Are you ready to use restaurant firewood to tackle wood-fired cooking at your business? Make a fantastic impression on customers with Chicagoland’s finest gourmet cooking wood.
How can we so confidently say our wood is the best for your cooking needs? We chop our kiln-dried hardwood and fruitwood into pieces that fit in grills, smokers and outdoor pizza ovens.
Not only does it excel at cooking food all the way through, but we use the most flavorful, user-friendly hardwood to make it. With uncanny dryness and high density, our delicious cooking wood is best for five significant reasons.
Reason #1: It’s Exceptionally Effective
Whether you’re a large chain restaurant, a small family-owned business or a homeowner planning a big event, only the best cooking wood will do. After all, you can’t risk ruining your meat – or your guest’s appetites.
At Lumberjacks, we know our restaurant firewood is up to the task because it’s exceptionally effective. Combining high density with extreme dryness, our kiln-dried firewood perfectly cooks every succulent dish.
Kiln-Dried to Perfection
Favoring quantity over quality, most major vendors “season” their wood. Seasoning is nothing beyond letting firewood dry outside for several months. A loose tarp will probably defend the wood from the elements.
Seasoning removes a modicum of moisture, but our kiln-drying process is much more effective, removing more moisture and sterilizing firewood in no more than two days.
Why is kiln-drying important for cooking wood in particular? Since dry wood is easier to light and more likely to remain ablaze, it can provide consistent flames for steady warmth to grill or smoke meat nice and evenly.
Denser Than Other Restaurant Firewood
Density can extend your fire’s duration, like dryness. The difference? Firewood density also causes your flames to provide more heat.
The denser the wood, the higher the heat, the more consistent the flames and the longer the duration. Some hardwoods, like hickory, produce a fire so hot as to overcook. Hickory is among the most flavorful cooking woods, but we don’t recommend it to newcomers because it requires close attention.
How can one discern the density of wood? For starters, you can favor hardwood species, like maple and beech, over softwood species, like pine, fir or cedar. All hardwoods are denser than softwoods. We even offer oak, which is the densest local hardwood.
Reason #2: Our Restaurant Firewood Is the Most Flavorful
There’s more to cooking wood than starting and maintaining the best fires. You also want to use the wood that creates the most flavorful smoke. After all, what’s the point of using restaurant firewood if not to add a subtle hint of delicious flavor? At Lumberjacks, you can choose from four cooking wood options: oak, apple, cherry and hickory.
Oak
Oak offers the most subtle hints of smoky deliciousness without too much boldness, making it the most versatile of our cooking woods. Its ability to pair well with everything makes it perfect for beginners.
Apple
Pairing well with beef, poultry, pork, vegetables and even wild game, applewood adds hints of fruity sweetness to whatever it cooks. We would especially recommend pairing our apple restaurant wood with pork for a perfect sweet and savory combination that’s sure to delight your guests.
Cherry
With a smoky, fruity flavor, cherrywood pairs well with mild, light meats. Consider using it with shellfish, poultry, pork and lamb. If you want to turn the fruity accents of cherry smoke up a notch, consider finishing your meat with a light cherry glaze.
Hickory
Hickory’s strong fires stand up to dense, red meat. Steak, pork, bacon and ribs are all contenders for hickory’s potent flavor. We highly recommend hickory wood for all your barbecuing needs, as there’s nothing more mouthwatering than hickory-smoked barbecue right off the grill or out of the smoker.
Reason #3: It Features Superior Sizing
Our kiln-dried cooking wood fits in all commercial devices, from grills to smokers and beyond. For our customers’ convenience, we offer two purchasing size options to suit anyone’s needs.
Sizing For Large Commercial Operations
You can purchase our cooking wood by the pallet if you’ll be regularly using it. This option is ideal for large commercial operations or busy local businesses. You may also find pallets of restaurant wood ideal if you’re a small business focusing on smoked, grilled or barbecued meats.
Sizing For Residential and Small Business Needs
For one-time events or testing the waters, we provide 50-pound bags of cooking wood. Small businesses running specials or who do a limited amount of smoked and grilled meats may find these smaller orders more sufficient. However, this smaller option is generally ideal for residential purposes.
Cooking wood for grilling and smoking can reach the standard length of 16 inches, especially considering the industrial devices restaurants employ. If you need to fuel a machine as small as a pizza oven, you can visit our sister company for smaller denominations.
Reason #4: Our Restaurant Firewood Won’t Infest or Infect Your Food
Just because you want to smoke something doesn’t mean you want a lot of smoke to do it with. What do we mean? Too much smoke can cause your smoke to taste like pure ash, no matter how flavorful the wood itself is. Heavy smoke (especially from subpar cooking wood) can also sour your meat. You don’t want that.
With our restaurant firewood, you’ll be able to smoke meat, but you won’t have to worry about covering steak in creosote. Plus, you won’t find any unwanted insects, mold, fungus or chemicals in our restaurant firewood either.
Zero Unwanted Insects
Do you want insects hiding in your firewood to contaminate your meat? We didn’t think so. Thankfully, our kiln-drying process removes all unwanted insects so you can enjoy your meal without fear of creepy crawlies.
No Mold or Fungus
Mold and fungus found in subpar cooking wood and firewood can be hazardous to your health. Thankfully, our restaurant firewood is guaranteed to have no mold or fungus!
Never Any Nasty Chemicals
Many other firewood companies treat their wood with nasty chemicals that aren’t just hazardous but can also smell bad and ruin your food’s flavor. But our kiln-dried firewood uses natural practices to make it clean and dry, so you don’t ever have to worry about chemicals when you order from us!
Reason #5: It Fits All Your Cooking Wood Needs
Our cooking wood isn’t a one-trick pony. It’s perfect for any cooking where wood is used to enhance the flavor of your meats, vegetables and other dishes. Use it for smoking, barbecuing or pizza!
Restaurant Firewood for Smoking
The gentle, clean smoke our restaurant firewood produces is ideal for slowly smoking meats. Kiln-dried cooking wood is especially great for this purpose since it burns longer, requiring fewer top-ups during the prolonged smoking process.
Gourmet Cooking Wood for Barbecuing
The secret to fantastic barbecue is pairing tender, juicy, smoky meat with a tried-and-true sauce. We recommend using our hickory wood to create flavorful pork, chicken or beef to pair with your favorite barbecue sauce recipe!
Restaurant Firewood for Pizza Ovens
Turn your pizza oven into something magical with gourmet cooking wood guaranteed to create the perfect pizza. We recommend a mix of cherry and oak restaurant firewood for a savory-sweet pie that will have your guests coming back for more.
Order Your Restaurant Firewood Delivery Today!
There’s a lot more to firewood than fueling fires. Only the driest, densest and most aromatic wood can heat dishes as well as it heats homes.
If you’re ready to pull the trigger on your restaurant’s first annual wood-fired cooking event, Lumberjacks can help. With our four great flavors, we’re ready to send pallets of whatever you need. Delivery across the Chicago region takes 1-3 days, after which you’ll be ready to make your new dishes!
Now that you know where to buy good firewood, call us today!
Editors Note: This blog was originally published in March 2023 and updated in October 2023.
