Best wood for cooking bread on

[AJW]

Going to doing cooking stuff on a stick, but need advice which wood to avoid/which wood is best for this? I dont want to poison the kids....

 

[Toddy]

Willow or hazel are pretty easy. Easy to find, easy to use, and both peel off clean. Freshly debarked willow is white. Both grow thin fresh upright branches every year, and those are easy to prune. The tips might be a bit to thin and whippy to use, but cut back a bit to stuff that's a bit more solid and it's fine.

I don't know what others use, but around here, those two are plentiful and easily found. Can you do a recce of the place you're going to use ?

Oh, and welcome to the forum and our virtual campfire

M

 

[AJW]

Willow or hazel are pretty easy. Easy to find, easy to use, and both peel off clean. Freshly debarked willow is white. Both grow thin fresh upright branches every year, and those are easy to prune. The tips might be a bit to thin and whippy to use, but cut back a bit to stuff that's a bit more solid and it's fine.

I don't know what others use, but around here, those two are plentiful and easily found. Can you do a recce of the place you're going to use ?

Oh, and welcome to the forum and our virtual campfire

M

Thanks!

No, I am not able to check the site out first but I do know there is nothing we can prune or collect - I am going to be taking them to the woods a couple of weeks in advance of camp and they can collect their sticks then - I will then take them on camp to be used for cooking on. Bit of a palava, but I only way round it.

Worse comes to worse, could I use cherry? I have a smallish cherry tree to remove on my allotment so could grab a load of branches from that?

 

[Toddy]

Cherry's one of those that end up with cyanide in the bark. It's not likely to kill them, but it can give off a very bitter almond taste. Doesn't suit many, if I make myself clear ?

If you're cutting ahead of time by weeks, might be best to put the ends into a bucket of water. If you dry out the sticks too much before hand they're more likely to go on fire, and be a lot more difficult to peel. Kids who aren't used to fire get panicky when their sticks go on fire and start waving them around, which is not a good thing. (Old Akela and Beaver leader here, been there done that )

I'm sorry I don't seem to be of more help here. Best I can think of is to cut a couple of bits of cherry and give them a go at home, see how it does.
If you can find apple, then I know it's safe too.

Garden canes aren't, they're sometimes sprayed with an anti-fungicide/insecticide before they're exported, and we don't know which ones are or aren't.

Split pine is fine, but it does like to go on fire and if it's resiny it can spatter a bit.

Hopefully others will have suggestions too. It's been a long while since I was Akela

 

[bobnewboy]

Sycamore. Grows straight. Easy to spot and find. Skin the stick before use. Generally doesn’t carry a taste over either.

 

[Broch]

Trees and shrubs I am happy to use as skewers in the UK are:

Alder
Aspen
Willow (all species)
Poplar (all species)
Ash
Hazel
Apple/Crab apple
Dogwoods
Birch - silver and downy
English Elm and Wych Elm
Guelder rose
Hawthorn
Holly (I know, some people say it's toxic but used as a skewer it will not do any harm)

A few definite no-no's are:

Alder buckthorn (bark is a strong purgative)
All prunus species (for reasons stated by Toddy)
Yew (obviously)