Cherry, White Ash, and Hackberry

[JA600L]

So I've been burning white ash mixed with cherry. What I have noticed is an incredible amount of ash in the pan and not as big of coals as I like. Is this common for these woods?

I got into my hackberry pile today and noticed a significant increase in "active cat" burn time in the Ideal Steel. I have yet to see how much ash and coals it makes.

Cherry seems to burn decent but I have a feeling that it is lacking compared to a lot of other hardwoods. Ash burns well too but I noticed that it also doesn't last as long.

 

[gzecc]

How long have these woods been split and stacked off the ground? These are medium quality woods, so you can't expect a great return. Although ash and cherry are IMO very good woods if seasoned correctly.

 

[JA600L]

1- 1/2 years. The cherry was all cut when the sap was down. I realize it's not the best. I'm just wondering if they are known for leaving a lot of ash and less coals. If so I will try to avoid using them in the future. Either way I could easily burn overnight with them in the Ideal Steel with temps in the 20's.

I'm just waiting for the temps to really drop. Then I will unleash the 3 year old oak and locust .

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Cherry does leave a good deal of ash. Hackberry takes 2 years to season in my experience and burns well with good heat. Of the wood you mentioned Ash at 23.6 has the highest BTU rating, then hackberry at 21.2 and in third place is cherry at 18.5.

 

[JA600L]

I cut the hackberry while the sap was down too. I split it a little smaller and gave it good sun and wind exposure. It lit right off in the fire and temperatures climbed like they should. With a black firebox about half full I had 600 degrees in front of the cat and 450 stove top. It hung in there like that for a good 4 hours then slowly came down a little. It's now 6 hours later. I'm going to wait a little then open the primary and see if flames kick back in. That is a good test of wood quality in this particular stove.

 

[Poindexter]

I just paid $9.87 for a little bag of cherry chunks for my smoker. The little bag fit inside a regular grocery sack with a six pack of beer. Had to be double bagged, but I got both items out to my truck in one hand.

I am doing a prime rib tomorrow on hardwood lump charcoal with a couple cherry chunks- maybe three golf balls worth.

If you don't like burning it in your stove...