# Put aside the OAK and get some Black Birch



## stejus (Feb 11, 2011)

Finally got to a new seasoned pile (18 months) and it's full of Black Birch.  When I stacked this 18 months ago, I kept asking myself, what is this slippery wood.  The bark would fall off and the wood was smooth and slippery. 

Well, 18 months later its hard as a rock and super dry.   Loaded the stove and 15 minutes later the stove top temp is 575 and climbing.  At the 20 minute mark, draft is fully closed and around 600, the secondaries are cherry red and all tubes are burning.  At one point I had to turn the blower on high to cool it back down to 550.  

I'm really liking this Black Birch.


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## Wood Duck (Feb 11, 2011)

I think oak gets all the press because it is one of the best firewoods, and oaks are widespread, common, easily identifiable trees. In most of Pennsylvania oaks are at least half of the trees in the forest, and they are common from the gulf coast up into Canada. Oak is good but there are other good hardwoods, like Hickory, Sugar Maple, Black and Yellow Birches, Mulberry, Osage Orange, Ironwood (both kinds), Black Locust, and others. All of these other trees besides oak are less numerous, less well known, and so they aren't as familiar known to most people. That doesn't mean they aren't great firewood.


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## gyrfalcon (Feb 11, 2011)

stejus said:
			
		

> Finally got to a new seasoned pile (18 months) and it's full of Black Birch.  When I stacked this 18 months ago, I kept asking myself, what is this slippery wood.  The bark would fall off and the wood was smooth and slippery.
> 
> Well, 18 months later its hard as a rock and super dry.   Loaded the stove and 15 minutes later the stove top temp is 575 and climbing.  At the 20 minute mark, draft is fully closed and around 600, the secondaries are cherry red and all tubes are burning.  At one point I had to turn the blower on high to cool it back down to 550.
> 
> I'm really liking this Black Birch.



Man after my own heart.  Black Birch is is fabulous stuff-- dries relatively quickly, burns very hot and long.  Beech is just a step below that.  I use oak and rock maple mostly for shoulder season.


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## Backwoods Savage (Feb 11, 2011)

stejus, not only should you give credit to the birch but also to the 18 months drying time! Time is what makes good firewood. 

On the oak, it is still one of the very best and usually we find folks don't like oak because it does take a long time to season and season properly. Sure, you can burn oak after only a year if you want to or even after 2 years. In my house, we will wait 3 years and then we'll have one of the very best burning woods there are on this planet. But if you can't afford to wait, or do not have the space to store it, then it is best to look to something else. If you can afford to wait, you will be very happy with the results.


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## gyrfalcon (Feb 11, 2011)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> stejus, not only should you give credit to the birch but also to the 18 months drying time! Time is what makes good firewood.
> 
> On the oak, it is still one of the very best and usually we find folks don't like oak because it does take a long time to season and season properly. Sure, you can burn oak after only a year if you want to or even after 2 years. In my house, we will wait 3 years and then we'll have one of the very best burning woods there are on this planet. But if you can't afford to wait, or do not have the space to store it, then it is best to look to something else. If you can afford to wait, you will be very happy with the results.



I kid about the oak.  But fact remains Black Birch is a higher-BTU wood that makes a hotter fire.  With a small stove like mine, that makes a huge difference.  And yes, the long drying time is a not insignificant issue and not worth bothering with if you have other good wood available-- my opinion only.


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## NH_Wood (Feb 12, 2011)

Yes, black birch is awesome. Trying to go after some for this years cutting - should be able to get about 1/2 cord, but most of what I'll be cutting is sugar maple, white and yellow birch, red maple, oak and ash. I did have a smattering of black birch in my stacks for his winter, and pulled out enough to fill the stove for an overnight burn. Burned real hot and pretty good coals in the am. There is a lot of black birch near me, just not in the areas I have easy access to. Cheers!


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## Battenkiller (Feb 12, 2011)

Thanks to the passionate raving of Gyrfalcon, I have made a serious effort to get lots of black birch this year.  I already had on hand over a cord of dry black locust, a cord of shagbark hickory, and lots of bitternut hickory and red oak from last year.  At this point, black birch has surpassed all of these woods in my estimation, even my perennial favorite, shagbark hickory.  Yes, the shagbark enjoys a higher BTU rating, but the black birch just seems to give its BTUs up faster.  The coaling properties are much better as well (doesn't build up massive coal beds like hickory, locust, or other similarly high BTU woods) - further evidence of a faster burn.  

A faster burn means a hotter stove, and a hotter stove means a warmer and happier Lady BK, and there are many rewards in having a warm and happy wife.  The other day she came home, got out of the car and walked over to the fresh pile of wood.  She smiled when she saw it was about 90% black birch.  That's the most interested I've seen her get about firewood in 25 years.

I am having a hard time convincing my firewood dealer that I will buy at least six cord of wood from him right now if it's all black birch.  I talked him into cutting lots of the stuff, even though the lot he's cutting out of is mostly red and white oak.  So far he's brought two, but he's indiscriminately selling it to folks with outdoor boilers who would be just as happy burning oak (or his used tires for that matter).  I'm afraid he'll run out before I get my six cord.  After it's gone, he will be cutting from a lot that contains mostly white ash.  I never thought I'd feel disappointed in getting a load of ash.

