You want a fire that heats quickly, whether it’s in an open flame, a fireplace or outside. That’s why you need a fire. You will want to know the best wood for burning, so you can buy or prepare firewood.

Hardwoods such as oak, maple and ash will give you the longest-lasting, most efficient coals. Hardwoods have a higher fuel burn rate than softwoods like pine. This means they last longer and can burn hotter.

You need a dense, dry wood that emits a flame hot enough to melt your skin. Continue reading to learn about 10 firewoods that burn the fastest and how long they can last in the fire.

Determining ‘Hotness’ In Firewood

All of us were taught early on that fire is hot by our parents. It takes more scientific methods to determine how hot firewood really is.

BTUs (or British Thermal Units) are used to measure heat from heaters and firewood. One BTU refers to the heat energy required to raise water’s temperature by 1 degree.

The heat output of firewood is determined by the number of BTUs produced per cord. The standard measurement of a firewood load is the cord. It is often sold by the length of the cord. A cord of wood is equal to 128 cubic feet split, stacked firewood, or a stack of 4’x4’x8′ wood.

10 Hottest Burning Firewoods

All of these types of firewood are assumed to have been properly seasoned prior to being burned. A wood that has been properly seasoned is one with a moisture content of around 20% or less.

A moisture meter is the only way to determine if firewood has been properly seasoned. The Moisture Meter for Wood can be used to determine if firewood is properly seasoned.

You can simply insert the pins in the wood to get a digital reading of the moisture content.

Always ensure that you check the moisture content before using firewood.

Let’s now get to the big question: What is the best-burning firewood? You won’t be able to buy all these firewoods, but you might find some that you like, or can even cut your own.

10. Sugar Maple

There are many maple tree varieties. These range from red maple, silver maple and red maple to bigleaf maple and sugar maple. We will be focusing on sugar maple as it is the most popular maple variety.

The maple tree responsible for sugar maple syrup is also the maple tree that makes delicious maple syrup which you can drizzle on pancakes, waffles, and french toast. The tree can no longer be used for syrup production. However, you can still make firewood from it.

Maple wood is an excellent choice for firewood. Although it isn’t as dense and hot as oak or hickory firewood, maple wood can be used for all purposes.

Maple shouldn’t be left to age too long as it can develop a bad smell when burned.

After six months of seasoning your sugar maple wood, you’ll get a long-lasting, hot-burning wood with a wonderful aroma.

Some people say maple syrup smells when it burns. You might end up craving pancakes after your house smells like maple syrup.

Sugar maple firewood that has been properly seasoned produces around 24 million BTUs per meter of wood. Let’s compare it with a ton coal to understand the context. This is used to generate electricity for many communities.

26 million BTUs are produced by one ton of coal; considering that a cord of wood weighs approximately one-and-a half tons, sugar maple firewood makes a great heating source.

9. Mulberry

These trees are a common sighting on property. They are known for producing tons of almost tasteless berries that look like elongated blackberries.

Avoid walking through them as the purple juice can stain your shoes. Mulberry trees are also a magnet for birds that flock to these trees in search of the ripe berries.

Although berries are edible, they lack much flavor. They can be used to make jams, wines and desserts. This is because you add flavor.

Mulberry trees can also be seen as weeds because of their large seed dispersal and fast growth.

This is done by the birds, who leave seeds in their poop. You can make great firewood by cutting down this tree and splitting it.

Mulberry firewood has a long seasoning period. It will need to be seasoned for at least one year after it has been cut and split. Seasoning Mulberry trees takes longer because of the high moisture content in the wood.

Once properly seasoned, Mulberry wood burns hot and produces little smoke. Mulberrywood will burn hot and will not produce much smoke.

Mulberry wood is the second contender on our list of hottest burning woods. It comes in at 25.8 millions BTUs per cord.

8. Black Birch

There are many species of birch wood, all of which are good for making firewood. But the black birch is the best. The distinctive characteristics of black birch include dark brown bark, shiny, dark green serrated leaf that turns bright yellow in autumn and shiny, dark green leaves.

Black birch trees can be a dense variety of birch trees. The wood is made up of long, thick fibers that make it a very hot-burning and long-lasting firewood.

It takes less than one year to grow a black birch tree.

Black birch is a heat-producing wood that packs 26.8 million BTUs per cord.

