# How is Cherry for burning



## dyerkutn (May 27, 2013)

I can get some wood that is basically green for a really great price. There is as lot of red oak, some maple and a whole pile of cherry. How does the cherry compare to oak and maple?


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## bogydave (May 28, 2013)

Cherry is great firewood!
Dries fairly fast & smells good 
Not as many BTU as red oak ,
more than soft maple.
The 3 wood would make a great mix 
Oak 2+ years to season.


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## jeff_t (May 28, 2013)

If you need it for this coming winter, you might be okay with it if it is split fairly small, and stacked in a sunny and windy place. For me, cherry dries really fast, and soft maple is usually right behind it. Oak, however, gets 3 years minimum.

Like Dave said, it sounds like a good mix, and should be easy to sort when you stack it.


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## MasterMech (May 28, 2013)

I burn quite a bit of Black Cherry and it is indeed good fuel.  Nice to handle as it is somewhat lighter than Oak when green and much lighter when dry.  Be prepared tho as the bark will make a mess. It tends to flake off in many small pieces.


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## Paulywalnut (May 28, 2013)

Great mix of wood. Cherry burns nice by itself also.


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## TreePointer (May 28, 2013)

Around here cherry (and other fruit woods for that matter) are preferred for cooking and smoking.  It doesn't impart the bitterness that hickory can.


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## thewoodlands (May 28, 2013)

dyerkutn said:


> I can get some wood that is basically green for a really great price. There is as lot of red oak, some maple and a whole pile of cherry. How does the cherry compare to oak and maple?


 Up here Mother Nature puts about three cord down a year, we like it.

zap


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## ScotO (May 28, 2013)

I love burning cherry......my favorite time of year to burn it is either in the summer when cooking food on the firepit, or in the dead of winter when there is lots of snow on the ground.  I love being out in the backyard in the winter and smelling black cherry burning in the stove......if the word 'cozy' had a scent, it'd smell like black cherry! !


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## Backwoods Savage (May 28, 2013)

dyerkutn said:


> I can get some wood that is basically green for a really great price. There is as lot of red oak, some maple and a whole pile of cherry. How does the cherry compare to oak and maple?


 
Beware that basically green now makes it very suspect for burning next winter. For certain the oak could not be burned without big time problems and would be a waste of time. Some will burn oak after 2 years but we give it 3 miimum and most times even more. Maple depends on if it is soft or hard maple. Soft maple could be cut now and burned next winter so long as it was split immediately and stacked right. It is possible that the cherry might be ready to burn next winter but that is pushing it a bit.

Also bear in mind that the times we are talking about assumes time after being split and stacked. Before that the time does not count.


Understand that many folks burn wood before the ideal drying time has expired. We did it one winter for sure and would really hate to have to do that again! We did not freeze but we also were not comfortable and had to clean the chimney many times that winter. But the point I would like to make is that people will burn wood, like the oak or maple in a short period of time. These are also the folks who have problems getting the stove to operate right. They have problems getting fires started. They have lots of smoke problems and way too much cresote which is a hazard to your health and home. Creosote and chimney fires go hand in hand. Chimney fires and complete loss of homes also can go hand in hand. So I always wonder, is it really worth taking the chance?

In our case, I suffered an injury and went far too long hoping that I'd be capable of putting up wood in time for winter. After all, we had plenty of dead elm with the bark already off and with that, the top half of the tree usually can be burned right away but not the bottom part. However, my physical condition did not improve and we were forced to buy some wood. We thought we had a good source but, like most people find out, the wood was not ready to burn. It was white ash and there is an untrue belief about white ash being ready to burn right after cutting it. That just is not so. But as stated, we got through it with minimum problems. I think we cleaned the chimney at least 6 times that winter. I also remember thawing water pipes more than once and we also closed off a big part of the house because we just did not have enough heat. We also had no backup heat because we have no furnace. We did use an electric heater in the bathroom for when we took showers but that is the only other heat we had. I never want to experience that again!

In my humble opinion, if I had no wood right now I would be searching for two types of wood. First would be some of that dead elm and second would be some of the dead white ash. There is a lot of dead ash in places because of the borer and we do have some that could be cut now and burned next winter but not every dead ash is in that condition. 


Good luck.


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## dyerkutn (May 28, 2013)

Thanks everyone for all the great advice and information. 

