So, last week I started feeling like I had my stove down pat and it is pretty much idiot proof. I even bragged to my wife, it doesn't even need much kindling, blah, blah, blah.
The past three days have been a nightmare, that I rightly deserve. I have gotten lazy with kindling, and cleaning. as a result, I have struggled to get it up to temp and get a bed of coals and a decent burn. I finally did tonight, after messing around for an hour. My issues, as far as I can tell are kindling, cleaning and possibly draft.
I need to find a better kindling method. At least a better FREE method. Sometimes, I light my big green egg smoker with a torch, or. a napkin dipped in vegtable oil. Does anyone do that with their stove? It seems that my fire isn't "taking off" as well as it did a week ago.
Could it be possible I need to clean my chimney already after only about 15 burns? My draft seems slightly worse than before, but that could just be in my head, or due to colder weather. Maybe even turning on my ceiling fans too early, screwing up the pressure in the room.
what do you guys do as far as cleaning? Just shovel out the ash? Do you vacuum it also? Can I possibly clog the air intake by not vacuuming all of the ash that builds up under the shelf in front by the glass?
I burn the stove like the instruction manual says to and I am burning one year seasoned cherry.
Sometimes I am my own worst enemy.
The past three days have been a nightmare, that I rightly deserve. I have gotten lazy with kindling, and cleaning. as a result, I have struggled to get it up to temp and get a bed of coals and a decent burn. I finally did tonight, after messing around for an hour. My issues, as far as I can tell are kindling, cleaning and possibly draft.
I need to find a better kindling method. At least a better FREE method. Sometimes, I light my big green egg smoker with a torch, or. a napkin dipped in vegtable oil. Does anyone do that with their stove? It seems that my fire isn't "taking off" as well as it did a week ago.
Could it be possible I need to clean my chimney already after only about 15 burns? My draft seems slightly worse than before, but that could just be in my head, or due to colder weather. Maybe even turning on my ceiling fans too early, screwing up the pressure in the room.
what do you guys do as far as cleaning? Just shovel out the ash? Do you vacuum it also? Can I possibly clog the air intake by not vacuuming all of the ash that builds up under the shelf in front by the glass?
I burn the stove like the instruction manual says to and I am burning one year seasoned cherry.
Sometimes I am my own worst enemy.