Rake Coals Forward and Stove Start-up Pictures

Got it! I'm going to give that a try, my airflow is different, so it might not work the same, but.. I might even look in the manual and see what they say.

Also if you rake the coals forward you can achieve a cigar burn. With all the wood on the coal the wood will out gas all at once this is good if you need quick heat. But if you want long burn rake the coals forward this really slows things down a lot. Sometimes i dont rake the coals forward just all depends on what suits one user to the next.

Thanks to the OP in sharing this technique. Very well documented. I'm looking forward to trying it!

OK so basically by raking the coals forward and putting the wood on the brick itself, it slows everything down so the wood can burn longer?

Yes, by raking the coals forward some of the wood is not placed on hot coals so it doesn't light right away. That gives a somewhat slower burn. although in this case it sure wasn't very slow! I am going to make some oak kindling and give it a try.

Another thing that helps is to close the air sooner.

This is definitely bumpworthy. Nice job Huntindog1.

MnDave

I am getting far better burns now with this technique. Just tried it the first time about 2 weeks ago. Go to bed at 10 up at 5 nice bed of coals. I have been experimenting every night with different wood combos, sizes, and shapes. 1 of several tricks I learned directly from this site!

Nice load!!