7. Applewood

Applewood is another wood with a wonderful smell that produces scorching heat. The same tree that bears the fruit is also a wonderful heating source.

Applewood can be difficult to find because it is more lucrative as an apple producer. You should definitely grab it if you find some.

Perhaps a neighbor needs to take down their apple tree or their orchard to replace some of its trees. If so, you might be able to offer to help by taking the trees to your local firewood processing facility.

It’s great for heating up your home, and the delicious smoke gives meats a wonderful smoky flavor. Applewood-smoked bacon, chicken, and barbecue anyone? Please! Please fill my plate.

It is great for heating your home with firewood. It takes approximately a year for applewood to mature, but it is worth the wait.

It will likely last for between 5 and 6 hours in a fire.

Apple firewood is a step up in temperature, coming in at 27 million BTUs per pound of firewood.

I love applewood trees! They produce the most smoke overall!

6. Hornbeam

Hornbeam wood, which is a rare species, is a great choice for firewood. It is often difficult to find them because they are so tall and old.

Because they are so similar to other trees, it is difficult to identify them. The undulating appearance and shape of the hornbeam tree’s limbs is one of their distinguishing features.

The limbs appear to have cords running beneath smooth bark. The leaves are very similar to those of birch trees, but the serrations on them are slightly larger.

These trees can be very difficult to split for some. If you don’t have one, you might need to use a hydraulic splitter to cut the hornbeam.

Hornbeam wood is also very volatile and needs to be seasoned for a while. You’ll notice similar characteristics in hornbeam wood if you have some experience with avocados.

Wood takes about a year to dry in premium conditions. However, it is best to wait at least two seasons before drying the wood. Once the wood has dried enough to burn it, it can become moldy and go bad very quickly.

You wait for your green avocado to ripen. But once it does, there is a small window of time before it turns brown and unappetizing.

The Hornbeam is a great choice for firewood, despite its unpredictable nature.

A hornbeam bed made of coals will shine bright orange for hours. It produces 27.1 million BTUs per cord. This wood will keep your home warm and cozy.

5. Beech

Halfway through this list we come across the magnificent beech tree. These trees can reach over 100 feet in height, so you might end up with lots of firewood from one tree.

Although beech firewood emits a faint, almost nutty scent when it is burned, it shines due to the intense heat it produces.

This is because wood has a low moisture content after it finishes seasoning. However, beech trees can have a moisture content between 12% and 17%.

This low moisture is what makes firewood so popular. Beech is not the best choice for firewood. If you cut it yourself, it will need to be allowed to dry out for at least two years.

You will get more smoke if you leave the wood to season for one year before you start burning beech firewood.

Also, beechwood can be difficult to split. A hydraulic splitter is better than a maul or splitting an ax.

With a wood that produces 27.5 million BTUs per meter of wood, patience will pay off. This wood can be used in your fireplace or woodstove to light a fire in the night. When you get up in the morning, there will be a warm bed of coals ready for you to start a fire again.

4. Hickory

Hickory firewood is readily available because it is found along the east coast of the United States and Canada. It also grows in the midwest. Because of its extraordinary strength, Hickory wood can be used for flooring, tool handles, furniture, and other uses.

The nuts of Hickory trees are also enjoyed by squirrels, deer, and humans.

Hickory is a great choice for firewood. Because of its heat, durability, and availability, hickory is one of the most popular firewoods. The pleasant aroma of Hickory firewood is used in many charcoals and chips for barbecue smokers.

Because it is extremely difficult, splitting this dense wood will be a tedious task. I’ve seen people use a sharp ax to cut logs. It will take approximately a year for it to be split. Once it is season, you’ll have one of the most durable and hottest-burning firewoods available.

Hickory firewood produces little smoke and does not emit many sparks. One cord of hickory wood will produce approximately 28.5 million BTUs heat.

These trees can provide warmth in the cold winter months if you have them on your property.

If you are looking for something that will burn longer than just hotter, take a look to our complete list of slowest-burning firewoods

3. Black Locust

Next on our list is the black locust. This tree is among the fastest growing trees, but it is still very dense. Softwoods such as pine and other evergreen species are the most common fast-growing trees.

In many places, the black locust tree is considered to be an invasive species because it grows so quickly. It is not enough to just cut them down. To get rid of black locusts, some people resort to herbicides.

