wendell said:
Apprentice_GM said:
Regarding previous comments:
2) If an HH does not accelerate seasoning then I wonder why so many throughout Europe, who have trouble seasoning wood due to cold and wet climates (certainly compared to Oz) continue to take the trouble to build them. I doubt so many enjoy the aesthetics and efficient storage benefits compared to the time spent building them over normal rows, I would suspect function (faster seasoning) plays a part.
There once was a newlywed couple who were preparing to have the wife's family over for Christmas. As they were preparing to put the ham in the oven, the wife cut the end of the ham off. Her husband, surprised at this asked her why. She responded that it made the ham taste better and that she had learned it from her mother. When the mother arrived, the husband asked her why she cut off the end of the ham. "because it tastes better when you cook it that way and that is the way my mother always did it."
Determined to learn this amazing secret of ham gastronomy, he went to the grandmother and asked her why she cut the end of the ham off before she cooked it. "Because my oven was too small to fit the whole ham in" she replied.
Yeah I like that story
Although the way I heard it, the original question was met with the new wife's retort "Because my mother did it that way" in a tone that brooked no further questioning warranted. Which is why it was funny and rewarding when the new husband persisted with the questions upline. Which is why I've always been encouraged to keep questioning despite the usual way of doing things.
Having now built 2 HH's and thought through the issue more, mainly whilst building the HH, I believe all those Europeans
ARE building them for aesthetics and land area storage gains and possibly tradition, over improved seasoning. I mean it was a Chimney Sweep, based in the US, who claimed it seasoned wood in 3 months versus 2 years, not me. Here is the link:
http://www.thechimneysweep.ca/6seasoningwood.html
and a quote from the page:
"Build a Holz Hausen to go from living tree to seasoned firewood in as little as three months"
*Edward J. Zurmuhlen, AKA "Otto Best, C. S. E." Chimney Sweep Extraordinaire he lives in Ballston Spa, New York. He is an Energy Conservation Specialist with the New York State Energy Office. His forte is renewable energy.
I just want some empirical evidence one way or the other. I suspect it's like one of those urban myths that gets passed around (that HH's season firewood faster), growing until disproven.
I import cricket bats, and love my cricket. Cricket bats are made from willow, the best ones made from English willow. The willow is cut into clefts, seasoned, then shaped into cricket bats. There is a strong incentive on the part of the willow growers and sellers to season better and faster, as the drier the cleft, the better the willow performs (more "ping" or rebound of the ball off the bat) for the same given weight. Sometimes they try and kiln dry the clefts, with mixed results. The best clefts come from natural seasoning over time, 2 or more years. And how do they stack the clefts to season them? Not in Holz Hausen or cylinder / pyramid structures but in stacks (usually 3 or 4 east-west with 3 or 4 north-south in alternating rows) as you would for an end stack to a rick. England has a damp cold climate and could benefit from HH improvements if they exist, and would certainly know about HH's for firewood. So I suspect this whole "Holz Hausens season wood faster than ricks" is a myth. I will let the science speak for itself, when I get to the results.
And now I wait . . .
Finally the results of the Holz Hausen vs Ricks (standard wood rows) are in and there is a clear winner! Common sense has prevailed over ludicrous untested claims - and the winner is Standard Ricks!!
