Super Cedar .......

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I don't know if the method has a name, but as much as I like top down for non-super cedar starting I have a different method for my SC starts...

I line the bottom of the stove with 2-3 splits (whatever it takes) to make a wood floor. Then I put 2 medium splits on that leaving a space between them (all splits are parallel btw). This gap is where the SC is going to be placed. I find a couple smaller splits to then place on top of these two splits that will lean over and touch making a roof. This leaves a space that sort of looks like I pulled a split out of the middle. I then place a piece of SC in the middle of the space (lit of course). I place this piece leaning against one of the two side splits so there is a decent amount of surface area exposed. The piece is somewhere around 1/3 to 1/4 of a SC and I try to center it in the pile. Then I simply open the air up full and close the door. The flame seems to find its way up to the top smaller splits and fill the inside area (and floor) fairly quick - lots of airflow space etc and it generally takes off and I will adjust air down once everything is engulfed so that more heat stays in the stove to get it up to temp for cat engagement.

Since all of these splits are of a decent size I don't generally have to feed any more to the stove for a while - I get to cat light-off temps and can cruise within short order. If I want more wood in there I put more behind the side pieces or under the 'floor' effectively raising the whole light off section before ignition. My goal has always been to not have to open the door after lighting as I simply don't have time to mess around with the stove, I have to get it going and stable with minimal attention. With this method I can lay the fire well in advance and just have to light the SC piece and push it into the hole with the poker. Clearly lighting these splits requires they be dry - I did have trouble once when I had not one but _two_ sizzlers in the stack - that one filled the firebox with smoke and took a while to get going (talk about a bad day!).
 
BrotherBart said:
Todd said:
Treacherous said:
Todd said:
Yeah, they do work great but I'd rather save the money and just buy a pkg of 3 fire logs at Menards for $5 and cut them up for starters, works just as well.

Do you slice them with a bandsaw?

I bought the waxless logs and all you have to do is take a chisel down every inch of the log and you end up with a bunch of discs.

What brand are those Todd? I haven't seen that type log.

Greenheat firelogs. Well I guess I bought the wrong logs, they won't lite for chit, too dense i think, back to the good old waxies.
 
Yep Slow1 - its the same type of principal. Leave an air chamber from front to back so that the airwash creates a flame thrower down the middle with the firestarter getting all that fresh oxygen from the airwash.
 
"For east/west burning stoves:
One stick going N-S to bridge the firewood off of the floor/ash. 3 or more going E/W - place the starter in the FRONT, next to the N/S stick but a little under the E/W FRONT stick. Use SPLITS not rounds for starting."

I used splits, (3 of them) but as per my illustration, because of the lack of enough depth in my Avalon, I can't truly lay splits N/S unless they are under 16" in length (all my wood is cut to 18 inches).

When I order more wood, I'll be sure and have the guy cut them no longer than 16" so I CAN build a N/S & E/W garrison around the Super Cedar.

I didn't say "I don't like" the Super Cedars.........that's not an accurate representation of my posting. I found that I had to assist the fire, is all, but that the Super Cedar lit and burned.


-Soupy1957
 
I pile wood N/S, add birch bark to the front, and use my telekinesis to get it going. If I used super cedars- I guess I'd put 1/8 of one up front there and use warm wishes as an ignition source

firestarter.jpg
 
Todd said:
Greenheat firelogs. Well I guess I bought the wrong logs, they won't lite for chit, too dense i think, back to the good old waxies.

Just pile the Greenheat pucks on top of a quarter of a Super Cedar. :lol:
 
Jags said:
Yep Slow1 - its the same type of principal. Leave an air chamber from front to back so that the airwash creates a flame thrower down the middle with the firestarter getting all that fresh oxygen from the airwash.

Except that in my case my airwash will be blowing across the gap - seems odd that it works but it does. I load from the side so the splits run EW from the front of the stove even though I look down the length as I load. All pieces are parallel so in effect the air hits the front pieces at first and then has to flow around and come in the sides of that tunnel then flows up (now full of flame/heat) the middle between the splits in the 'roof' of starter load.

