Hi Everyone,
I recently returned from a trip to Ireland. We stayed at several country hotels who maintained fires during the day and night in their bar, and some of the public places. I noticed that the fires burned a long time, without a lot of flame (not the typical roaring fire I have in my fireplace). After speaking with one of the staff, he showed me why - each of the fires consisted of a small pyre of coal, with a 3-4 chunks of wood surrounding the coal in a teepee fashion. The coal was not on a grate. The coal did not appear to be peat, but not sure what type of coal it was (small, irregular shaped but roughly briquette sized). The interior coal portion was burning quite hot with a nice glow. The wood around was burning very slowly - no big flames, but red hot on the side facing the coal. Perhaps the secret is wet wood around the coals? Anyway, I'd like to try to recreate this in my fireplace. Has anyone ever heard of this technique? I guess the coal could have been peat, but I don't think so as I didn't detect a peaty smell.
S
I recently returned from a trip to Ireland. We stayed at several country hotels who maintained fires during the day and night in their bar, and some of the public places. I noticed that the fires burned a long time, without a lot of flame (not the typical roaring fire I have in my fireplace). After speaking with one of the staff, he showed me why - each of the fires consisted of a small pyre of coal, with a 3-4 chunks of wood surrounding the coal in a teepee fashion. The coal was not on a grate. The coal did not appear to be peat, but not sure what type of coal it was (small, irregular shaped but roughly briquette sized). The interior coal portion was burning quite hot with a nice glow. The wood around was burning very slowly - no big flames, but red hot on the side facing the coal. Perhaps the secret is wet wood around the coals? Anyway, I'd like to try to recreate this in my fireplace. Has anyone ever heard of this technique? I guess the coal could have been peat, but I don't think so as I didn't detect a peaty smell.
S