More on the Sugar Maple

[Whitespider]

KSU shows sugar maple and red oak at the same 24 million BTU's per green cord. Silver maple is most plentiful in our area and it's only 18.9 M BTU.

Those BTU charts are nice for making comparisons but I wouldn’t live and die by them. The thing is they can’t tell the whole story. Most are based only on weight at 20% moisture content… a mathematically derived number. Those BTU numbers are “potential” only… usually not anywhere near what you’ll actually get as output into the living space around the stove. And different wood burning appliances will “extract" more or less heat depending… For example a lot of OWB guys burn Cottonwood without complaint.

The burning characteristic of individual species has a lot to do with how many of those BTU’s you can realize as heat value. For example, if you have two different kinds of wood rated at identical BTU’s (weight) and one burns fast with very little coaling while the other burns slower and coals-up… well, the faster burn will send more heat out the flue. Take, as another example, Douglas Fir and Box Elder which are usually rated as containing the same “potential” BTU’s (18 million). A couple years back I burned some Douglas Fir in my old furnace and I can testify that it’s at least 3 times the firewood Box Elder is. Fact is, most of the pines listed as containing fewer BTU’s make far superior heating firewood than Box Elder.

I think this is where elm gets short-changed, because its placement on the BTU chart doesn’t do it justice. American Elm is far better firewood than many of the other species it’s normally listed close to, such as the soft maples, cherry and walnut. And Red Elm really gets slammed; I’d put Red Elm every bit as good as any of the red oaks… maybe even better than some.

Anyway, just some ramblings not really on topic (but it is my thread :msp_tongue… take it for-what-it’s-worth.

 

[Stihl Wielder]

Yes sir, fellas.....sugar maple is one of the best cooking woods. I'm a little partial to apple, though. I have a cord of it JUST for cooking on the pit. I make maple syrup in the spring as a hobby, although this was a lousy year as I only ended up with three weeks of sap run and made 17 gallons of it when I should have made close to 50. I am a big fan of sugar maple!!

 

[Streblerm]

Those BTU charts are nice for making comparisons but I wouldn’t live and die by them. take it for-what-it’s-worth.

Even wood from the same tree can burn differently. Those twisted stump sections tend to be more dense than the limb wood.

I take all the maple I can get. Most of the sugar maple I see around here splits fairly easy. They tend to grow tall and straight. When you get to those "curly" grained sections you better watch out.

It was some norway maple that made me go out and buy a hydraulic splitter. I had about six cords of it and there wasnt a straight grained piece in the lot. They were 36-40" at the base.

I even like silver maple. Unless it is frozen it hand splits tough. since it is soft the maul (even the fiskars) tends to get stuck in the wood. When frozen it seems like it will split just by looking at it.

They all smell great to me.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I wasn't comparing btu. In the Pacific Northwest, we are famous for our alder smoked salmon. That's what the natives use for ages. You're right that alder is a semi-hard wood that is why they burn off so fast and charcoal up so nicely just for cooking, and the smoke is amazing. Alot of people use apple wood for cooking and smoking. Apple has more btu than oak. But we like the cooking quality of alder best. I guess it all depends on personal preferences.

The local farm supply chain store has bags of alder wood there. I'm gonna have to try some, just as soon as I have time to catch some fish to smoke.

 

[dsell]

Those BTU charts are nice for making comparisons but I wouldn’t live and die by them. The thing is they can’t tell the whole story. Most are based only on weight at 20% moisture content… a mathematically derived number. Those BTU numbers are “potential” only… usually not anywhere near what you’ll actually get as output into the living space around the stove. And different wood burning appliances will “extract" more or less heat depending… For example a lot of OWB guys burn Cottonwood without complaint.

I have burned in order of the btu chart: Hedge, black locust, hickory, honeylocust, mulberry, green ash, black walnut, hackberry, american elm, sycamore, silver maple, catalpa, and cottonwood. I can say my results do reflect the chart for the most part. However, it does not work for young growth. A six inch diameter black locust tree doesn't begin to compare to hedge, but a split 24 inch tree absolutely compares. Black locust spreads quicker than red cedar, so I've had lots of young growth to cut. My Dad burned lots of cottonwood because it was readily available.

I threw a big chunk of hickory in my Weber grill on Mother's day and it worked great. It has cured about 1-1/2 years. It thoroughly smoked me, the food, and created plenty of heat.

 

[Streblerm]

Maple smoked pork shoulder on my ghetto smoker. I use propane for heat and maple for smoke.

Maple has a much milder flavor than hickory or apple. Mesquite chips are popular around here but they are a little strong for my taste. Cherry is nice as well.

View attachment 239056

 

[miller1]

Dumb question here guys, is sugar maple and hard maple the same?

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[dsell]

Dumb question here guys, is sugar maple and hard maple the same?

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from Wikipedia, "The wood is one of the hardest and densest of the maples, 740 kg/m3 (46 lb/cu ft), and is prized for furniture and flooring. "

 

[blacklocst]

Dumb question here guys, is sugar maple and hard maple the same?

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It can be for Sugar, It also is referred to as Rock Maple.