Sometimes I wonder if we are making all this over-complicated. When the stove is hot and there are coals I just rake them to the front and pile splits on top of them and somehow it is blazing in a few minutes if the splits are all dry. Perhaps as long as the splits are all dry it really doesn't matter that much where you apply the heat as long as there is enough air and the heat is there long enough eh?
 
soupy1957 said:
"For east/west burning stoves:
One stick going N-S to bridge the firewood off of the floor/ash. 3 or more going E/W - place the starter in the FRONT, next to the N/S stick but a little under the E/W FRONT stick. Use SPLITS not rounds for starting."

I used splits, (3 of them) but as per my illustration, because of the lack of enough depth in my Avalon, I can't truly lay splits N/S unless they are under 16" in length (all my wood is cut to 18 inches).

When I order more wood, I'll be sure and have the guy cut them no longer than 16" so I CAN build a N/S & E/W garrison around the Super Cedar.

I didn't say "I don't like" the Super Cedars.........that's not an accurate representation of my posting. I found that I had to assist the fire, is all, but that the Super Cedar lit and burned.


-Soupy1957

I took a little liberty with the "don't like" :) I didn't mean to misrepresent your post.

If you have an ash bed, you can accomplish the same thing by piling ash higher on the sides and create a "chute" down the middle. Just keep the starter towards the front of the stove and like Thomas said - let it breath.
 
Slow1 said:
I don't know if the method has a name, but as much as I like top down for non-super cedar starting I have a different method for my SC starts...

I line the bottom of the stove with 2-3 splits (whatever it takes) to make a wood floor. Then I put 2 medium splits on that leaving a space between them (all splits are parallel btw). This gap is where the SC is going to be placed. I find a couple smaller splits to then place on top of these two splits that will lean over and touch making a roof. This leaves a space that sort of looks like I pulled a split out of the middle. I then place a piece of SC in the middle of the space (lit of course). I place this piece leaning against one of the two side splits so there is a decent amount of surface area exposed. The piece is somewhere around 1/3 to 1/4 of a SC and I try to center it in the pile. Then I simply open the air up full and close the door. The flame seems to find its way up to the top smaller splits and fill the inside area (and floor) fairly quick - lots of airflow space etc and it generally takes off and I will adjust air down once everything is engulfed so that more heat stays in the stove to get it up to temp for cat engagement.

Since all of these splits are of a decent size I don't generally have to feed any more to the stove for a while - I get to cat light-off temps and can cruise within short order. If I want more wood in there I put more behind the side pieces or under the 'floor' effectively raising the whole light off section before ignition. My goal has always been to not have to open the door after lighting as I simply don't have time to mess around with the stove, I have to get it going and stable with minimal attention. With this method I can lay the fire well in advance and just have to light the SC piece and push it into the hole with the poker. Clearly lighting these splits requires they be dry - I did have trouble once when I had not one but _two_ sizzlers in the stack - that one filled the firebox with smoke and took a while to get going (talk about a bad day!).

I'm going to give this a shot; thanks for posting. I'm not sure if the fire box in the Castine will have enought room for small splits on top of the other two layers, but I'll give this a shot. I just want to figure out the easiest way to get a good fire going...and ot have to add wood for awhile.
 
Chit, son, pour you a little gas on that thar SC before you light 'er up. :lol:
 
creating a N/S channel with the ashes is a good idea, actually. Then build my first E/W row on top of that. Thanks......I'll try that!!

I guess the question is......how close to the splits should the Super Cedar truly be? Obviously I'd want to be fairly close to the edges of the Super Cedar, with my wood.

