Super Cedar Starters, CAT Stoves, Blaze King

[becasunshine]

Hello, Wise Ones!

We have ordered our BK Princess, and we have received shipment of our cut and split wood, and we have cross stacked that wood under an overhead shelter but with the sides of the pile opened to prevailing winds (from all directions.) We are now working on the little details so we'll be up and running for cold weather as soon as that wood dries.

I did a search on this forum and I found a thread from a few years ago that says that Blaze King ships its stoves with samples of Super Cedars. I have visited the Super Cedar web site and I see that the Sud-Chemie Prototech endorsement is still posted on their site.

I was just about to order a box of Super Cedars, but since the thread that referenced the Super Cedars and Blaze King CAT stoves is a few years old, I thought I'd check in to make sure that this is still considered a good starter for CAT stoves and for the Blaze King.

Thank you all for your help!

 

[pen]

They are still a premium product.

In all, I don't know how they stay in business as their product is of a low price per unit and I only need to use a 1/6 of one of their firestarters at a time to get the job done. Bought the box of 100 last time I bought some, and by the time I'm ready to re-order, I'm fairly certain I will have given away more than I ever will have used! and that's till going to be a long while.(of course, a bunch of the folks I've given them too have ordered too, so I guess they have a good business plan after all)

Enjoy. Good product, won't hurt that cat any.

pen

 

[fossil]

Best thing since split wood. If you want to try a couple before buying a bunch, just send an e-mail to Thomas with your mailing address, and he'll shoot a couple samples your way pronto.

http://www.supercedar.com/

 

[BrotherBart]

The only safer way to use that stove other than lighting it with a Super Cedar is to use it as a really nice plant stand and never start a fire in it.

 

[becasunshine]

OK, here in is the raging debate happening AT THIS VERY MOMENT in my house:

Beca Sunshine: "OK, I have a current endorsement from a Hearth.com forum user, Mod and wood stove owner. I'm going to order a box of 100 Super Cedars, unwrapped."

Mr. Sunshine: "Unwrapped?"

Beca Sunshine: "Yes, you can get a box of Super Cedars that are individually wrapped, or you can get a box of Super Cedars that are not wrapped. I'm guessing that the box of wrapped ones are possibly good for individual resale, or for traveling, like for camping. I guess. We don't need the individually wrapped ones, and the box of unwrapped ones are cheaper."

Mr. Sunshine: "Cheaper? By how much?"

Beca Sunshine: "Two dollars a box cheaper- and less waste. I'm going to order the unwrapped ones. NAKED FIRE STARTERS! YEAH!"

Mr. Sunshine: "But suppose they get stale? Get the wrapped ones. They will stay fresh, and it's only two dollars more."

Beca Sunshine: "Fire starters get stale? Are you serious?"

Mr. Sunshine: "I WANT FRESH FIRE STARTERS!"

Beca Sunshine: "I WANT CHEAP AND NAKED FIRE STARTERS!"

Yes, this is our life.

So. Do we want FRESH WRAPPED FIRE STARTERS? Or do we want CHEAP AND NAKED FIRE STARTERS?

I think I might have moved this forum into the PG rating.

I apologize.

BUT I'D STILL LIKE AN ANSWER TO MY QUESTION. SOLVE OUR MARITAL DILEMMA, WISE ONES.

Thank you.

 

[pen]

They are cedar coated with paraffin, no going stale here shy of keeping them on the underside of a boat,,, and even that might be permissible for a short while!

In all, when buying the last box I thought about being green and getting the naked's, but for the number I give away, I always have a few in the glove box of each car, in the hiking backpacks, etc, the plastic wrapper saved mess. If I didn't enjoy using them as little gifts, and they were just for my use at the house, then definately go buff. Otherwise, the wrapper is handy.

pen

 

[BrotherBart]

Get naked and order the wrapped ones.

 

[becasunshine]

Beca Sunshine: "I WIN! I AM VICTORIOUS. I WILL NOW TAKE A VICTORY LAP AND DO THE VICTORY DANCE IN THE LIVING ROOM."

Mr. Sunshine: "Naked or wrapped?"

Beca Sunshine: "SHADDUP."

Thank you, Everyone! Unwrapped it is! Uh, THE SUPER CEDARS, that is.

 

[BrotherBart]

Damn. I was hoping for pics.

 

[smokedragon]

Beca Sunshine: "I WIN! I AM VICTORIOUS. I WILL NOW TAKE A VICTORY LAP AND DO THE VICTORY DANCE IN THE LIVING ROOM."

Mr. Sunshine: "Naked or wrapped?"

Beca Sunshine: "SHADDUP."

Thank you, Everyone! Unwrapped it is! Uh, THE SUPER CEDARS, that is.

I just have to say
1 - The wife is always right........he needs to learn that
2 - Fresh firestarters........too much.
3 - "I want cheap and naked fire starters" Tell Mr. Sunshine that you are definitely a keeper

 

[becasunshine]

Thank you, Smokedragon! I made chicken pot pie for dinner tonight, so I'm good on the home front despite my rather elaborate Victory Lap.

 

[becasunshine]

Damn. I was hoping for pics.

Brother Bart, you *really* don't want to see that. Your imagination is going to be a lot kinder to both of us.

 

[Woody Stover]

Mr. Sunshine: "But suppose they get stale? Get the wrapped ones. They will stay fresh,

If he want to wrap the wood stacks in plastic to keep em fresh, that's where you're gonna have to draw the line.

 

[weatherguy]

I ordered a box of 100 and all my super cedars are Individually plastic wrapped, none are naked.

