At Your Home or Restaurant, How You Stack Your Firewood is Important

stacked firewood 300x225

Properly stacked firewood burns better

Here at Wisconsin Firewood Co., we love a good barbecue, especially when the weather’s getting cooler and the meat is slowly cooked over wood. Our fellow barbecue enthusiasts will be excited to learn that they no longer have fire up their backyard grill or embark on a long journey to a rural smokehouse in order to sink their teeth into tender, wood-smoked meat.

Appreciation for wood-fueled grilling or barbecue is migrating from the country and small towns into major metropolitan areas, and restaurants cooking with wood are popping up throughout the Midwest. Here is a list of fine restaurants in Wisconsin that will leave your mouth watering uncontrollably.

Stack It Up, but Let Your Firewood Breathe

Whether you own a restaurant with a wood-burning oven or you’re a homeowner who’s just learning the basics of wood-fueled cooking, culinary success hinges on not only the quality of the meat and the skill of the chef, but on the wood itself. Wood quality goes beyond simply understanding the difference between hard and soft woods. While stacking firewood outdoors is a common practice among restaurants cooking with wood, there is an art to the practice, and stacking wood incorrectly is one of the first steps to ruining perfectly good barbecue.

Incorrect stacking techniques, including stacking the individual pieces into a tight bundle, often lead to moisture retention over long periods, causing mildew or mold to form. Make sure that firewood has ample space to breathe and for air to circulate when stacked, especially if the wood is young or damp due to weather.

Protecting Firewood from the Elements

Both at your home or outside your barbecue bistro, surplus wood is typically stored outdoors due to space considerations. Unfortunately, a large number of people don’t account for bad weather and leave their firewood uncovered. This is particularly problematic to chefs because wet wood is extremely difficult to light and lets off an abundance of smoke as it smolders.

Always cover any firewood that must be stored outdoors, no matter the duration of time. Make sure you have a leak-proof wood shed, or use a two-tarp system: One on the ground and one securely fastened over the firewood.

It’s easy to avoid a culinary disaster and keep your customers or family happy and well-fed on wood-fueled barbecue. Properly stacking your firewood is an essential piece of the puzzle. Restaurants cooking with wood can enjoy delicious success by simply keeping firewood covered and stacking it loosely to promote air circulation.

See also, “Can you give me some pointers on buying and stacking wood?