-Soupy1957
 
Hey, I even had fun passing out the Super Cedars at the Woodstock party last weekend. Craig brought a bunch and many folks went away happy and anxious to give them a try.
 
soupy1957 said:
creating a N/S channel with the ashes is a good idea, actually. Then build my first E/W row on top of that. Thanks......I'll try that!!

I guess the question is......how close to the splits should the Super Cedar truly be? Obviously I'd want to be fairly close to the edges of the Super Cedar, with my wood.

-Soupy1957
Soupy,
Leave a 1" clearance around and on top of Super Cedar. Remove wrapper first, light edge in a couple places, leave door cracked and walk away. Come back in 10-15 minutes and set your stove. Thats how I do it with GREEN WOOD, just kidding but thats what they were designed to start 30 years ago.
Thomas
 
NW Fuels said:
soupy1957 said:
creating a N/S channel with the ashes is a good idea, actually. Then build my first E/W row on top of that. Thanks......I'll try that!!

I guess the question is......how close to the splits should the Super Cedar truly be? Obviously I'd want to be fairly close to the edges of the Super Cedar, with my wood.

-Soupy1957
Soupy,
Leave a 1" clearance around and on top of Super Cedar. Remove wrapper first, light edge in a couple places, leave door cracked and walk away. Come back in 10-15 minutes and set your stove. Thats how I do it with GREEN WOOD, just kidding but thats what they were designed to start 30 years ago.
Thomas

But don't walk away too far . . . I think Thomas meant to say just step back and don't touch the stove rather than walk away from the stove and don't worry about things . . . just wanted to clarify that walking away from a stove with the draft open and the door ajar is not a safe habit to start.
 
1" clearance......."Roger" that.......I'll try it.

You said, "Remove wrapper first, light edge in a couple places, leave door cracked ......." That's what I did, .....I took the plastic off and stuck the whole disc in there and built around it. I opened the door (damper fully "open" as well) and let the fire get going. It DID fire up, first match (only used one match.......I'll light it in a couple of places as you suggested), and it stayed steady.........

I figured that having my wood criss-crossed over the top of it, would start the wood even faster........I guess I may have been hampering it somehow........

If it's any consolation.........I threw away my collection of newspapers!

-Soupy1957
 
I was at a market that was selling firestarters called 100 % Biomass Firelighters.It was advertised as being Environmentally safe and made from wood and vegetable oil without the wax,kerosene,and petroleum products that other firestarters use.They go on to say that other firestarters produce toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde and theirs doesn't.Do the Super cedar people make the same claim about their product ?I got a bag of 72 pieces for $4.99 though I haven't had a need for them yet.Time will tell.
 
Rich L said:
I was at a market that was selling firestarters called 100 % Biomass Firelighters.It was advertised as being Environmentally safe and made from wood and vegetable oil without the wax,kerosene,and petroleum products that other firestarters use.They go on to say that other firestarters produce toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde and theirs doesn't.Do the Super cedar people make the same claim about their product ?I got a bag of 72 pieces for $4.99 though I haven't had a need for them yet.Time will tell.

Hello Rich,

Yes, the Super Cedar is non toxic and environmentally safe! We have hundreds of restaurants across the US using our product for starting their cook ovens. The main difference between wax based logs and firestarters is the quality of wax used and the quantity. We use a highly refined paraffin (wax) and cedar in a unique process that allows the Super Cedar to start faster and burn cleaner than most including the vegetable based which you will find perform lazy in comparison.
Thomas
 
firefighterjake said:
NW Fuels said:
soupy1957 said:
creating a N/S channel with the ashes is a good idea, actually. Then build my first E/W row on top of that. Thanks......I'll try that!!

I guess the question is......how close to the splits should the Super Cedar truly be? Obviously I'd want to be fairly close to the edges of the Super Cedar, with my wood.

