Crusty , but crumbly, sheet of dark ash?

[mar13]

I frequently notice that beneath my fluffy white ash will be a sheet (~5mm thick) of dark ash. It breaks into smaller parts when shoveled. Using my fingers, I can easily crumble this into into a dark powdery ash.

I don't think this is what people call slag or klinkers because it isn't hard. Looking at wikipedia for ash, I wonder if I'm not burning hot enough, despite seeing no chimney smoke. Wikipedia reads, ”The best-known type of ash is wood ash, as a product of wood combustion in campfires, fireplaces, etc. The darker the wood ashes, the higher the content of remaining charcoal from incomplete combustion.”

I've been burning almost exclusively alder this winter. Perhaps it's the bark ash which doesn't burn as hot? Not sure why it losely bonds together.

 

[gthomas785]

I wouldn't worry about it. There are usually some coals that get buried in the ashes and can't burn because they're starved for oxygen. But if you take the total amount there it's probably equivalent to a handful or two of charcoal at most, not worth stressing over.

 

[mar13]

I wouldn't worry about it. There are usually some coals that get buried in the ashes and can't burn because they're starved for oxygen. But if you take the total amount there it's probably equivalent to a handful or two of charcoal at most, not worth stressing over.

I agree. It's probably insignificant with regards to any lost BTUs. I'm always curious, however, what these things are with the stove.

 

[gthomas785]

I usually stir the ashes around before a reload to see if I can uncover any big chunks and get them to burn. But usually there's a bit of little stuff that just stays buried so my ashes end up being a light to medium gray when I finally empty the pan.

 

[Hogwildz]

Clinkers: the byproduct of the spend fuel/ash forming a hard pile. Normal