Another Firestarting Technique (pics)

[fireview2788]

I usually shoot for the second one, so I guess that's good. My cat will be red and then not be red, is this normal?

fv

 

[wendell]

Nice to see you have adopted my fire starting method, The Oreo Technique!

 

[Jack22]

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.

Do you always need a least 45 minutes before you can damp the fire down to minimum burn? Once I get the hang of this I plan on loading my keystone up before work and I am wondering how long it will take me to reload and get the air setting down to minimum?

 

[Danno77]

Looks like it works well! I'll have to remember that when I start my stove up in a couple of weeks, and then again next spring when I have a few random fires.

 

[Todd]

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.

Do you always need a least 45 minutes before you can damp the fire down to minimum burn? Once I get the hang of this I plan on loading my keystone up before work and I am wondering how long it will take me to reload and get the air setting down to minimum?

No you can turn it down sooner. This was a cold start and I could of turned the air down sooner but chose to let it burn hot for awhile to get the chill out of the house sooner. Reloads are a little different and when you wake up to a good coal bed and a warm stove it may only take 5-10 minutes to engage the cat and set and forget the air setting.

 

[Todd]

I usually shoot for the second one, so I guess that's good. My cat will be red and then not be red, is this normal?

fv

Yeah, that's normal, mine does the same. Usually the cat will be red at the beginning of the burn when most of the smoke and gas is being released. Sometimes when you get that burst of flame coming and going you will also see the cat do the same. Other times you may only see a partial red cat. The experts say it doesn't have to be red to be working but it sure is a good indicator at the beggining of the burn and if it never turns red I'd be thinking something is wrong.

 

[Todd]

Nice to see you have adopted my fire starting method, The Oreo Technique!

I was wondering where I heard this before, how could I forget Oreo? :lol: