Supercedar firestarter test

[kevinmoelk]

So I e-mailed Supercedar and received a free sample of the Supercedar firestarters they sell. Thanks!

Thought I'd give some of my impressions. The disk is 3 3/4" around and 1" thick. It has a seam in the middle where it can be broken in two. The directions say to open the wrapper and light the edge. The wrapper is made of plastic and has a sticker on top, so I didn't want to do that. I removed the disk from the wrapper completely.

I decided I'd put the firestarter to the test. I was sure it had been tested on kindling and so forth, so I set up a rather unfair test to see how it would perform. I split the disk in two and set the pieces on the bottom of the stove a few inches apart. I then placed a small split on top spanning the two pieces, leaving roughly a 3/4" edge to light the starter. Two additional small splits were placed on top of the first, leaning back and forming an "X".

I lit the firestarter pieces and away they went. They lit very easily and almost no smoke was noticeable. I should add the cedar has a nice smell. The experiment was looking good at 5 minutes and I thought the small spilts would take off. However, after the initial and partial char (about 15 mins) it was clear the little starters would not completely light off the small splits.

I then removed the two splits on top and rolled back the bottom one towards the rear of the stove. I added some kindling now and sure enough the firestarters easily lit the kindling.

I was impressed by the easy start, the nice smell, and the overall time they lasted, which was approximately 1/2 hour. My only complaint was the packaging which told me to set fire to plastic. While I'm sure it would work, I'd rather just throw the plastic wrapper away. It is possible that only the samples come wrapped like this, I can't say for sure.

Would I buy them? I would say yes, depending on the circumstance. I have plenty of kindling to start fires, and a piece of newspaper is free, though admittedly smokier. I would purchase them for camping. In fact, I'm going to save the second one for an upcoming camping trip. They are not too heavy, so would not add too much weight to your pack.

Overall, I feel it is an excellent product. I would not hesitate to reccommend them if one felt the application were appropriate. Wish I had some when I spent 3 weeks on the AT that one summer.

-Kevin

Attached are some pictures I took of the whole process. I'll have to post twice due to the size limitations.

 

[kevinmoelk]

More pictures...

 

[NWfuel]

Kevin, Thank you for your results.

The wrapper clearly states open wrapper bur I guess I need to say take out of wrapper and throw wrapper away. I will work on this.

Also the directions for the Super Cedar might need to be clearer. I have never seen or heard that one would place their wood directly on the Super Cedar. This will not give air flow to the product. I would be happy to send you a couple more samples with clearer instructions on use.

You brought up some great points, Thank you again!
Thomas

 

[MrGriz]

Thomas was also kind enough to send me samples of the Super Cedar, which arrived just in time for the break in of my new insert last November. Other than the free samples and reading his advice here, we have no ties and this is totally unsolicited.

The Super Cedar is an absolutely great way to start a fire. If you take care to position your wood around and over the super cedar (I often cheated and used 1/4 of a disc), they work every time. As Thomas said, I would not place the wood directly on top, but rather leave plenty of air space for the product and the wood to burn. Taking care to do just that, I never had to use kindling and was able to light a fire with only small splits. Once they were burning well, I would load up and be set for the long haul.

Thomas, I'm curious, with all the season long 24/7 burners here, how do you make any money? At that rate, one Super Cedar should last four full seasons ;-)

 

[kevinmoelk]

Thomas, thanks again for sending the samples. The directions state, "Open wrapper and light edge...."

To me that reads, tear it open and light the edge of the wrapper. Hence my confusion. How about packaging with a material that could indeed be burnt? I believe some of the fire logs and chimney sweeping logs are desgined for the wrapper to be lit. A brown paper bag material perhaps? Having the pacakaging burnable or recycleable would benefit the overall "green" image in my opinion.

I think it would also be beneficial to include on the wrapper that they are safe for catalytic stoves too.

I do admit it was an unfair test placing the split directly on top of the starter. Once I rolled back the split and loosly piled some kindling in the stove, the supercedar really took off. Given a little bit of air the product worked flawlessly.

Perhaps some other members have tried them? Let's hear some more opinions folks!

-Kevin

 

[NWfuel]

MrGriz,

Thank you for your thoughts. I guess I just like the thought of setting the world on FIRE. Making money at it is getting closer thanks to all the great people like yourself that will remember my product. Iam counting on the next generation who will want a fast clean hassel free way to start their fire everytime! I'm pleased that the 24/7 people even give my product a try. Once one has their way of starting a fire it is difficult to change. The Super Cedar has been the exclusive wood firestarter for the Boy Scouts for the past 5 years. It is that generation that will use my product. The camping season is also a great market.

Thomas

 

[NWfuel]

Thomas, thanks again for sending the samples. The directions state, "Open wrapper and light edge...."

To me that reads, tear it open and light the edge of the wrapper. Hence my confusion. How about packaging with a material that could indeed be burnt? I believe some of the fire logs and chimney sweeping logs are desgined for the wrapper to be lit. A brown paper bag material perhaps? Having the pacakaging burnable or recycleable would benefit the overall "green" image in my opinion.