-Soupy1957
Soupy,
Leave a 1" clearance around and on top of Super Cedar. Remove wrapper first, light edge in a couple places, leave door cracked and walk away. Come back in 10-15 minutes and set your stove. Thats how I do it with GREEN WOOD, just kidding but thats what they were designed to start 30 years ago.
Thomas

But don't walk away too far . . . I think Thomas meant to say just step back and don't touch the stove rather than walk away from the stove and don't worry about things . . . just wanted to clarify that walking away from a stove with the draft open and the door ajar is not a safe habit to start.

Thank you Jake, I just mean over to the chair!!
 
All I know is, while I already have most of a 100ct box leftover from last year's january sale, I will be buying another 100ct box the next sale (so I'm set for ... life? LOL)

It's like the Pyromaniac's macgyver weapon. That and aluminum foil and your pyro endeavours are set, or nay I say made way too easy.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
I pile wood N/S, add birch bark to the front, and use my telekinesis to get it going. If I used super cedars- I guess I'd put 1/8 of one up front there and use warm wishes as an ignition source

firestarter.jpg

Love the photo -- the non-chalant look on the kid's face with the chaos going on in front of her strikes me as funny . . . is this a photoshopped pic or an actual pic . . . just wondering if you know? I know you did have it posted once with a humorous caption.
 
Each year when I'm through running my home made hydraulic splitter, I gather up all the non bark debris. Always wind up with about two bushels of good kindling. Granted, it's not of consitant length, like when kindling is hand split, but it works quite well. I havn't split kindling in over a decade. It just eems would be a such a waste to rake it all up with bark for the burn pile. These couple of bushels keep us in kindling all year.

However: For the occasions that someone (me!) has forgot to fill the metal bucket with the chips and stuff from the above mentioned task, and I'm sitting there in front of the cold stove wondering why the bucket is empty, it would be nice to have a handy alternative! These "Super Cedars" sound like just the ticket for these occasions. I'll look around the forum for a link. I take they are advertised here somewhere?
 
soupy1957 said:
Ok, so..........this morning it's 40ºF as I write this, and the temp in the house is 69ºF. I'm sitting here thinking I'd like to start up the stove, but haven't quite decided yet. If Mama gets up and says "I'm cold" then THAT'S the trigger for me.

Sounds like a whole Super Cedar disc in the fire is going to flame up pretty dahg good. I'll try the whole piece, surrounded by splits and see just how much of an inferno I can induce.

Take the plastic off it?

And, speaking of breaking them up:



-Soupy1957


Hey thats my video! Glad to see it is still making the rounds.
 
NW Fuels said:
Rich L said:
I was at a market that was selling firestarters called 100 % Biomass Firelighters.It was advertised as being Environmentally safe and made from wood and vegetable oil without the wax,kerosene,and petroleum products that other firestarters use.They go on to say that other firestarters produce toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde and theirs doesn't.Do the Super cedar people make the same claim about their product ?I got a bag of 72 pieces for $4.99 though I haven't had a need for them yet.Time will tell.

Hello Rich,

Yes, the Super Cedar is non toxic and environmentally safe! We have hundreds of restaurants across the US using our product for starting their cook ovens. The main difference between wax based logs and firestarters is the quality of wax used and the quantity. We use a highly refined paraffin (wax) and cedar in a unique process that allows the Super Cedar to start faster and burn cleaner than most including the vegetable based which you will find perform lazy in comparison.
Thomas

Thanks Tom,that's good to know.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Hey, I even had fun passing out the Super Cedars at the Woodstock party last weekend. Craig brought a bunch and many folks went away happy and anxious to give them a try.

I forgot to thank you, Dennis for the Super Cedars and Hearth Hats! And the soapstone hand warmer chunks your wife gave me are much appreciated, they will come in handy for my wife when she wants a little more TLC from the warm stove!
 
Love the Super Cedars and bought the 100 count last year.. My only gripe is the mess they make.. I run a spit and polished hearth and these things run contrary to that.. I also keep a stash of fatwood on hand and I find it does an equally good job of getting things going without the mess.. If the crumbs don't bother you then the cedars might hold a small edge over fatwood..
 
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