Someone a few blocks a way has chopped down and cut up a tree from their yard, and left it on the curb to be taken away. Without its leaves, I can’t easily tell what it used to be, but right now it looks like firewood! I’d like to take it home, split it, season it, and then burn it. Is there anything I should look out for? Do some trees burn better than others? Could it produce toxic or unpleasant smoke?
All variety of maple, oak, beech, elm, cherry, hickory, pine can be burned with little to no hardship and are fine for fire wood.
Stay away from Sumac, sassafrass, and anything with Ivy Vines on it.
Silver maple and dogwood smell really awful when burned. I’ve heard that mulberry may be toxic also.
Softwoods tend to burn hot and fast and generate a lot of residues that can gunk up a chimney. So you’d do best not to burn pine on a regular basis, although one or two trees worth probably wouldn’t hurt.
The short answer is NO you don’t just want to use any tree for firewood. Different wood has different burning properties. For example pine smells good when burning but it snaps and crackles a lot, it also leaves a lot more soot in your fireplace and chimney. Oak is good if you let it season long enough, like up to two years.
Firewood Rhyme - author unkown
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year
Chestnut is only good they say
If its long been laid away
Make a fire of elder tree
Death within your house will be
But ash new or ash old
Is fit for a Queen with a crown of gold
Birch and Fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last
My Irish mum once said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
Even the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a Queen with a golden crown
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke
Apple wood will scent your room
With an incense-like perfume
Oaken logs, if dry and old
Keep away the winters cold
But ash wet or ash dry
A king shall warm his slippers by.
Beechwood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year
Store your beech for Christmastide
With new holly laid beside
Chestnuts only good they say
If for years tis stayed away
Birch and firwood burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last
Flames from larch will shoot up high
Dangerously the sparks will fly
But Ashwood green and Ashwood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown
Oaken logs, if dry and old
Keep away the winters cold
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
Even the very flames burn cold
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
So it is in Ireland said
Applewood will scent the room
Pears wood smells like a flower in bloom
But Ashwood wet and Ashwood dry
A King may warm his slippers by.
After we had our HUGE ice storm honestly dozens of entire trees were left by the roadside on my block to be picked up. Since it tooks months to gather them all, over time I moved about 5 years worth of firewood from out in front of my neighbor’s houses to my back yard. I’ve been burning everything from apple to yew bush, but with the largest amounts being maple, cedar, oak, and ash. Some wood needs much different kindling and/or seasoning, but in general if you need the heat it will all burn. People have warned me about pine and cedar gumming up the chimney, but I think occasional use is fine in practice. In general making sure your chimney is cleaned when needed is a good practice anyhow.
I have run across one type of wood that really doesn’t burn well at all, even after 2 years of seasoning. The wood doesn’t burn so much as soaks up heat and decays in the fire slowly - I can’t believe it produces a net energy output, as it extinguishes very rapidly. I do not know what type of wood it was but think it may have been birch. I know that whilst chainsawing it, it was a very soft wood that instead of making dust created huge, long curlicues of soft fiber that clogged the saw repeatedly.
Elm seems to be that way. It seems to go from either too green to burn to a powdery rotten mass that won’t burn in almost no time. Dutch elm disease wiped out dozens if not hundreds of elms on my property a few years ago. I simply push them into piles with my tractor. There seems to be no point in cutting them up. It won’t split well either.
Don’t use a chokecherry tree - it contains cyanide!!
That’s an understatement. But elm cut while healthy will burn just fine.
Only in the seeds. The concentrations in the wood itself are very low. What little there is would be pretty well destroyed by burning, at any rate. It’s not much good for fires, anyway, since the wood is dense and hard to burn.
I burned wood as my primary source of heat for 10 years. Mostly pine. Got tired of that and started buying oak. More money, but more btu and less wood.
Less wood = less times you need to stock the stove = less mess.
Cottonwood was the only thing I wasnt’ impressed with. Didn’t burn well and was an absolute pain to split. Even with a 20 ton hydrolic spliter.
The conventional wisdom around here holds that some woods burn too hot for use in the fireplace. Mesquite in particular had a reputation for melting andirons.
Also, bonsais produce very little heat.
Each wood has its own particular burning characteristics. An old poem lays it all out for you:
Beech wood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnut’s only good, they say
If for long it’s laid away.
But ash wood new or ash wood old
Is fit for a queen with a crown of gold.
Birch and fir logs burn too fast,
Blaze up bright and do not last.
Is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould -
E’en the very flames are cold;
But ash wood green and ash wood brown
Is fit for a queen with a golden crown.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will scent your room
With an incense like perfume.
Oaken logs if dry and old
Keep away the winter cold.
But ash wood wet and ash wood dry
A king shall warm his slippers by.
As far as my experience goes, all of these are accurate, especially the line about “Elm wood burns like churchyard mould”.
