Is it oak?

[John Woody]

I recently purchased a load of wood from a guy claiming the wood was seasoned oak. I mentioned to him that I would be using it in my smoker so I needed only oak, nothing else mixed in. He assured me it was oak and delivered and stacked it. Upon inspecting the wood I can't help but think that this is a mixture of various different types of wood and perhaps some isn't oak at all. Can y'all take a look at this photo and give me your opinion if this wood appears to be oak? I realize there are many different varieties so this may be a not so sure thing.

 

[jrider]

From what I can tell, I see what is either oak for sure or some pieces that could be oak or something else. Show us the end grains or split faces of each piece.

 

[Little Al]

Viewing L/R 1,3,4, are doutful

 

[lknchoppers]

Looks like red oak to me.

 

[farmer steve]

welcome to arboristsite John Woody. Looks like mostly red oak. Not sure of the piece with the rough bark in the center. More pics would help.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

Red oak here has rough bark just like number 3 and splinters also. I can supply pictures if needed.

 

[John Woody]

Thanks for the quick responses. I reckon what has thrown me is the variety of different types of bark on the wood. Here's some photos of the split side of each one. Shoulda posted that to begin with...

 

[hedge hog]

There is some oak there



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[farmer steve]

Thanks for the quick responses. I reckon what has thrown me is the variety of different types of bark on the wood. Here's some photos of the split side of each one. Shoulda posted that to begin with...View attachment 687114

IF it all looks like that I would say you got oak.

 

[Deleted member 135597]

For sure red oak

 

[sb47]

There are about a dozen types of oak that fall within the red oak family but it looks like red oak, possibly some water oak in there as well.

 

[Deleted member 135597]

The far right bark pic looks just like the pin oak I cut here, red oak family

 

[John Woody]

Excellent. Thank you all again for your responses. I sure didn't want to end up with some funky flavored briskets coming out of my smoker! I'll still prolly smoke some cheaper cuts of meat the first few times using this wood but again I thank you for your input!

 

[sb47]

Excellent. Thank you all again for your responses. I sure didn't want to end up with some funky flavored briskets coming out of my smoker! I'll still prolly smoke some cheaper cuts of meat the first few times using this wood but again I thank you for your input!

Once you light it up you should be able to tell. Cut a piece and see what it smells like.

 

[NCPT]

Looks like willow oak to me, which is a variety of red oak. The smoother bark looks like limb sections, and the rough bark looks like trunk sections. Willow oak is commonly referred to as pin oak around here....I guess because of the pin shaped leaves.

 

[NCPT]

I cut and split a load of willow oak this past spring, it is the split pile in the pic and the rest is silver maple....I'll probably avoid these two types of wood in the future. Willow oak doesn't stack well and smells like piss, the silver maple doesn't burn very hot. Both varieties seem like they dried fast though.

I have four giant ones in my yard and the pieces in your first pic look exactly like my trees, although the two pieces with rougher bark in your pic could be common red oak.

 

[066blaster]

it all looks like red oak, but geez, quite the variety of lengths. smooth bark is branch wood and rougher bark from larger trunk

 

[rarefish383]

Looks like all Oak. Pending on how much you got and what you ordered, I don't know if you got a deal or your mony's worth. If you just ordered a small quantity of "Oak" for the smoker, looks like you got what you wanted. If you ordered a larger quantity like a half cord? I don't know. None of my customers would except one piece 10" long and one piece 18-20" long. But for smoking it looks like your OK.

 

[rarefish383]

Looks like willow oak to me, which is a variety of red oak. The smoother bark looks like limb sections, and the rough bark looks like trunk sections. Willow oak is commonly referred to as pin oak around here....I guess because of the pin shaped leaves.

I know in different areas folks call stuff kind of what they want. Pin Oak and Willow Oak are nothing alike. Willow Oak has a narrow leaf similar to a Willow, or a laurel Oak. Pin Oak has a wide 5 or 7 lobed leaf 2-6 inches long.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_phellos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_palustris

 

[NCPT]

I know in different areas folks call stuff kind of what they want. Pin Oak and Willow Oak are nothing alike. Willow Oak has a narrow leaf similar to a Willow, or a laurel Oak. Pin Oak has a wide 5 or 7 lobed leaf 2-6 inches long.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_phellos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_palustris

You are right. The way I found out the difference was researching if pin oak made good firewood and I realized I had willow oak lol