Red Oak or White Oak? (Wood ID)

[Dfw245]

Have no buds or leaves to speak of.
It's incredibly dense, heavy for it's size
Has a very woodsy tart smell to it.
Doesn't split easy but it isn't hard(8lb maul)

Doesn't smell quite as vinegary as the water oak I have. That stuff is pure apple cider vinegar lol The chopping block is water oak(red oak) but the one I literally just split, I'm a little unsure

 

[Simonkenton]

White oak.

 

[Mark N MO]

Have no buds or leaves to speak of.
It's incredibly dense, heavy for it's size
Has a very woodsy tart smell to it.
Doesn't split easy but it isn't hard(8lb maul)

Doesn't smell quite as vinegary as the water oak I have. That stuff is pure apple cider vinegar lol The chopping block is water oak(red oak) but the one I literally just split, I'm a little unsure

View attachment 293554 View attachment 293555 View attachment 293556

White oak. Smells like bourbon when you split it. Bourbon smells like it because it's aged in charred white oak barrels.

 

[Ashful]

Congratulations. I don't know how they grow 'em in Texas, but around here, White Oak is right at the top of the BTU range for our most common trees.

 

[Stinkpickle]

Some white oaks I get don’t smell as good as others, especially if they were harvested from cattle or horse pastures. The same goes for other types of trees, especially wetter ones like elm.

 

[Dfw245]

Well good haul this was. I'll have to get it all split up. It's actually a little easier than I thought to split. And if I knew what bourbon smelled like, it would confirm it lol but it definitely appears to be white oak. What variety? I have no clue. Maybe post?

 

[Ashful]

… if I knew what bourbon smelled like…

You are missing out on one of life’s Great pleasures. Enjoy a good one, preferably Old-Fashioned, at least once while you’re still on this side of the grass.

just by chance, I’m polishing off two fingers of Jefferson’s right now, with the help of a little Angostura, a teaspoon of simple syrup, and two Luxardos. 😀

 

[fvhowler]

Well good haul this was. I'll have to get it all split up. It's actually a little easier than I thought to split. And if I knew what bourbon smelled like, it would confirm it lol but it definitely appears to be white oak. What variety? I have no clue. Maybe post?

In your area, I think Post Oak is more common that White Oak. I think you are correct... it's Post Oak which is in the White Oak family. I have plenty of Post Oak on my property, good stuff.

 

[Stinkpickle]

If that’s Texas post oak, you could probably chunk it up and make some money selling it online to all the amateur brisket cooks.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

the grain looks to be like white oak, the bark is definitely not white oak..

 

[CincyBurner]

+ 1 for white oak group (post oak)
Just basing it on bark agree that bark more consistent for post oak (ridged), than for straight white oak (scaly or flakey).

VT Dendro post oak​

Leaves quite different between the two.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

It looks like the white oak family, but not exactly the white oak we have up here in Indiana.

 

[Dfw245]

Post oak huh? That'd be quite a find. I've split it up pretty well. Seems to be dense yet light for what it is. Post oak would be amazing

 

[Dfw245]

I do have a bit of a concern however. Alot of the wood I received was on the lighter side for it's size, I just assumed it was seasoned. Upon further research, I feel that maybe something might be off. It feels very corky and soft. Crumbly even. No black or rotten looking wood it just very corky and crumbly. Feel very light and foam like? When splitting alot of the time it just busts apart lol I've noticed on some of the pieces there is alot of foamy white looking substance within it.

 

[Ashful]

I do have a bit of a concern however. Alot of the wood I received was on the lighter side for it's size, I just assumed it was seasoned. Upon further research, I feel that maybe something might be off. It feels very corky and soft. Crumbly even. No black or rotten looking wood it just very corky and crumbly. Feel very light and foam like? When splitting alot of the time it just busts apart lol I've noticed on some of the pieces there is alot of foamy white looking substance within it.

Wood was left in log form too long. Classic punk, and not the Danzig variety.

 

[Dfw245]

Wood was left in log form too long. Classic punk, and not the Danzig variety.

Ah is that what that is? I'm sure it's still good to burn fireplace wise, but would it be safe to burn smoker/cooking wise? I did come across more white oak just in case.

