Charring Wood

[BuckyBeaver524]

If I reload my Progress Hybrid on a hot bed of coals and the stove top temp is in the active zone for the cat, is it alright to close the cat bypass immediately without charring the wood?

 

[Deeje]

I always close my cat bypass immediately after loading so long as it's in the active zone and it looks like I'll have a well established fire. I char the wood to get it to an even temperature before shutting the stove down for an extended burn, but not before closing the bypass.

 

[ddddddden]

I'd say it depends on the wood. Part of the reason for leaving the bypass open is to let surface moisture from the fresh load of wood vent up the flue instead of through the cat. If your wood is crispy dry, this might not be an issue. Moisture also might not be an issue with the steel cat, but I usually let the wood char for at least a few minutes while I'm getting the air turned down near the cruise setting(0.5-1.0 on a FireView. I like to have the air turned down before closing the bypass, so that I don't get "flame impingement" on the cat. This does not mean that I set the air so low that I don't have flames, but I don't leave the air open enough for flames to get sucked up into the cat.)

 

[OhioBurner©]

I've got an Ideal Steel so not exactly the same but close... Even with my strong draft I find if I pack the stove full the temperature will drop too much. Usually in the coaling stage the cat probe is only borderline active zone anyhow, and loading it drops a couple hundred degrees pretty quick. Now many with I much hotter coal bed, and your putting a little less wood in there than me, it might work. But I typically always disengage the cat until the load is well charred, I don't know if it really matters or not but I hate sending that initial blast of smoke and stirred up ashes up through the cat.

 

[Babaganoosh]

I wait until the wood is charred on my IS. I feel like I get more consistent results.