Is there a wood with VERY white ash......

Poplar leaves the whitest ash around here, next would be seasoned willow. We use it in shoulder season...next day I look at it's whiteness and think... 'hey this should be good for something'.

I always thought that it had to do with combustion???

Basswood,tulip,and elm.

I have noticed Alder produces a real white ash

Why?
(Someone had to ask) :cheese:

The white powder/ash is called potash. You're right it is good for something and the next time you eat a vegetable you're gonna eat some. What'll they think of next? How about fertilizer in soda pop? (phosphoric acid) Makes better blossoms...Cave2k

I find that dry cottonwood leaves a very white ash. We burn it on the shoulder seasons as it burns hot, but pretty quick with almost no coaling.

Over the years, it seems young red maple ( thin bark and trunks under 10-12" ) seem to produce small coals and "powder white ashes"...compared to the Likes of Pignut/shagbark Hickory and Red/White Oak.
I've also noticed that the base trunks of medium/large sized red oak...I'm talking about where the tree gets notched and felled (has really thick course bark) seem almost petrified after years of settled sap/nutrients into the base...they burn hot and long and leave big coals in the morning and not alot of powder white ashes. The same goes for base trunks splits of Pignut Hickory I burned last year which I was able to get 10+ hours out of my Oslo.


WoodButcher

I don't know about a wood with very white ash, but there are some plant ashes that are particularly white. Rice hull ash is almost all silica. It's used in traditional Japanese glazes. Folks make ash out of other plants to simulate it. I saw a good one made from Japanese knot weed (I HATE that stuff). Very white.

Dumped out on the ground? In the shape of letters?

Craig....are you trying to contact aliens???


My very dry (2 yrs seasoned) cherry has been burning nice n white...


*hands craig an aluminum foil hat* You'll need this when they arrive...

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

Craig, I will burn some Alder which is plentifull in my area and get back to you. Oh ya what is it worth? I'm just another ash hole looking for a buck!
Thomas

I agree Quaking Aspen, most folks call it Poplar in my area has the whitest ash. In contrast I find that rock (hard) maple leaves the darkest ash. When I first started burning I thought it had to do with how well I was burning but had much more to do with the type of wood I was burning.

I would have no idea, but based on the responses, it would appear that wood with lower BTU's seem to produce the whitest ash. That would leave me to believe it has more to do with the heat and speed at which it is burned than the actual wood type.

P.S. My wife saw me getting into the shower the other morning, and told me I had the whitest ash she ever saw. I may have mis-heard her though.

All I know is that hard maple, which is a very dense wood, produces the finest, whitest ash in my EKO 60 gasifier. Beech, another very dense wood, produces dirty gray ash.

Other EKO 60 owners I've talked to say the same thing.

So maybe it depends on how you burn it.