Just burned my first three bags of the MWP Softies and I would rate them as not bad. The ash and fines are much less than the MWP Blend. I would say though for heat output they are about the same as the Blend. In the end they are a very good shoulder pellet, which is ok, although I was kind of hoping the the Softies would be so good I could use them for my cold weather pellet as it would have saved me some $$ . I do not see that as the case at least for me.