I think it would also be beneficial to include on the wrapper that they are safe for catalytic stoves too.

I do admit it was an unfair test placing the split directly on top of the starter. Once I rolled back the split and loosly piled some kindling in the stove, the supercedar really took off. Given a little bit of air the product worked flawlessly.

Perhaps some other members have tried them? Let's hear some more opinions folks!

-Kevin

Kevin,

I have tried the bag method but I do alot of private labels which would be to costly to my customers if they all had to go that route.

There was a thread back in November I believe that might be around still. The packaging is always on my mind. I'm not 100% with it but very seldom do I hear anything negative about it. It is strong and hard to open which I never hear negative coments about either like I think I would.
Thomas

 

[elkimmeg]

Hey Thomas I would have given a better review, but along the way for some reason my Labrador retriever took a liking to them and destroyed all but one sample
which I can say worked quite well. I know my dog ate my home work but it really happened.

Thomas I'm working on something and I need your help. I need to know of alternatives to cord wood and whether bio mass can be used to produce them.I can do the research ,but I need actual samples wood stove safe . I can place in the hands of some influential people and tell them its an alternative and cleaner burning bio fuel

 

[NWfuel]

Hey Thomas I would have given a better review, but along the way for some reason my Labrador retriever took a liking to them and destroyed all but one sample
which I can say worked quite well. I know my dog ate my home work but it really happened.

Thomas I'm working on something and I need your help. I need to know of alternatives to cord wood and whether bio mass can be used to produce them.I can do the research ,but I need actual samples wood stove safe . I can place in the hands of some influential people and tell them its an alternative and cleaner burning bio fuel

Your dog thought they were Gaines burgers. But they are safe for your pets and yourself. Keeps you regular.
I have been approched on that same subject just yesterday.

Whats your farmers name?
Thomas

 

[NWfuel]

Hey Thomas I would have given a better review, but along the way for some reason my Labrador retriever took a liking to them and destroyed all but one sample
which I can say worked quite well. I know my dog ate my home work but it really happened.

Thomas I'm working on something and I need your help. I need to know of alternatives to cord wood and whether bio mass can be used to produce them.I can do the research ,but I need actual samples wood stove safe . I can place in the hands of some influential people and tell them its an alternative and cleaner burning bio fuel

I have some logs compressed with sewer sludge. You want hot? and plentiful!

All aside, I will be happy to press you some samples. Send me the fuel.
Thomas

 

[kevinmoelk]

NW, could you give the forum an education on the products out in the market place now? Just curious about the pros and cons of some of the manufactured products I've seen recently, and alternatives that may not be obvious to some of us. Thanks.

-Kevin

 

[begreen]

I will be working up a full review, but Thomas was kind enough to donate some of the Idaho Energy logs to me for testing. These are the biggest pressed logs I have ever seen, 8.5#, and they are very dense. Last night I had a bit of a time getting them going. They are almost like burning coal and need a lot of startup air which the Jotul can be a bit stingy with. But tonight I took a different approach and with the help of a supercedar I had a good fire going in about 20 minutes. Three logs had the Jotul going at a steady 650 to 600 for almost 3 hrs.! They're still going and the stove is at 500. Very impressive! Better than any wood I've burned in this stove (we're hardwood challenged out here), cleaner and with very little ash afterward. I'll be posting a full review with pictures soon. Good stuff Thomas!!

 

[NWfuel]

NW, could you give the forum an education on the products out in the market place now? Just curious about the pros and cons of some of the manufactured products I've seen recently, and alternatives that may not be obvious to some of us. Thanks.

-Kevin

Products out in the marketplace. Me give you a education! I don't sit at this computer 24/7 nor do I have the expertise at this time.
However I will give my thoughts on a selected few. Go to www.supercedar.com and read test results by MDE Fire Forensics Lab and tell me if you need more.
Take care
Thomas

 

[NWfuel]

I will be working up a full review, but Thomas was kind enough to donate some of the Idaho Energy logs to me for testing. These are the biggest pressed logs I have ever seen, 8.5#, and they are very dense. Last night I had a bit of a time getting them going. They are almost like burning coal and need a lot of startup air which the Jotul can be a bit stingy with. But tonight I took a different approach and with the help of a supercedar I had a good fire going in about 20 minutes. Three logs had the Jotul going at a steady 650 to 600 for almost 3 hrs.! They're still going and the stove is at 500. Very impressive! Better than any wood I've burned in this stove (we're hardwood challenged out here), cleaner and with very little ash afterward. I'll be posting a full review with pictures soon. Good stuff Thomas!!

Begreen,
Thank you for taking your time and energy to come pick those up. Hope you have enough to 'get' the hang of it. They are a little challenge at first.
It is a lot easier to start them if you break them into small parts, but that wastes that log.

