Another Firestarting Technique (pics)

Ok, I've been playing with these Super Cedars for about 5 fires now and I'm kinda liking this technique. I start with some splits piled in the bottom followed by 1/3 chunk of Super Cedar on top with some kindling spacers followed by a couple splits on top. Beer can for the usual popular size reference.

5 minutes into burn I have a good flame and she takes off fast. Some smoke out the chimney but not as bad as when I tried this without the kindling spacers and just a pile of splits.

15 minutes in my cat probe reaches 400 and I engage. Flames slow down and I get a dull red glow from the cat, kinda hard to see in the pic but if you look close you can see the right corner of the red cat. 45 minutes in I'll turn it down to a low cat burn and it should last 8-10 hours with this load of White Birch.

1.5 hours in, stove top 600, cat probe 1500, external stack temp 250.

I'd rather see the Keystone, Palladian, and Fireview have the option of a small, med, or large than one new totally different larger stove.

Backwoods Savage said:

Todd, thanks for the pictures as they tell the story really well. Having that good dry wood is the real key to having good fires like that.

I am wondering why you break the super cedars into thirds rather than quarters?

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Still experimenting. I think I can get away with quarters with this firestarting method.

fireview2788 said:

OK, since I'm new to this I will ask. The last pic there are no flames. Is this what I am ultimately looking for or are the flames just not showing up because they are so few?

Also, thanks for the idea. I'm gonna try it!




Thanks,

fv

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The no flame red cat fire is a very low output fire. You will find a certain setting where the flame will snuff out, burst in and out or go out for awhile and all of a sudden it will flash and come back. This stove was set at a tad under #1 and the flames rolled around above the splits for about 15 minutes then went out. About an hour later they came back for awhile. I like this cat fire during the warmer shoulder seasons and can get a good 12 hours with a fire like this. When it gets colder I turn it up so there's a little more flame and it heats up the whole stove verses just the top like this fire.

Here's some pics of different fires, first one is what I call a hot box, lots of flame, red coals and red cat. Second pic is less air where the coals go dark and the flame lifts off the splits, most efficient according to Woodstock. Last pic is a cat fire with no flame.

keninmich said:

Great pics Todd, thanks for the post.

I too have a Keystone (circa 1999) and i just love it.

May i ask where you got the cat probe from? I have been looking for one but have not been able to find one for my stove.

I also just got my box of 72 Supercedars and am looking forward to trying them out!

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I got my probe from Condar, it is a 2" dial with a 4" stem. I drilled a hole in the top exhaust plate and inserted it right down in front of the cat. You can also buy one from Woodstock. It is a longer stem made for installation in the back near the controls. I don't like it there, too hard to read and it's not as accurate.

kayakkeith said:

So you are engaging the cat within 15 minutes of starting the fire?? Seems kind of fast?? I only have a stove top thermometer and it takes a while to get to 250

I was thinking about a cat thermometer but my Keystone exhaust from the top so dont know where I can put it

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Yep, in 15 minutes the probe was reading 400 while the stove top was only 100 but she lit off fine. I probably wouldn't do it so fast with a ceramic cat but the steel cats light off at 400 and are resistant to thermo shock. I think your more than safe lighting off with a stove top at 200 as long as the fire is well established. You can also use a pipe thermometer as another tool.