 

[Jags]

I always go with the nekkid ones just for the reason that I don't have to fiddle with the wrapper. Well...and I like nekkid.
They are a great product. I have not found ANY other starter that compares to them.

 

[smokedragon]

Well I would love to sit here and tell everyone just how much I love my fatwood, since it is all natural (with no wax or additives).......however, I fear it may sound a little dirty to talk about my fatwood with the direction this thread has headed in

 

[becasunshine]

Well I would love to sit here and tell everyone just how much I love my fatwood, since it is all natural (with no wax or additives).......however, I fear it may sound a little dirty to talk about my fatwood with the direction this thread has headed in

Baby, I just want to hear about your Ideal Steel.

No, really, I want to hear about your Ideal Steel. We went to the Wood Stove Decathlon in D.C. specifically to see the Ideal Steel- and to see the other stoves as well. We considered waiting for the Ideal Steel for our application, but we have no chimney in this house and our homeowner's insurance is demanding a certificate of professional install.

We inquired about having other stove shops install a chimney, take delivery of a Woodstock product and install it for us, and we got a tepid reception for that idea, even though we'd pay for it. We weren't asking anybody to do it for free, for pete's sake. Part of the tepid reception was installing a product they didn't sell (they would have much rather sold us a stove too) and part of it was driving out to The Twelfth of Never to install it.

When we found out that there is a stove shop in Virginia that carries Blaze Kings and was willing to drive to the out back to install it for us, along with a chimney, and the stove shop owners have many years of experience with installs and chimneys, that sealed the deal for us.

So, there. Blaze King. Can't say that I'm unhappy about it- but at one point I did have my heart set on an Ideal Steel.

 

[smokedragon]

I had a very short list of stoves, that grew much shorter lurking on here for about a year before I joined......blaze kings where on that short list.

I will publicly say that if I were installing chimney and stove at one time, I would have a KING in my family room.

I will be shouting from the roof tops with reports and pictures once the install is complete and the fire is burning in the IS......trust me, you will know all about it

We got our final design, but Mrs. Smokedragon is out of town and cannot approve them......can't wait till they start cutting the designs.

 

[HotCoals]

Cool that you can have custom work done to it to make it your own!

 

[becasunshine]

Can I piggy-back on my own thread? Is that OK? Or should I start a different thread? One of the things that attracted me so strongly to the Woodstock stoves was the cook top. Obviously Blaze King stoves don't have that cook top, but is the special cook top necessary? I am interested in cooking on the stove top, regardless. I'm thinking about asking for Lodge cookware (Dutch ovens, etc.) for birthday, Christmas, etc.

Anybody have any experience with cooking on a Blaze King stove top? Cooking on any wood stove top? I'm not particularly interested in splattery things, but more like putting a chicken and vegetables in a Dutch oven on the stove- or a beef stew, ditto Dutch oven.

OK, maybe a pineapple upside down cake in a cast iron frying pan with a lid.

 

[pen]

Can I piggy-back on my own thread? Is that OK?

You can if you want. But often time the questions that receive the best answers are those where the thread title matches the question asked. It also helps folks who may be looking up similar information in the future.

 

[smokedragon]

Here is my $0.02

I currently have a stove built in 1977 installed, and it has no sort of cook top at all, just a 3/8" steel top. We have cooked on it before, and keep a pot of water on it for humidity. The cook top is more a heat regulator on the woodstock stoves because the cat is right under those burners. They give an air gap so that the pot/pan doesn't get too hot (since cat temps can easily go to 1000+). The BK cat is located more towards the front of the firebox (usually can see it glowing through the window, which is very cool if you ask me). Most of the BK threads I read give stove top temps of 500 - 700 degrees. That may be too hot for some things (but you could turn the stove down to get a lower top temp).

That said, Woodstock (and I am sure others) sell trivets. You could purchase one of those and place it on top of your stove if you are concerned with the top being so hot that it ruins your meal. That allows that same air gap to regulate the pot/pan temp lower than the stove top.

When we cooked on ours during power outages, we had the stove cruising at about 400 - 450 top temp. Worked about like a pan on the stove set at med-high.

You may get more if you start a new thread as well.

 

[Highbeam]

Based on the paint burnoff and the source of the heat, a point source cat element. I suspect that you could move your pot around on the stove top of a BK to find hot and cold spots. Like a BBQ or even a griddle they are not the same temp all over.

Really though. If cooking is important buy a cookstove or a good BBQ with a side burner. A woodstove will work in a pinch but it's not the ideal solution. There are better tools for cooking than a woodstove.

I've done lots of backcountry cooking with dutch ovens. We packed and used charcoal briquets for excellent heat that was long lasting, even, and simple.

 

[becasunshine]

Cooking on the wood stove is not a priority, more like wringing every bit of value out of the energy. I want to know how to do it, and how to do it relatively well. I'm aiming for simple, one pot meals and I'm looking for simple solutions. Things like the trivet idea, or stuff like "Use a Dutch oven for blah blah blah" or "Don't use a Dutch oven for blah blah blah."

We have a Lodge hibachi that *rocks* and a fine propane gas stove at this location. I figure, if the wood stove is running and the top is hot enough, why not use it? I also cook in a Sun Oven frequently in the summer, and I use a thermal mass cooker on a regular basis, so I'm a bit accustomed to using "alternate" cooking methods.

All that being said, I do respect your points, Highbeam. I'm not likely to try to bake a cake on the wood stove, although I have baked a cake in a crock pot and in an electric frying pan. (The cake in the bread maker was a real flop. Hated it. But I don't use a bread maker anymore, either...)

 

[Highbeam]

You've read the brick pizza oven threads on this site haven't you?