Dennis--I had already been converted to your way of thinking quite a few months ago because of you and all the others who are adamant about dry wood--really dry. Even without personal experience I am a believer!! In fact, at this point I am totally creosote-phobic especially with my new stove!!

I had already gotten 1 1/2 cords of mixed hardwood  that was split about a year ago-stacked it criss cross loosely on pallets-that will wait until 2014-15. I have to purchase everything c/s/d. I am about to purchase this green wood which will wait till the winter after that.Then, because that will not be enough, I will still be looking to purchase some more of the so called "seasoned" wood for 2014-15 and more green wood for the following year. I just hope I have enough space to store it all. I am figuring that for this coming winter I will use some wood I have left from last winter plus some ecobricks and also kiln-dried. But it is a lot cheaper to get green wood because seasoning it in my yard is free!! So the more of that I can fit in the yard well in advance of use the better and cheaper it will be down the road. 

Because I have been doing so much asking and reading on this forum, I feel  a lot more confident and knowledgeable when I speak to people selling wood. One guy even commented "you really know your wood" and went on to give me a lot of more specifics about his wood than he probably would have otherwise.

You all are an amazing wealth of knowledge. And I am learning more and more.


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## Backwoods Savage (May 28, 2013)

Thanks dyerkutn. I can just picture that conversation you had. Probably left the poor guy scratching his head over that one. lol


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## Thistle (May 28, 2013)

Scotty Overkill said:


> I love burning cherry......my favorite time of year to burn it is either in the summer when cooking food on the firepit, or in the dead of winter when there is lots of snow on the ground. I love being out in the backyard in the winter and smelling black cherry burning in the stove......if the word 'cozy' had a scent, it'd smell like black cherry! !


 

Brought another 25lb box of Black Cherry ( 3 smaller fence row trees were dead 2-3 yrs,just discovered & dropped in mid March) to a different guy on the crew today.

He smiled like a kid at Christmas time & patted me on the shoulder,"Holy Crap that's amazing,thanks"

I prefer Cherry for most all smoking now,whether beef,pork,poultry or fish.Apple isnt easy to find around here (quite a few smaller commercial orchards but they wont let you cut any of the culls or windfall like they did years ago because of "liability issues ) And I refuse to pay retail price for the bagged stuff at grocery stores,big box stores or similar places.I have maybe 100lbs of small chunks in boxes stored in garage from cutting years agnce in a while I get lucky on CL & some homeowner has a storm damaged one they want removed.Otherwise I use it sparingly,like those Morel mushrooms I dehydrated a couple years back....

Hickory is great for pork,can be overpowering sometimes though.I normally use it 50/50 with White or Red Oak.


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## Hogwildz (May 28, 2013)

I have a lot of cherry I burned in the last few years, and a good amount for the next year or so. Personally for me, I can think of other species I would rather have. Smells nice, but can't smell it with the door closed. Burns good, IMO about a medium burn time from it, and leaves a lot of ash. Not much for coals, more ash. Nothing wrong with it, I just prefer a harder wood with more longer lasting burn times and a bit more coals for restart.


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## raybonz (May 28, 2013)

I agree with what the others have said and will also add that cherry is a good coaling wood and by that I mean it burns down to nice chunks which is good for keeping a fire going 24/7. I also use cherry for smoking and it smells great and imparts a nice sweet smoky flavor on your meats..

Ray


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## Paulywalnut (May 28, 2013)

Scotty Overkill said:


> I love burning cherry......my favorite time of year to burn it is either in the summer when cooking food on the firepit, or in the dead of winter when there is lots of snow on the ground. I love being out in the backyard in the winter and smelling black cherry burning in the stove......if the word 'cozy' had a scent, it'd smell like black cherry! !


Hey save that romantic stuff for the wifey


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## Cluttermagnet (May 30, 2013)

Cherry is definitely worth keeping around and adding to your mix of Oak, Hickory, etc. Does need about a year to season, as the others have already mentioned. I burn plenty of Cherry and will take any I'm offered.


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## Woody Stover (May 30, 2013)

Cluttermagnet said:


> Cherry is definitely worth keeping around and adding to your mix of Oak, Hickory, etc. Does need about a year to season, as the others have already mentioned. I burn plenty of Cherry and will take any I'm offered.


For sure!  Great stuff to have in addition to the long-haul woods. It really does need that full year of drying to get pretty good, though. I'm sitting on a two-year dry cord, and I stacked another half-cord plus a couple months ago. Always looking for more. 


