- Madone is an excellent firewood that burns really hot, provides stellar coal beds if you’re burning overnight, and doesn’t crackle or spit
- It’s great for indoor (and outdoor) fires and is as popular as maple and oak as firewood
- It smells really good and if you properly dry it, it will burn for a really long time
- It is about 30 million BUTs per cord- really good!
- One downside, since it’s so dense, it can hard to light
- It’s recommended to start yoru fire with soft woods and then pile on the hardwood Madone
The madrone (Arbutus menziesii) is among the rarest trees, which grows mostly on the United States’ west coast.
It belongs to the Ericaceae family and presents no notable variations, despite the different names from place to place. In areas where this tree grows, it produces beautiful flowers in the spring months and then gives strawberries in autumn.
It is a rare, very renewable tree, which makes burning is not so much of a deal, mostly if you live in areas where it grows naturally.
Like most hardwoods, madrone sprouts quickly from its stump after being cut. For this reason, madrone trees are regarded as some of the most renewable species available, and they are valuable as firewood.
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How easy is it to split?
Madrone splits easily when wet, for it tends to be very hard and dense when it’s seasoned like apple firewood is. It splits easily without being stringy or messy, though some can be very knotty, making it difficult to split. This issue is a case-by-case one, though the trees have been known to develop knits as compared to other wood species easily. The firewood portrays a quite impressive 28 million BTUs per cord which are efficiently generated, allowing for a safe fire that lasts for quite some time.
What amount of sap does it produce, and what does it smell like?
It produces not so much sap, despite bearing fruits. It is thus wiser to harvest your madrone trees during the winter when their sap levels have declined in the prior months. If you happen to come across a dead madrone at any time of year, you will find no sap left on it. Madrone is famous for producing a sweet smell when burning. It is similar to pine‘s scent, even though not as overwhelming, and is a good alternative for people who have a sensitive nose.
What is its output of heat and efficiency?
Madrone is the hardest wood on the US West Coast and easily outperforms many other hardwood trees in locations where it grows. It has a BTU of 28, which is excellent. At times, the firewood’s heat can feel stifling, but it is sufficiently warm to keep you warm during a cold night in winter.
What are some of its fire characteristics?
It is not just the west coast’s hardest of woods, it has among the best qualities in coaling portrayed by any wood.
This implies that it can burn for a long time, mostly making it through the night or longer.
Another great quality of this firewood is that it produces very little ash. The bark has a strange tendency to shred when the tree attains maturity, implying that its firewood has almost no bark, which gives rise to lower ash levels.
Its hardness enables it to burn for several hours, providing a steady source of heat while producing no smoke due to the very low levels of sap, even for hardwoods. This assures you that there is a minimal chance of creosote build-up, and sparks rarely go off.
Is madrone good firewood?
Madrone is excellent firewood that is quite safe to burn in a fireplace, making it the favorite choice over other hardwoods growing by its side. It has low sap levels, which ensures that its fire will be calm enough not to require a glass door or a fire screen. All that is needed is to get it on fire and let madrone supply warmth to your house. It is, however, a bit hard to get madrone to ignite as fast as other wood due to its density, but it should not beat anyone with some knowledge of kindling wood.
How expensive is it?
Madrone is the cheapest on the US’s West Coast, but all other parts are likely to exhibit some premium prices when you want to purchase it as firewood.
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