BTW, the fire in my avatar photo is all black birch.  You can see how powerfully it burns, even though there really isn't much wood in the box.


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## Kenster (Feb 12, 2011)

Black Birch sounds great but but there is an extreme shortage of it down here in Texas.  I don't know if any exists anywhere in the state.   What we do have, however, is lots of oak:  Water oak (my favorite) Pin Oak, Post Oak, Live Oak, etc.  My REAL favorite is FREE oak!  I also have a lot of pignut hickory on my place.   Pecan is fairly common.  I remember Osage (called Bois d'arc or bodark by my grandparents) in north Texas along the Red River but we don't see it down here in central/Southeast Texas.


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## Battenkiller (Feb 12, 2011)

Kenster said:
			
		

> Water oak... pin oak... post oak... live oak... pignut hickory... pecan... osage...



Man, don't you guys have _any_ decent hardwood?  %-P 

Methinks the good Lord giveth most to those who need it least.  Or maybe he just don't like Alaska because of the Palin thing.  :lol:


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## gyrfalcon (Feb 12, 2011)

Battenkiller said:
			
		

> Kenster said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Forgot to warn you that a side effect of burning Black Birch is steady loss of IQ points.  Alaska is "west of Houston" all right, but nowhere near "central/southeast Texas."  It would be Bushes, not Palins, that could be the issue on the wood thing.


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## Battenkiller (Feb 12, 2011)

Glad somebody started this thread.  My wood guy musta read our minds.  He called and said he had a cord on his trailer if I wanted it.  "Look, dude, just drop it off even if I'm not here.  We'll settle up later, you know I ain't goin' nowhere."  Which is what he agree to do.  Three down, three more to go (there is a third cord peaking through from under all the snow behind the pile on the right).


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## stejus (Feb 12, 2011)

I'm not going to load the stove with all Black Birch for the overnight burn at this point because it takes some time to monitor the temps.   For tests, I loaded half BB and half white oak this morning at 7:00AM.  It's 3:10PM and I'm still looking a large coals throwing heat.  At the start, the temps did not rise as fast as all BB did, but it did get to 550 and I could maintain that temp once I landed there.   

The next real cold snap, all BB baby!


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## Battenkiller (Feb 12, 2011)

gyrfalcon said:
			
		

> Forgot to warn you that a side effect of burning Black Birch is steady loss of IQ points.  Alaska is "west of Houston" all right, but nowhere near "central/southeast Texas."  It would be Bushes, not Palins, that could be the issue on the wood thing.



No, I meant that our good friend Kenster is blessed with a virtual cornucopia of good, dense hardwood (despite a dearth of black birch), while our neighbors in the Great White North and Alaska are all stuck burning paper birch as their premium hardwood.  I do happen to know where Alaska is.  Hell, I can see it from my house here in NY.


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## splions (Jul 2, 2011)

Got about 3 cords of black birch this spring...does it really take a long time to dry?  I thought I would be burning it by December?


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## CTYank (Jul 3, 2011)

splions said:
			
		

> Got about 3 cords of black birch this spring...does it really take a long time to dry?  I thought I would be burning it by December?



As usual, the longer the drying time, the better the product. Important factors: size of splits, exposure to sun & wind, protection from rain, local climate, etc.

Come winter, it'll dry very rapidly indoors, too. Which can even be a problem in a very tight house.


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## Woody Stover (Jul 3, 2011)

What's the deal on this "Black Birch?" Audubon Field Guide has no listing for Black, per se, but Sweet Birch, River Birch and Water Birch have the nickname Black Birch. Which one are you guys talking about? I've got a dead River Birch in the yard that needs to come down...will it be great firewood?


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## shawneyboy (Jul 3, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> What's the deal on this "Black Birch?" Audubon Field Guide has no listing for Black, per se, but Sweet Birch, River Birch and Water Birch have the nickname Black Birch. Which one are you guys talking about? I've got a dead River Birch in the yard that needs to come down...will it be great firewood?



Black Birch is Sweet Birch.  Easily identifiable by the wonderful smell you get when cutting and or splitting.  My wood splitting area smelled like a keg of Birch Beer exploded for a month or so when I processed the cord plus that I got of it.  Gotta do the sniff test, if it smells sweet and yummy it is Black Birch (Sweet Birch) and has more BTUs than Oak.  

Shawn


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## PA. Woodsman (Jul 3, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> What's the deal on this "Black Birch?" Audubon Field Guide has no listing for Black, per se, but Sweet Birch, River Birch and Water Birch have the nickname Black Birch. Which one are you guys talking about? I've got a dead River Birch in the yard that needs to come down...will it be great firewood?