 

[Ashful]

Ah is that what that is? I'm sure it's still good to burn fireplace wise, but would it be safe to burn smoker/cooking wise? I did come across more white oak just in case.

Yeah, it's safe to burn, just very little heat left in it. Think of BTU content as the weight of a dry split of wood. If it's heavy (and it's not still wet), then there's a lot of heat in it. If it's light, like styrofoam or balsa, then it's only good for pretty flames.

What happens with white oak is that the outer sapwood can rot pretty quickly, but the inner heartwood stays good on the ground for... well I don't know, but I've found at least a decade. When I split one of these, I take care to split the sapwood away from the heartwood, and toss all the punky sapwood (with the aforementioned density of styrofoam) into a burn pit, only stacking the heartwood for use. But this takes time and effort a commercial woodsplitter can't afford to spend, lest their $/cord price goes up. On a big white oak, the sapwood can be 4" thick, and being the outer circumference, there can be a lot of it.

 

[Caw]

Yep a white oak variety. I go through a lot of northern red oak here and it's very distinctive. The heartwood is quite literally reddish brown and it has a very strong vinegar smell that will linger for 6+ months after splitting. If I walk by my even my year+ old red oak stacks on a warm day I'll get whiffs of vinegar.

 

[Dfw245]

Yeah, it's safe to burn, just very little heat left in it. Think of BTU content as the weight of a dry split of wood. If it's heavy (and it's not still wet), then there's a lot of heat in it. If it's light, like styrofoam or balsa, then it's only good for pretty flames.

What happens with white oak is that the outer sapwood can rot pretty quickly, but the inner heartwood stays good on the ground for... well I don't know, but I've found at least a decade. When I split one of these, I take care to split the sapwood away from the heartwood, and toss all the punky sapwood (with the aforementioned density of styrofoam) into a burn pit, only stacking the heartwood for use. But this takes time and effort a commercial woodsplitter can't afford to spend, lest their $/cord price goes up. On a big white oak, the sapwood can be 4" thick, and being the outer circumference, there can be a lot of it.

Damn. Hate to hear that. Most of it was like that. Learned my lesson I suppose.

 

[CincyBurner]

Hickory does that as well where the sapwood rots very quickly, even on the stump, while heartwood remains fine. I felled a bucked what I thought would be a great hickory scrounge, blasting off the punky sapwood, but as I moved up toward the top of the tree, I was met with an ever increasing proportion of sapwood to heartwood, greatly diminishing returns, and leaving piles of doty, punky chunks behind me. I stopped when top was 12" diameter and heartwood was reduced down to 4" diameter.

 

[fvhowler]

Damn. Hate to hear that. Most of it was like that. Learned my lesson I suppose.

Sorry to hear that but the wood in your photos still looked good. If you scrounge and get the free stuff like me, you take the bad with the good. If it's oak, its worth the risk, IMO.

 

[stoveliker]

I like me an outside fire too. Punky stuff gives more flames. So both have their place in my fire addiction 🙂

 

[Dfw245]

I like me an outside fire too. Punky stuff gives more flames. So both have their place in my fire addiction 🙂

Now that's interesting. Didn't know that.

 

[Dfw245]

Sorry to hear that but the wood in your photos still looked good. If you scrounge and get the free stuff like me, you take the bad with the good. If it's oak, its worth the risk, IMO.

Well I didn't post the 'punky' pics. Only the good ones. Out of a half cord, I'd say about half of it is punky or has that white disease looking cream stuff throughout. I'll get some pics up. But there were a few good rounds like the one pictured. I just figured since I do have an outdoor pit, a smoker, and a fireplace, I'd have multiple uses. But seems this foamy punky stuff is for outside pit use only

 

[Dfw245]

+ 1 for white oak group (post oak)
Just basing it on bark agree that bark more consistent for post oak (ridged), than for straight white oak (scaly or flakey).

VT Dendro post oak​

Leaves quite different between the two.

This fit the bill for post oak? And not white oak? All leaf signs point to white oak and I've been trying to confirm what variety of white oak.