Editor's Note: This guide to the best firewood is excerpted from the Winter 2012 issue of Living Ready, available for download here.
One of my friends once said as he looked over his personal library, “When I have a lot of good books I feel wealthy.” I feel the same way about firewood, but different types of firewood have different characteristics. Some burn fast with intense heat and some burn slow and ooze heat throughout the night. Others kick off too many sparks or smoke. Some wood, such as hickory or maple, are great for smoking meats, while evergreens, like pine or spruce, will leave your pork chop with a Pine-Sol flavor.
To help narrow things down, Living Ready put together this guide to the best firewood. Look for the embed code below to paste it onto your own website or blog.
| Species | Heat | lbs./cord | Ease of Lighting | Coaling Qualities | Sparks | Fragrance |
| Alder | Med-Low | 2540 | Fair | Good | Moderate | Slight |
| Apple | High-Med | 4400 | Difficult | Excellent | Few | Excellent |
| Ash | High | 3440 | Fairly Difficult | Good-Excellent | Few | Slight |
| Beech | High | 3760 | Difficult | Excellent | Few | Good |
| Birch (White) | Med | 3040 | East | Good | Moderate | Slight |
| Cherry | Med | 2060 | Difficult | Excellent | Few | Excellent |
| Elm | High | 2260 | Very Difficult | Good | Very Few | Fair |
| Hickory | Very High | 4240 | Fairly Difficult | Excellent | Moderate | Excellent |
| Ironwood | Very High | 4000 | Very Difficult | Excellent | Few | Slight |
| Locust (Black) | Very High | 3840 | Difficult | Excellent | Very Few | Slight |
| Madrone | High | 4320 | Difficult | Excellent | Very Few | Slight |
| Maple (Red) | High-Med | 3200 | Fairly Difficult | Excellent | Few | Good |
| Maple (Sugar) | High | 3680 | Difficult | Excellent | Few | Good |
| Mesquite | Very High | N/A | Very Difficult | Excellent | Few | Excellent |
| Oak (Live) | Very High | 4600 | Very Difficult | Excellent | Few | Fair |
| Oak (Red) | High | 3680 | Difficult | Excellent | Few | Fair |
| Oak (White) | Very High | 4200 | Difficult | Excellent | Few | Fair |
| Pecan | High | N/A | Fairly Difficult | Good | Few | Good |
| Walnut | High-Med | N/A | Fairly Difficult | Good | Few | Fair |
Arm Yourself With Knowledge
