What wood to burn

[lbean]

I know we are only supposed to use native wood to prevent the spread of things. Still I would love to know what the best woods to burn are and why. For example what is the best wood to burn a fire hot? What about to keep it burning longer?

 

[Michael]

I haven't done any sort of in depth study, but harder woods seem to burn longer, while softer woods seem to burn hotter. A soft wood like pine tends to catch quickly and burn quickly. Something harder like oak takes longer to catch but burn longer.

I usually tend to burn softer woods to start with, until there's a nice bed of coals. Then I switch to harder woods. I'm not really particular about what I'm burning, since I gather whatever is available around the camp site.

 

[GPER]

With a touch of Cedar to make it smell even better.

 

[oldmangunner]

What about maple trees. We have a whole lot of them out this way so I have quite a bit of that in my wood pile. I am pretty sure it is a hard wood because it takes longer to catch fire.

 

[jason]

I use hard woods, only because I use the same wood to cook with. You do not want to cook with soft woods such as pine as the chemicals it releases can make the food taste horrible. Oak is my favorite to burn, and old whiskey barrels turned into wood chips is even better for cooking with.

 

[Michael]

What about maple trees. We have a whole lot of them out this way so I have quite a bit of that in my wood pile. I am pretty sure it is a hard wood because it takes longer to catch fire.

Maple is good to burn. One of my friends prefers it to basically all other wood.

 

[dinosaur]

Soft woods burn hot and quick. Hard woods burn long. Maple comes in varieties soft and hard. Hickory, oak, elm, mature boxelder, sugar maple, beech, ash, giant sumach, walnut ironwood,and fruitwoods are all hardwoods that burn long and glow like coal. Willow, soft maple (about fifteen varieties I know of) basswood, sassafrass, cherry (kind of in the middle), lesser sumach, honeysuckle, poplar, aspen, and tu;ip are all soft woods that will burn quickly and put out large quantities of heat for a short period. This, however assumes they have an adequate supply of oxygen. Willow is an excellent smoke wood. Damp it down and it will burn for a long time providing smoke for meats. This is also true for cherry and soft maple. If you want heat over an extended period, stick with hardwoods. They are denser and take longer to burn.

The problem with this is that sometimes you have to burn what you can get. In this extreme, the best bet is to get the biggest pieces you can, stack them away from the wind and make sure you have a good bed of coals.

Good luck, campers.

 

[Thumper]

We have a local lumber yard that gives away scrap lumber they can't use so we use it around where we are. As far as taking it with us, we don't. But we do try to get hard wood to burn. A good dried out hard wood makes an excellent fire.

 

[bokz]

Seasoned woods are perfect for burning at the camp site, the ones that are dry throughout the year or more. Try burning hard woods like oak, walnut, eucalyptus or madrone.

 

[evergreen]

You want to go for something old and dry, I usually buy some wood from the locals when I go camping state side. I don't have to worry about the wood being dry and I don't have to chop them either after a day of hiking and exploring.

 

[lbean]

I had no idea that it was better to cook over hard woods and soft woods. Also I do not mind to buy the wood but I do like to be able to have my own wood so I can save a little bit of money for other things. I like chopping wood so it does not bother me.

 

[northernbushape]

Good points made in this thread and no need for me to go into more detail, but I like to start my fires with cedar or pine if it's wet and then toss on some maple or cottonwood, depending on what's available. The cedar catches very quickly but burns off just as quick, so it's really good for lighting. Pine has more resin and is great for damp conditions and the hardwoods preserve the fire so less fuel is needed. If I can't be choosy then I'll just burn whatever I can find.