I’ve just started a new woodpile and I’m burning some well seasoned burred and knotty Elm. Thing is its leaving a lot of unburned, charcoal-like embers to clear out of the firebox in the morning. I checked the flue pipe and its clean as a whistle and I checked the flue joints for air leaks too to see if it was the stove at fault and found nothing.

Does burred Elm typically leave this sort of deposit in the firebox?

Never tried to burn any so cant really help, but if its no good for burning you could always make it into chopping boards to sell in your new gallery.

Chopping board of much expense

If they are charcoal like it could be down to the dense bobbly nature of the burr, elm is very hard when seasoned. Just leave the lumps in and light another fire on top and burn them again. I’ve had very dead oak burn and remain like the log, but charcoal it has then fallen to bits when poked next day

Have you checked the moisture McM?
I’ve found elm to be the best firewood I’ve ever used and grab it whenever I can.

But – it needs a good 3 years to season ime.

I think this is where the common opinion that elm is a bad firewood comes from, people burning it after ‘seasoning’ it for a year.

The stuff I’m butning now isn’t burry but does have plenty knots. Nothing left in th ashpan but white dust in the morning.

Elm wood burns like churchyard mould, E’en the very flames are cold

They knew something them oldies…

These old rhymes are nonsense, any wood properly seasoned will burn on a modern wood burning stove. Seasoned elm is one of the hottest there is.

Bedmaker, I put a chalk mark on the store with the date the last logs went in. it’s almost exactly two years they’ve been in there drying. the air flow was good and there was no sign of mustiness. I don’t have a moisture meter yet.

I’ve seen that rhyme before, but it seems to give out a fair heat and it burns slowly. I’ve been working out of the house a bit and tend to keep banking up the stove as I go out rather than letting it burn down, perhaps that’s contributing to the build up. I usually run it with the vent wide open too.

Righog, that’s a seriously expensive cheese board. I’m wincing that I’m burning similar wood.

I’m wincing that I’m burning similar wood.

Burred elm? And you’re burning it? 🙁

I found elm the best firewood I’ve used. A bugger to split mind and I gave it three years to dry.

It burns down to a long lasting bed of embers which give out a good heat. I didn’t find the embers unburnt in the morning but if I did I’d just leave them there to be used up by the next burn. Good stuff charcoal!

I’ve been riddling the ashes and recycling the charcoal back into the stove.

Before I built the splitter Elm was really tough to split, often I would have to cut it into loaf sized chunks with the chainsaw.

I had a few elm trunks laid in a wet steep pasture for almost 20 years and they were still like trying to cut stone with a chainsaw when I eventually got them logged up. Top notch fire wood though!

Possibly a first world kind of problem?