What is the best type of wood to burn?
Alder: Burns quickly does not produce much heat.
Apple: Must be seasoned for a slow steady burn, small flame with good heat. Ash: Burns best when dry, the best wood for burning giving both a good flame and heat. Will burn green. Beech: Can spit embers with some power burns nearly as well as ash. Birch: Gives a nice smell and produces a good heat but it burns quickly. Cedar: Gives a lovely scent and burns well with a small flame when dry. Cherry: Produces a nice scent, burns slow with a good heat. Chestnut: Will produce a small flame and average heat, will spark. Douglas Fir: Poor for burning, produces little flame or heat. Elder: Burns quickly produces lots of smoke and not much heat. Elm: Season for two years to burn well, will produce smoke, commonly sold as firewood. Hazel: A good timber for burning. Holly: Best when seasoned for a year but will burn when green. Hornbeam: Burns like beech. Laburnum: This poisonous tree produces a foul smoke which will taint food, one to avoid. Larch: Produces a good heat, a nice scent and crackles as it burns. Laurel: Burns with a brilliant flame. Lime: Burns poor with a dull flame. Maple: A good choice. Oak: Old oak gives an excellent heat and burns slowly and steadily, Avoid new oak which gives foul smoke and a poor flame. Pear: Lovely scent and produces a good heat. Pine: A bright warm flame but prone to spitting, some species give a nice scent and coloured flame. Plane: Sparks when very dry, burns well. Plum: Lovely smell and good heat. Poplar: Burns terribly. Rhododendron: The thick old stems burn best. Robinia (Acacia): Burns slowly, with good heat, but with foul smoke. Spruce: Sparks and burns quickly. Sycamore: Do not burn green, dry burns with a medium heat and good flame. Thorn: Excellent, a slow burner with little smoke and good heat. Walnut: A good burner with a nice scent. Willow: Must be dry to use, burns slow with poor flame and sparks. Yew: One of the best, burns slowly, produces a strong heat with a nice scent.
