So, why do people still say hardwood is better than softwood? Because, in its natural state, softwood often oozes sap (or pitch) which, if burned, will create creosote and burn dirty. Nobody wants that. But we can’t underestimate the power of manufacturing – it’s magical, and here’s why:

We make our softwood pellets out of locally and responsibly sourced forestry by-products, i.e., sawmills send us their leftover wood shavings and sawdust that they would otherwise throw away (everyone wins!). Our quality manufacturing process puts this residual sawdust under extreme heat and pressure to compress the wood fiber into pelletized form. By doing so, pelletization completely changes the structure of the wood fiber, stripping it of sap, pitch, fines and moisture, i.e., it eliminates all the yucky stuff that gives softwood a bad name. Additionally, the compression process ensures that our softwood pellets achieve a high density and, thus, will experience great burn time. Some people have even experienced 5 to 10 hours of more burn time with high quality softwood pellets than with hardwood pellets, lending a higher value per bag!

With this being said, it is imperative that the manufacturer uses only clean, high quality wood fiber that doesn’t contain dirty, sappy bark. Fortunately for us, our production facility is ideally located among the rich Virginia forest, boasting the highest quality of aged Southern Yellow Pine. Additionally, the softwood harvest season lasts longer into the winter months than hardwood, so you’re less likely to run out of softwood pellets when you need them the most.