Why does hickory do this?

[ohlongarm]

Burnt my first few pieces of shagbark hickory in my King last night,for about an hour the house had a smokehouse smell. Now it wasn't overpowering but I've never detected a wood smell with this unit burning any other wood species.Has anyone experienced this.PS 3 hickory splits are still heating the house 13.5 hours later,be mindful of the fact they weighed at least 10 lbs apiece.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Sounds like they had more moisture than you thought- accounts for extreme weight, smoke, and smoldering longer burn

 

[basswidow]

I have some SB I split this year and won't burn it until next year. The whole time splitting - it smelled like Bacon!

My stove is fairly tight (OAK) and a good door gasket. I usually don't get any wood smells inside, unless I am careless. I open the air up all the way, wait for 10 seconds, crack the door, wait some more briefly, have my wood ready to go, put it in and close the door. Good dry wood and rarely any visible smoke in the unit or out the chimney.

 

[Wood Duck]

It was stormy and not very cold in Ohio last night, right? Maybe the atmospheric conditions caused smoke from the chimney to sink to the ground or somehow gather around the house. Perhaps the atmosphere coupled with a smoky fire (was the hickory completely dry?) caused the yard to be smoky and the smell from the yard came in through a window or door.

With my setup I get more smell from outside coming in than I do from inside. In fact I have almost no smell at all coming from the stove inside unless I mess around with the fire and let some smoke out the door. I do occasionally get a slight smoky smell inside when the smoke is sinking or swirling around the yard and somebody opens a door. It sounds like you normally have the same performance from your stove. I don't see how the type of wood in the stove affects the way the stove contains air/smoke.

 

[Kenster]

I agree that the wood wasn't dry enough. Good dry hickory will give you some long burns and a lot of heat but I wouldn't expect to get 13 -14 hours out of three splits unless they were still pretty wet, in which case you're not getting maximum heat from them. I get a little pignut hickory every once in a while. I like to give it two years. Sweet burn!

I don't mind a wee whiff of hickory aroma when I'm burning. Could be a lot worse smells in the house!

 

[gpcollen1]

as an aside: Co-workers down in Arkansas swear by cold smoking with fresh oak. They build primitive smoke houses, start a fire with fresh hickory, extinguish that fire, cover it with dirt and let it smolder for a day with meat hanging inside. Usually done in the cooler weather for optimum conditions.

 

[Danno77]

It was stormy and not very cold in Ohio last night, right? Maybe the atmospheric conditions caused smoke from the chimney to sink to the ground or somehow gather around the house. Perhaps the atmosphere coupled with a smoky fire (was the hickory completely dry?) caused the yard to be smoky and the smell from the yard came in through a window or door.

This is what I was thinking. Glad it was already posted, saved me some typing!

 

[krex1010]

It was stormy and not very cold in Ohio last night, right? Maybe the atmospheric conditions caused smoke from the chimney to sink to the ground or somehow gather around the house. Perhaps the atmosphere coupled with a smoky fire (was the hickory completely dry?) caused the yard to be smoky and the smell from the yard came in through a window or door.

With my setup I get more smell from outside coming in than I do from inside. In fact I have almost no smell at all coming from the stove inside unless I mess around with the fire and let some smoke out the door. I do occasionally get a slight smoky smell inside when the smoke is sinking or swirling around the yard and somebody opens a door. It sounds like you normally have the same performance from your stove. I don't see how the type of wood in the stove affects the way the stove contains air/smoke.

My thoughts exactly, when it's kinda muggy and damp and the smoke just sinks down around the house I have noticed a smokey smell inside

 

[Battenkiller]

+ whatever.

I had smoke pouring right out of the chimney and rolling down the roof to the ground in a similar situation. The pull of the draft sucked it into the house and make a big time stink. Had me outside in my skivvies looking up at the chimney at 3AM. Good thing I don't have neighbors. :red:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Pictures BK. Pictures.

 

[Danno77]

+ whatever.

I had smoke pouring right out of the chimney and rolling down the roof to the ground in a similar situation. The pull of the draft sucked it into the house and make a big time stink. Had me outside in my skivvies looking up at the chimney at 3AM. Good thing I don't have neighbors. :red:

Haha, de ja vu...
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/911180/

 

[NH_Wood]

Pictures BK. Pictures.

Perhaps if it was Mrs. BK, but otherwise.............Cheers!