If you’ve bought yourself a lovely new wood burning range or opted for a sturdy reconditioned Rayburn, congratulations. You’ve hooked yourself a piece of kit that’ll see you right for decades. If not generations. As long as you take good care of it, that is. Yes, they’ll stand a remarkable amount of wear and tear. But the simplest and most unexpected things can end in near-disaster.
You might not think a bit of wood could do much harm, especially to an oven that’s made of cast iron. But here’s a salutary tale, discovered by accident over Easter 2011, the hottest spring bank holiday since 1945. And it all came about through a Sussex camping trip.
How often do you come across a farm campsite where they charge a fiver a night and throw in all the wood you can burn into the bargain? We were amazed at their generosity, so asked the farmer.
He explained that the wood came from a friend who dealt in garden clearance. Because it was Douglas Fir it couldn’t be burned indoors, so he couldn’t sell it for firewood. Why not? He’d discovered the answer to his cost, the hard way. He’d been feeding great chunks of fir into his Rayburn cooker and it had almost completely blocked the pipes with thick, black tar within seven weeks. Which meant a Rayburn service was in order to get it back up and running.
So it appears wood is more than just wood. But which are best for wood burning ranges and indoor fires? It seems firs are packed with oily, gummy tar. The residue it leaves behind is a killer for chimneys and pipes. It’s very difficult to remove, incredibly sticky and very messy indeed. Pine seems to be fine although it too gives off some creosote-like grunge. As a general rule hard woods like oak and cedar tend to burn a lot slower than soft woods like pine, larch, spruce and fir. But apart from that there’s very little information online about what woods are best – and worst – for indoor burning.
Of course range ovens can usually burn a lot more than wood. There’s wood chips and kindling, peat, compressed peat and sawdust briquettes, bituminous and anthracite coals and paper-based household waste. If your local dealer can’t advise on the best types of wood to burn it might be best to stick with those you know are low tar. Anyone who knows a bit about trees should be able to advise you.