When most people think of firewood, they imagine logs of about 16 inches, either round or split into wedges. In fact, the standard way of measuring firewood, the cord, is based off of a log length of 16 inches, stacked in three rows arranged to fill an area 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet. While most of the wood we sell fits this description, we do have longer and shorter logs available for different applications. In addition to “logs” or “splits,” however, we also stock premium hardwood firewood that isn’t long enough to easily stack in a cord, and may be an irregular shape, but is seasoned and burns as well as its bigger cousins: the hardwood “chunk.”
What is Chunk Wood?
All of our premium hardwood firewood comes from the same, responsible source: our local urban forest. The product of tree trimming and removals, our hardwood firewood burns hotter than imported pine of softwoods. But unlike factory-farmed firewood, our reclaimed wood doesn’t always come to us in ideal lengths. When the tree service companies we partner with remove and trim trees, they are not focussed on creating firewood, but on the health and safety of the trees. Many pieces they bring may not be long enough to cut into 16-inch lengths, especially larger sections of trunk from removals. As a result, we end up with processed firewood that is shorter than 12 inches. These become our hardwood “chunks.”
What Can I Use Hardwood Chunks For?
Since hardwood chunks are made of the same wood as split firewood, you can use them in exactly the same way! Traditional fire-building methods, such as the log cabin, may not be as easily accomplished with shorter pieces, however, so you may need to improvise a little. However, far from being a limitation, smaller chunk wood is in many ways more versatile than larger logs.
Hardwood chunks are often preferred by people making their own charcoal or using a home wood-fired grill. The smaller size allows for more precise fire management and is easier to store, carry, and load into standard-sized grills. The rising popularity of smokeless fire pits, like the Solo Stove, illustrates another perfect use for smaller hardwood chunks. For smokeless fire pits to be effective, it is important to limit the wood size and arrangement into a certain area, an application chunk wood is perfect for. Similarly, chimineas and wood-burning stoves often have smaller openings and need smaller pieces of wood.
How is Chunk Wood Sold?
Like regular firewood, hardwood chunks can be sold by quantity or by volume. While hardwood chunk firewood does not stack as neatly as traditional firewood, partial and full cords can still be measured. Since firewood cordage is a measure of volume, not of quantity, a cord of hardwood chunks contains the same amount of wood as a cord of full-size logs, just in smaller pieces.