Like Shawn said the "proper" name for it is Black Birch, but it's also called Sweet Birch and around here we call it Cherry Birch; it is GREAT STUFF and like he said the aroma is wonderful! I find it dries pretty quickly when split; it does hold more water than White Birch but split it and get it drying and it'll be fine. It makes great kindlling and quarter-splits because it ignites easily when dry, but it puts out some serious heat when used as fuelwood although it does burn just a little bit fast. But it's great wood and I love it. And that other Birch you have should be good too; the better of the Birches heat-wise and burn time-wise are Yellow Birch and Black Birch, but I don't find any Yellow here in my part of PA.-do you run across any Yellow Shawn?


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## Backwoods Savage (Jul 3, 2011)

splions said:
			
		

> Got about 3 cords of black birch this spring...does it really take a long time to dry?  I thought I would be burning it by December?



Hey splions, welcome to the forum.

As you no doubt have noticed, we recommend getting 2-3 years ahead on your wood supply. Then you do not have to concern yourself on whether the wood is dry enough or not. In addition, if you are that far ahead and something nasty comes your way so that you cannot gather a year's supply, there is no worry because you still have enough to keep your family warm through a winter without cutting or splitting.


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## shawneyboy (Jul 3, 2011)

PA. Woodsman said:
			
		

> . And that other Birch you have should be good too; the better of the Birches heat-wise and burn time-wise are Yellow Birch and Black Birch, but I don't find any Yellow here in my part of PA.-*do you run across any Yellow Shawn*?



Here in NE PA I live in an Oak and Maple forest essentially.  The ocassional Black Birch in some valley areas,  and Paper birch which to me sux for fuel also grows mostly in the higher areas.   I happen to live in the sweet spot where the vast majority of my property is White, Red and Rock Oak, with some Silver Maples thrown in for good measure.   Yellow Birch  is not that common in my immediate area, more Silver and paper.

Shawn


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## Battenkiller (Jul 3, 2011)

splions said:
			
		

> Got about 3 cords of black birch this spring...does it really take a long time to dry?  I thought I would be burning it by December?



Black birch dries _fast_ for its density.  It will be quite burnable come winter, but like all wood, it will benefit more from at least a full year of seasoning.  The initial moisture content of BB drops like a stone, but it still takes time to bring it to perfection.  I have four cord out there seasoning right now.  Greatest stuff in the world IMHO.

FWIW the photo in my avatar was taken a split second after I opened the front doors of my VC Vigilant (no glass in my stove).  The wood was 100% black birch that was so fresh I'm embarrassed to say.  It sat down by the stove for about two weeks and was then ready to burn like you see it in the photo.  No smoke in the box, no smoke from the chimney, either.


Edit:  I just noticed I already mentioned the BB fire in my avatar in a post above.  That's OK... worth pointing out again.  It is potent stuff for sure.


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## splions (Jan 15, 2012)

Just as a follow up, dried well enough to burn.  Anyways...I LOVE this stuff!  I will take it over oak any day!  Burns very hot!  I have some white oak that is two years old and still burns like cr*p!  I still have about two cords left...I will be looking for more this year.


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## artmos (Jan 15, 2012)

good for you,splions! unfortunately no black birch-or any other birch for that matter here in kentucky. have lots of oak,ash,hickory and a myriad other hardwoods to choose from. when i get up to our cottage for the summer in canada i will look for some. up there i burn yellow birch (great),white birch(not bad) and tamarack(very good). i leave the oaks and maples alone because when i'm up there it is usually shoulder season and we don't need the hotter burners. art


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## EatenByLimestone (Jan 15, 2012)

Unfortunately, any time I get ahold of a live black birch I want to pull all of the branches off and chew them.  I really can't be trusted around the trees.  

Matt


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## NH_Wood (Jan 15, 2012)

EatenByLimestone said:
			
		

> Unfortunately, any time I get ahold of a live black birch I want to pull all of the branches off and chew them.  I really can't be trusted around the trees.
> 
> Matt



Ha! Me too, yellow birch included! Cheers!


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## FireBall (Jan 15, 2012)

Agree with all the accolades for black birch.  It is my choice for stoking the fire first thing in the morning, because it gives off quick heat.  Dead limbs are great for kindling.


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## stejus (Jan 15, 2012)

I'm back to using Black Birch for the arctic temps.  Friday night I tried to use 2.5 yr seasoned  White Oak and I was surprised on how long it took to get going.  There were signs of the wood sizzling for about 1/2 hour and then it started to take off.  Yesturday I said I'm going back to the 2.5 yr seasoned Black Birch and I tell you, this stuff is priceless.  Takes off quick and at the end of 10 hours in my stove I still have large glowing coals in the back of the stove.


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## schwaggly (Aug 21, 2012)

I am onto a minty smelling Black Birch stash and couldn't be happier. It is invaiding my sister in laws property and she wants it gone.


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## ScotO (Aug 21, 2012)

schwaggly said:


> I am onto a minty smelling Black Birch stash and couldn't be happier. It is invaiding my sister in laws property and she wants it gone.



love that minty black birch, brings memories of being in the woods in the winter and snapping off a green black birch twig to chew on.....one of those little things I love about hunting deer in the cold of winter.  Great firewood too!


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