Whether you burn firewood when hosting a backyard party or use it year-round to keep your home warm, you need wood that burns safely and well. Seasoned firewood helps fires burn clean and hot, with less waste and cleanup. If you’ve never burned seasoned firewood, use this guide to learn how it’s produced and about the benefits of using it for your next fire.

What Is It?

Seasoned firewood is wood that’s dry, with moisture and sap removed via kiln drying or evaporation. Although any type of wood may be seasoned, certain woods produce brighter, cleaner fires, including hardwoods, like oak and walnut, and softwoods, like cedar, pine, and fir.

How Is It Made?

Seasoning firewood in the traditional manner through evaporation takes time and patience. When a tree is cut, its moisture content may be close to 60%. To burn clean, the moisture content of firewood should be 20% or less. Six to 12 months are typically needed to dry wood completely. Splitting firewood, stacking it where it’s exposed to direct sunlight, and avoiding direct contact with soil will hasten the drying process.

What Are Its Benefits?

Seasoned firewood burns clean, bright, and hot. A fire is said to burn clean if the amount of smoke it generates is minimal. For this reason, use only seasoned firewood in an indoor fireplace or woodstove. Additionally, clean-burning fires produce less waste and require less wood to keep going.

If you want to understand more about the uses and benefits of seasoned firewood, talk to the professionals at Jay’s Firewood & Mulch in Perryville, MO. Serving the Greater St. Louis region, they provide a range of services to care for and maintain your yard, whether you require full-service landscaping, tree removal, or wood for your backyard firepit. To learn more about Jay’s Firewood & Mulch, visit them online, or call 877-492-2970.