic there is a limited number of tree species to choose from. So Birch is the staple wood for almost all fires, next to pine and spruce. Teh other trees we do have around here are goat willow and rowan.

We'll sometimes use dead juniper to help start a fire...but birch as I said is what most people use for everything fire, including cooking.

[Hushwing]

Toxicity
Another link with more of a N American feel but might add some additional info with the HSE WIS30 doc info - http://www.orchard-woodturners.org.uk/wood2.htm

If you read the http://www.pciaonline.org/files/Test-Results-Cookstove-Performance.pdf it introduces the world-wide problem of particulates given out by fires (mainly the effects being in enclosed spaces but still gives a bit of a warning when first lighting any fire because of the smoke given off close to your face)

Burning properties http://zenstoves.net/Wood.htm
If you go to the bottom half of this link (below the stoves bit) you get quite a lot of info relating to wood properties etc and a nice poem to learn to quote round your campfire!!!;)

hope helps also.