We've not had a woodburning stove, but in the fireplace in the past, I've burned a wide variety of whatever wood was handy and didn't cost anything but my time and labor. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] I think oak is hard to beat, but worst I ever burned for popping and sparks was old, well dried pecan, and the hottest I ever used was mesquite. I learned, when burning mesquite to not make the fire too big when, 35 years ago, I cooked the mortar out from between the fire bricks in the fireplace. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]