Almond Firewood

If you're in California or anywhere in the West with old orchard wood available, almond is hands-down one of the best firewood species you can burn. Period.

26.7 million BTU per cord with a dry weight of 4,298 lbs, that puts almond in elite territory, outperforming almost every common hardwood including white oak and sugar maple. Plug it into the heating calculator and the number of cords you need drops fast. The coal quality is excellent, which means long, steady overnight burns with real heat output.

Splitting is medium difficulty. Not the easiest, not the worst. Almond tends to have some gnarly grain at the crotches, but the straight sections split clean enough with a decent maul. Smoke is low and sparks are few, so it's well-suited for a wood stove or insert. And the fragrance. It's a pleasant, mildly sweet smell. Not overpowering, just nice.

The trade-off for all that density is patience. Almond needs 18 to 24 months to season properly. You really can't rush it. I'd split it as soon as possible after cutting to speed things up, stack it off the ground, and give it room to breathe.

Almond is a genuine primary heating wood, and it doubles as fantastic cooking and smoking wood. It's in the cherry family, so it adds great flavor to meat. Availability is the limiting factor. You'll mostly find it in the West, often from old orchards being cleared. If you can get your hands on a truckload, do it and don't think twice. Similar burn quality to Black Cherry, though almond hits harder on the BTU front.