Paulywalnut said:


> Hey save that romantic stuff for the wifey


I believe the OP is a she, if I'm not mistaken...


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## Paulywalnut (May 30, 2013)

Woody Stover said:


> For sure!  Great stuff to have in addition to the long-haul woods. It really does need that full year of drying to get pretty good, though. I'm sitting on a two-year dry cord, and I stacked another half-cord plus a couple months ago. Always looking for more.
> I believe the OP is a she, if I'm not mistaken...


Scott will be surprised!


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## dyerkutn (May 30, 2013)

Woody Stover said:


> I believe the OP is a she, if I'm not mistaken


Yes she is!! I am the one in the middle of the avatar!!  Thanks again for the the great info. Will probably do another post soon to get some wood ID.


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## My Oslo heats my home (May 30, 2013)

I was able to get 2 black cherrys a couple years ago, both trees were victims of an early winter ice storm. A good middle of the road soft hardwood. Heavy when green, fairly light when dry. I used it in the mix in the fall and spring. As others have said, lots of ash comes from burning it. I also had the worst time splitting it, knarly and stringy like green oak. Haven't had any since but would take it again as a mixing wood.


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## dyerkutn (May 30, 2013)

My Oslo heats my home said:


> Heavy when green


Yes--I started moving some of it around and it is really heavy. Some people think it makes a lot of ash and no coals and some people think it leaves good coal for relighting. Hmmmm.  I will have to wait till next winter to find out--it is going to be 90 degrees for the next few days.


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## Woody Stover (May 31, 2013)

dyerkutn said:


> Some people think it makes a lot of ash and no coals and some people think it leaves good coal for relighting. Hmmmm.


It coals pretty well but doesn't burn as long, so maybe the coals are gone by the time they come back to reload.   When I mix in a few splits of Oak or something in the back of the box, it stretches out that burn time and leaves some coals to work with.


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## raybonz (May 31, 2013)

dyerkutn said:


> Yes she is!! I am the one in the middle of the avatar!! Thanks again for the the great info. Will probably do another post soon to get some wood ID.


You look like Wilma Flintstone..

Ray


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## Hogwildz (May 31, 2013)

If you mix oak with cherry, the coals you see at reload are from the oak. Unless the cherry ain't dry enough yet, then it or any wood will leave charcoal. None of the cherry I been burning the last few years leaves jack for coals. And yes it does burn off long before the oak. And leaves more ash. In my humble experience. the harder/denser woods leave more coals, the medium stuff leaves more ash(cherry, black walnut, maple), soft stuff burns quick & hot and leaves little of either.


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## raybonz (May 31, 2013)

http://forestry.usu.edu/htm/forest-products/wood-heating

Interesting to note the coaling.. Oak and cherry say excellent..


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## scroungerjeff (May 31, 2013)

raybonz said:


> http://forestry.usu.edu/htm/forest-products/wood-heating
> 
> Interesting to note the coaling.. Oak and cherry say excellent..



Interesting site. It is also interesting to see they list black locust as difficult to split. I think of locust as easy.


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## dyerkutn (May 31, 2013)

raybonz said:


> You look like Wilma Flintstone..


Only a rough resemblance---thanks for the link to the chart--very interesting. I suppose the proof is in the burning--or will be. In any case---the cherry smells wonderful in my driveway!


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## NH_Wood (Jun 1, 2013)

You won't be disappointed with cherry - I seem to only get about a 1/2 cord a year, but love it for fall and spring fires - smells awesome - dries fast, etc. Cheers!


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## raybonz (Jun 1, 2013)

dyerkutn said:


> Only a rough resemblance---thanks for the link to the chart--very interesting. I suppose the proof is in the burning--or will be. In any case---the cherry smells wonderful in my driveway!


Smells even better when you place some small pieces in foil and poke holes in the top and place over hot coals 

Ray


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## Cluttermagnet (Jun 2, 2013)

Cherry doesn't coal near as good as Oak, but it does coal. Now Tulip Poplar- that would be a non-coaling firewood. Ditto for Pine, etc. Cherry coals are sort of half-out, half dark looking, don't really look like much- but stir them and you will see a lot of coaling there. That bed of Cherry coals will definitely start some new hardwood splits if you lay them across it. Lots of folks mix woods. It can't hurt to have a split or two of Oak go in with every batch, for the excellent coaling you will get.


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