The National Resources Conservation Service says that black locust can be an invasive species. They create a net of shadows in areas where they are introduced, which makes it difficult for other sun-loving plants to survive. They can become so dense that little ground vegetation is able to grow beneath them.

If you’re looking for firewood, this may be a good option. Your neighbors and people who are familiar with these trees might allow you to come in and trim them.

Even though black locust is dense, it’s easy to split wood from. It won’t take you too long to split one block. You only need to season it for one year before you can burn it. Once it’s done, you will have high-quality firewood. You may be saying that you sense a “but” coming, and I believe you are right…

The thorns of black locust trees are long and sharp. Protective gloves are necessary when working with this wood. These Wells Lamont Men’s Heavy Duty Leather Ranching and Fencer Gloves are made from heavy duty leather. These leather gloves are thick and will protect you against the thorns from black locust trees.

Once you’ve dealt with the insidious and unsightly thorns, your firewood will produce 29.3 million BTUs per stick of wood.

Black locust firewood can be achieved with the right equipment and a little extra caution.

2. White Oak

You can’t go wrong with any type of oak for firewood. Oak firewood is, in my humble opinion the king of all firewood. Although it might not burn as hot or emit a sweet aroma like cherry or applewood, oak firewood is the best.

We use white oak because it has been proven that white Oak makes more firewood than red oak.

It’s more abundant than other firewoods, so it’s generally better!

Some woods burn hotter than others, while some burn longer but not much. Oak fires are more popular than any other wood because they are easy to split, long-lasting, low smoke, high heat, and availability.

Oak firewood can be used all night. After you have made a solid bed of coals, it is possible to add a few logs to your firewood, then go to sleep to warm embers that can be easily stoked again.

White oak takes a year to mature. White oak retains a lot of moisture so it needs to be seasoned for a year. Green wood, also known as wet or green wood, is more likely to smoke than properly seasoned firewood. It doesn’t emit as much heat and can be harder to burn.

White oak is the most prolific oak tree for heat output. Oak trees produce a lot of heat, but white oak has the highest heat output at 30.7 million BTUs per cord.

To see more information, you can visit our complete list of best oak trees for wood here.

1. Osage Orange

We reach the top of our list for the hottest firewoods. It’s not available everywhere so it can be difficult to split. However, if you want heat as hot and as intense as Hades’ toejam you can’t go wrong choosing osage orange.

This tree can also be called the horse apple. However, it is not an apple or orange tree. When cut or crushed, it produces a sticky, latex-like, green, grapefruit-sized sap.

Because of its large fruit, many people find it a nuisance. It is a thorny tree, so if it is cut down, many thorny offshoots will grow from the tree and continue growing.

Osage orange wood can be so dense that you will need extra sharpened chains if you are cutting down one tree.

Split it as soon you can, because wood that has dried becomes more difficult to split.

You can cut and split a few cords from osage orange to make firewood. Leave it seasoning for around a year. It can be burned after six months according to some, but I would leave it for a few months more just in case.

It will heat up quickly when you burn this wood. People have complained about damage to wood-burning stoves from burning this firewood.

Use osage orange firewood. It is better to use cherry instead. To keep the night cool, you can also burn it outside on a campfire.

However, this firewood is not suitable for use as fireplace wood. The showering spark show that Osage orange produces is akin to the 4th of July celebration. The firewoods on this list spark or crackle only occasionally, while the horse apple tree sparks sparks almost every second.

Nebraska Game and Parks claims that dried, seasoned, and osage orange wood has the highest number of BTUs among native trees. The wood produces significant sparks when it burns.

Even after seasoning osage orange properly, thick, sticky sap is still left behind. This is why sparks occur. The wood will burn, and the sap will crackle, releasing sparks in an endless stream.

Osage orange wood emits a staggering 32.9million BTUs of heat per wire. It also produces fireworks stands worth of sparks

Osage orange is the unstoppable heat source for firewood. However, with all the sparks that it produces, you would be better off using white oak firewood. You see why oak is the king in firewood? Wink, wink.

That’s A Wrap!

These firewoods can be used in many ways, including in a fireplace, a wood-burning stove, or outdoors in a campfire setting.

You get about 20 million BTUs per pound of firewood. This will keep your home warm. You can’t go wrong if you want firewood that will withstand the winter chill like a champion prize-fighter.

Good luck with your journey to find firewood!