How to burn organic Agarwood by JustOud

So perhaps you're just getting into the world of beautiful aromatic oud, agarwood or aloeswood. But how does one burn this exceptionally rare wood piece in such a way to preserve its resin content maximally?

Here are three methods:

1. On coal, with an incense burner (or on anything safe from high levels of heat)

This is honestly probably the most simple and widely-used method, particularly in the Arab World.

Heat the coal up. This can be on the hob or with a match. But here is the key:

DO NOT ADD THE PURE WOOD CHIPS STRAIGHT AWAY.

WAIT FOR THE COAL TO HEAT FOR 10 MINS, UNTIL THERE IS A LAYER OF WHITE ASH.

To enjoy the true benefits, you have to be a little cautious while dealing with the coal you see. Too fast and you will just be burning great agarwood and this will result in a lot of smoke and wasted money. The idea is to want for the coal to manifest a healthy white layer before applying the agarwood chips. 

Note that unlike method 2 below, an incense burner/coal burns pure agarwood chips quickly. To tone this down, you can use something called a Mica Sheet.

2. On an Electric Heater

If you are fond of aesthetics and looking for a premium method of burning your favourite wood, you can get yourself a high-quality electric heater. These small devices heat the agarwood gently. Do note that you will not notice the wood being burned or ignited.

We recommend an electric burner with temperature control and time control, if possible.

Fire up your electric burner to around 150 degrees Celsius or 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Apply 3 chips, with the darkest resin facing down.

Please note It takes around 15-20 minutes for the heat to reach the resin inside the wood chips. You’ll notice the sweet agarwood fragrance seep through, slowly.

We recommend around 2-3 hours of heating, flipping the wood chips halfway through to release fresh fragrance trapped inside the resin on the other side.

3. On a naked flame

Another way of extracting the agarwood fragrance is by simply lighting it up.

We do not recommend this usually.

Not only is this method a little risky compared to the former ones, but it is inexpensive, quite wasteful and does not release the slower seeping beautiful fragrance as required.

This is really for a quick test somewhere, if you have no other way of burning the wood. Simply switch to a flame and bask in the fragrance while making sure of your safety.

A very powerful method of increasing the beauty of the scent is to brush or add a drop of your favourite attar on the wood chip, of your choosing, before burning. This accentuates the smell even further.

Conclusion

Pure agarwood chips are amazing and culturally and religiously one of the most long-lasting forms of aromatherapy around. We provide exceptionally aged, high-quality chips for you to test out as and when you wish. Whether with a coal burner, electric burner or (hopefully not) a naked flame, you'll love our JustOud pieces from the forests of Bangladesh.