Have a beautiful day over there. It will be nice!
Thomas

 

[wahoowad]

I was sent some of thes free Supercedar samples. I shared them with a coworker who's wife hated the smoke generated from his initial fire startup using kindling (he has a backdraft issue). He said the Supercedar things were amazing and got his draft going immediately. He quickly bought 50 of them. He says his wife doesn't nag him anymore. They sound like the bomb.

 

[jabush]

I've been using the SuperCedars exclusively since Thomas sent my samples. I gave out several boxes of 8 (with Hearth.com labels) around the holidays, and everyone I gave those things to tracked me down to tell me how great they work.

To me it's a no brainer to remove the plastic wrapping, but I only use a half a cedar at a time, so it's gotta be unwrapped anyway. Maybe a slight change in wording like "remove disk from wrapper and light edge".

I feel the best thing about this product is that I can start with bigger spits rather than having to chop up a lot of real small kindling. Definitely a time saver and I get a good hot fire everytime!!

 

[Martin Strand III]

Funny, I seem to require less and less kindling of any kind now my wood is nice and dry.

In fact, recently after drying about a weeks supply inside, I've been able to easily and directly start 3" - 4" hardwood pieces stacked in the firebox with nothing more than a little piece of waxed cardboard.

Try burning really dry wood. I'm sure you'll like it. And it's much easier to start.

Aye,
Marty

 

[Gooserider]

I got the Supercedars samples the other day, and agree they look nice and smell good. Haven't had a chance to use them yet, as the woodstove never goes out - I barely even use any kindling in it, just put shovel out the ash near the door, rake the coals level and to the door area, stuff as many splits into the box as I can, and toss in a few handfuls of my "woodlot rakings" and close the door - It comes up to temp in minutes.

If I do have to start the stove from cold, a few newspapers and a bit of kindling does it perfectly.... I'm actually finding a problem in that I'm ending up with more kindling than I can use! I was mixing the kindling in with the splits when I was loading the woodsheds last summer, figuring I'd use both together, but I'm finding that I don't use enough kindling to match what is in the shed so I'm having to keep pulling the kindling out and putting it aside. Looks like I'm going to end up with a 1/2 cord bay filled with NOTHING but kindling wood! :gulp: seems like a waste of shed space, but I don't want to throw it out either.

I may try the SuperCedarss in the BBQ or lighting other fires later on. The only thing I was wondering about is if I use them to light the BBQ, will they cause any flavor problems with the food? Cedar is a nice smell for wood stoves or burning, but I'm not sure it's a good one in food.

Gooserider

 

[NWfuel]

Gooserider,

The BBQ compitition uses them for their contests. The National Barbecue News did a review on Super Cedar Firestarters about 2 years ago and quoted this. The Super Cedar firestarter is the best new product they have ever tested. The editor uses them when he competes and stated they have helped his team.

We have large resturant chains using these to start their wood ovens. They will not taint the taste of your food.

Thomas

 

[Gooserider]

Gooserider,

The BBQ compitition uses them for their contests. The National Barbecue News did a review on Super Cedar Firestarters about 2 years ago and quoted this. The Super Cedar firestarter is the best new product they have ever tested. The editor uses them when he competes and stated they have helped his team.

We have large resturant chains using these to start their wood ovens. They will not taint the taste of your food.

Thomas

Great, glad to hear that. I guess the cedar part would probably be pretty well consumed by the time the charcoal or other fuel was really up to cooking speed in any event.

Gooserider

 

[babalu87]

I will be ordering some for next season and gifting some to my parents as well.

They work great!
I am really cheating, breaking it into 6 pieces :red:
Sure beats having stacks of newspaper messing up the house, into the recycle bin with that now.

Great product

 

[Jags]

I have also tested the SuperCedars. Great product. I use 1/4 of a disk at a time, which gives more than enough flame and duration to get the fire going. Almost smokeless, nice smell and works as advertised. Thomas, one possible suggestion, you currently have a "groove" pressed into the disk for breaking in half. What about another groove so that it COULD be broke into 1/4 of a disk a little easier? This would give the user the option of using the whole disk, half a disk or 1/4 of the disk, depending on application. Just a thought.

 

[webbie]

Jags, I asked the same think awhile ago - better for pellet stoves that way - but it turns out that I need even less than 1/4 to start the pellet or corn.

The R&D and Machine Ship at SC will have to get busy.....this might be able to be an insert for the mold so it could be used or not.

 

[Jags]

Jags, I asked the same think awhile ago - better for pellet stoves that way - but it turns out that I need even less than 1/4 to start the pellet or corn.

The R&D and Machine Ship at SC will have to get busy.....this might be able to be an insert for the mold so it could be used or not.

Good idea Craig, just like we want options of whole, half or 1/4 (or even less) that would give SC the option to press lines or not.
It would probably be pretty easy to create "pie slices" of any size needed.

 

[NWfuel]

Jags,Craig

I am listening to you guys. I will be in my new facility soon. I will have room to pursue your ideas. I am also building a new machine which will do more.
Thomas