Pine and other softwoods are full of pitch, burn very quickly, and are suited only to kindling.
At one time or another we have burned almost everything, but mostly beech, ash, and a very dense wood, called “hop hornbeam” by the foresters and “hardack” by the locals, which burns almost like charcoal…
ABurning pine (other than as kindling) is a surefire route to a chimney fire! Pine is loaded with pitch, and pine smoke is loaded with flamable creosote, which condenses in the chimney, just waiting for a light.
A roaring chimney fire is an experience not to be missed, unless you like having a roof over your head!
Here is a list of woods suitable for grilling and smoking:
ACACIA - these trees are in the same family as mesquite. When burned in a grill, acacia has a flavor similar to mesquite but not quite as heavy. A very hot burning wood.
ALDER - Very delicate with a hint of sweetness. Good with fish, pork, poultry, and light-meat game birds.
ALMOND - A sweet smoke flavor, light ash. Good with all meats.
APPLE - Very mild with a subtle fruity flavor, slightly sweet. Good with poultry (turns skin dark brown) and pork.
ASH - Fast burner, light but distinctive flavor. Good with fish and red meats.
BIRCH - Medium-hard wood with a flavor similar to maple. Good with pork and poultry.
CHERRY - Mild and fruity. Good with poultry, pork and beef. Some List members say the cherry wood is the best wood for smoking. Wood from chokecherry trees may produce a bitter flavor.
COTTONWOOD - It is a softer wood than alder and very subtle in flavor. Use it for fuel but use some chunks of other woods (hickory, oak, pecan) for more flavor. Don’t use green cottonwood for smoking.
CRABAPPLE - Similar to apple wood.
GRAPEVINES - Tart. Provides a lot of smoke. Rich and fruity. Good with poultry, red meats, game and lamb.
HICKORY - Most commonly used wood for smoking–the King of smoking woods. Sweet to strong, heavy bacon flavor. Good with pork, ham and beef.
LILAC - Very light, subtle with a hint of floral. Good with seafood and lamb.
MAPLE - Smoky, mellow and slightly sweet. Good with pork, poultry, cheese, and small game birds.
MESQUITE - Strong earthy flavor. Good with beef, fish, chicken, and game. One of the hottest burning.
MULBERRY - The smell is sweet and reminds one of apple.
OAK - Heavy smoke flavor–the Queen of smoking wood. RED OAK is good on ribs, WHITE OAK makes the best coals for longer burning. All oak varieties reported as suitable for smoking. Good with red meat, pork, fish and heavy game.
ORANGE, LEMON and GRAPEFRUIT - Produces a nice mild smoky flavor. Excellent with beef, pork, fish and poultry.
PEAR - A nice subtle smoke flavor. Much like apple. Excellent with chicken and pork.
PECAN - Sweet and mild with a flavor similar to hickory. Tasty with a subtle character. Good with poultry, beef, pork and cheese. Pecan is an all-around superior smoking wood.
SWEET FRUIT WOODS - APRICOT, PLUM, PEACH, NECTARINE - Great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish. The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.
WALNUT - ENGLISH and BLACK - Very heavy smoke flavor, usually mixed with lighter woods like almond, pear or apple. Can be bitter if used alone. Good with red meats and game.
BBQ List members and other internet sources report that wood from the following trees is suitable for smoking: AVOCADO, BAY, CARROTWOOD, KIAWE, MADRONE, MANZANITA, GUAVA, OLIVE, BEECH, BUTTERNUT, FIG, GUM, CHESTNUT, HACKBERRY, PIMIENTO, PERSIMMON, and WILLOW. The ornamental varieties of fruit trees (i.e. pear, cherry, apple, etc.) are also suitable for smoking.
By Bill Wight cbbqa member and Grillmaster,
I burned in a wood stove. Designed to heat Not a fireplace. I should have been clear about that. I cleaned the chimney every year. A good wood stove will burn most of the pitch and creosote before it goes up the flue.
Most fireplaces aren’t really designed to heat.
I burned probably 250 days a year. But you are correct. Pine will leave more crap in the chimney than a hard wood will.
Just a word to the wise - petrified wood, really poor burning properties.
The local oak here, Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) seems to burn really slowly and with not much of a flame. Probably because of how dense it is. The flames tend to be small and bluish. However it used to be extensively used for Charcoal, and was considered superior for that purpose.
One tree you wouldn’t want to really use was Gray Pine (Pinus sabiniana), as it is pitchy. It had been used to power steam engines for steam hoists (as it would burn hot). Incidentally it was also not good to try to get turpentine out of it as it contanes heptanes in its pitch instead of terpenes. They were sometimes called “gasoline trees” because of that.
An understatement, by far. I’ve experienced a chimney fire - I’ve felt the gale drawn through the room, the heat on the wall, and seen the flame out of the chimney-pot. Thankfully, there was a solitary fire engine stationed half a mile away.