whats up with fatwood???

[argus66]

hey anyone use fat wood as a starter? i tried it and it seemed to sizzle a lot and bubble. is this normal? its says wood stove safe on package but that may mean nothing.

 

[wahoowad]

I use it - someone gave me a 5 lb. bag from a hearth store. Burns great. I can see the sap bubbling out of it but that sap is make it burn.

 

[K31Scout]

I've used it for a couple of years and it really gets my cedar kindling going which gets the maple going. I get it on clearance usually at Lowes or H Depot.

 

[cmonSTART]

Ok, what in the world is fat wood?

 

[jtp10181]

Its Georgia Fatwood. It is real wood with no chemicals or wax added. It is harvested from stumps of pine trees primarily in Georgia I guess. The sap settles in the stumps which is why the wood is almost waxy looking / feeling. They SWEAR on the package it is all natural with no additives. Some people find that hard to believe because it burns pretty well. The fatwood does make a nasty black smoke that will soot up the glass if its too close.

I tried the Super Cedars and I kind of like those better but the sales people on the showroom are resistant to change and will only sell the fatwood (Sorry Tom). Maybe I will order some super cedars for myself when I use up the rest of my two samples. I only use them at customers houses who are trying to start their wet wood with a full Sunday paper.

 

[begreen]

Yep, last year folks posted that their glass smoked up a lot using fatwood. With supercedars, the problem went away.

 

[nshif]

I get all my fat wood from the stumps of pine we cut. whenever we see a butt of a pine filled with sap we take a 6 or 8 " slice off and split it down to about 1/2" pieces and store it up. takes about 4-6 pieces to get some cedar kindling going. you can light it with a match no paper needed. But I only start a fire from scratch a few times a year so 1 30" inch butt cut lasts me a few years