Bio bricks OK to put on embers?

[mainemac]

Just picked up some biobricks and wondering the safe efficient way to test them out(I know these things can glow like plutonium once up and running)
Is it safe to put on embers from a wood fire or should it be in a cold stove over ash?

Tom

 

[noviceinsertuser]

I am by no means an expert but I have been using them for the last couple of weeks and experimenting with them by using wood only, biobricks only, and a combination. I found that they are fairly easy to get going once you have a nice bed of embers. I have found that to really get them started you need to establish a good bed of coals which most likely comes from wood. I would only start out using 3 and build up from there. I have a smaller sized insert and only put in 6 at max. It gets my stove up to 400+ really easy.

 

[edthedawg]

I spoke earlier about my mixed-use but with a similar product - EcoFirelogs (people are gonna accuse me of hawking these things, but i'm just a fan)

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/31664/ - 4th post.

My novice opinion: I think the compressed logs are great fire-helpers, and super for a HOT fire, but they lack the core density and integrity needed to sustain a long burn. After a couple hours, you are left w/ a brick-shaped or log-shaped chunk of glowing ashes - not real coals. If you want a wood coal bed, then you have to burn (you guessed it...) WOOD! Have fun experimenting - would enjoy hearing your results. We're thinking of switching to the BB's next year if we can get 'em.

 

[Slow1]

I've found that wood coals are the best way to start up BioBricks. However, I would not go putting very many on a large hot bed of coals. Key to keeping the BB fire under control seems to be to pack them close together - i.e. limit the surface area available to burn. Also, I have not put them into a really HOT stove - I don't know how fast they would out-gas if they got really heated really quick so that might make things a bit too interesting.

 

[mikepinto65]

I have a few packs of BioFlamme "Night Logs" ((broken link removed)).
I havnt tried them out yet mostly because i'm a little nervous they wont heat!! The manufacturer clams 6-9 hours of heat but I just dont see it happening. Im guessing i'll only see stove top temps of maybe 400 but we'll see.
I'll try one out tomorrow and post the results. Is anyone here familiar with this brand?

 

[karri0n]

Mike, they heat just fine. the brand really isn't of any consequnce, it's all crushed sawdust. The problem is not lack of heat, it's too much heat all at once. These things cook off fairly quickly, and you never get any coals out of them.

 

[mikepinto65]

so 6-9 hour burn times are more than likely out of the picture?

 

[edthedawg]

I'd be astonished if you got more than 4 hours out of them. BB's seem to work the best because they are the densest package. I put Eco's, Smartlogs, and BB's all side by side and the BB's were smallest but most noticeably denser. Eco's were close 2nd, and very available and affordable, so I use those.

Perhaps there are techniques one can develop w/ lots of practice, to get into that 6-9 hour burntime regime, but I'm not that patient

 

[Slow1]

I'd be astonished if you got more than 4 hours out of them. BB's seem to work the best because they are the densest package. I put Eco's, Smartlogs, and BB's all side by side and the BB's were smallest but most noticeably denser. Eco's were close 2nd, and very available and affordable, so I use those.

I've only used BB and Envi-logs. I will say the Envi-logs are much denser than the bio-bricks and as one would expect they are a bit more difficult to light, but burn more consistently - cooler and longer. Cooler being somewhat of a relative word - I can put more weight wise (they are 3x larger than BBs so actual count is lower) in the stove and get the temps up there. I would hate to put anything in the stove less dense than BBs!

 

[80s Burnout]

As others have said, you should be able to fire up the BioBricks on a good bed of coals. I have also thrown them in and onto "diminishing" BioBricks when they start flaking apart and they start up just fine under these conditions too.

I am also using Envi-8 blocks and find that they burn longer and nice and hot when mixed with several medium splits and one or two large splits. I use the BioBricks during the day and the Envi-8's for my overnight burns. The overnight consists of 6 Envi-8's packed nice and tight in the back with 4 med to large sized splits of wood in the front and on top of the Envi-8's. With this I get 8 hour burn easy in my Jotul Oslo. In the morning, only the Envi-8's are left..barely. I knock the remnants together and throw some BioBricks in and a couple splits and flame is up within seconds.

 

[VanLandry]

I've burned more than 2 pallets of BB's so far this year in my castine and I've put up to 12 on a hot bed of coals with no problems. I start dampering down at around 450 degrees, have it closed all the way at just over 500 and the stove has never gone over 600. It's in my basement and since I'm having a hard time getting the heat upstairs(but that's a story for another thread) I've been pretty much hanging out down here when it gets really cold outside.

In fact, I still have a makeshift kitchen out in the laundry room from last months ice storm. S'ok, though as I have guitars, keyboards and big screen tv down here so I'm not complaining. Just as an aside, though, I've pretty much been putting on 2 or 3 bricks at a time just about when the flames die down and it keeps the temp between 300 and 400. I dont worry about the spacing of them either and this keeps it nice and toasty in the stove room but not hot enough to drive me out.

 

[Max Headroom]

I mix a few ECO s in with a load of just about, but not quite seasoned oak and they work great. I just pull the coals to the front, load up the back of the firebox with splits and but a few of the blocks on the coals. The blocks do burn off pretty fast, but you get up to temp real fast and get a nice hot clean burn from the whole load. You would never know that the wood isn't perfectly seasoned.

 

[mikepinto65]

I have a few packs of BioFlamme "Night Logs" ((broken link removed)).
I havnt tried them out yet mostly because i'm a little nervous they wont heat!! The manufacturer clams 6-9 hours of heat but I just dont see it happening. Im guessing i'll only see stove top temps of maybe 400 but we'll see.
I'll try one out tomorrow and post the results. Is anyone here familiar with this brand?

Well, tried these out a little later than i was planning but have tried them nonetheless. Just started playing around with the BioFlammes a few days ago and have to say im pretty impressed...

These things get my stove hot..... a little hotter than expected. They are suppose to flame for the first hour, which they have been. Im getting griddle temps of 550-650 with two logs (the company only claims temps of 450?) and the air practically closed off during this phase. I really dont know if it should be this hot, but all i can say is i am surprised. I dont know if its the brand or what, but i sure do feel bad for the guy buying these who naively throws three of these things in at once....i suspect there would be some serious runaway temps.

Burn time is a good 6 hours. Has anyone else experienced temps like this or has anyone even used this brand?

 

[Slow1]

How are you starting those BioFlamme "Night Logs"? As I recall, the packaging suggests that you basically get a good coal bed going, then put them in on top of that. Is that your method or are you doing something different?

 

[mikepinto65]

No, i burn about two wood logs..wait till they are down to coal, spread em out and add the bio log.

 

[begreen]

To clarify from the OP: BioBricks are not the same as compressed wood logs. BioBricks burn best when started as per the instructions. The idea is to start a section burning and then to have the fire spread slowly through the mass of bricks. Normally this is not done on a bed of hot coals.

 

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i toss them on wood coals, by themselves, and yes plutonium is mild to the biobrick. they are versitale like that, i love them.