on making fires

what, like it's hard?

This house came with a Kent wood burning stove, which, like the rest of my appliances, is from 1997. We got it cleaned last spring, and ever since, I’ve been messing around with fire making.

Here’s is what I’ve learned so far:

+ Open all the vents. Fires need air.

+ It is not necessary to make a torch out of newspaper and shine it into every corner of the stove/ chimney like a tomb raider, but it will not hurt.

+ It is okay to cheat in fire making. Use a lot of kindling and newspaper in the beginning.

+ Never under any circumstances should you use a Duraflame in your stove.

+ Start with small logs and let them burn with all the vents open until they are completely incinerated.

+ When in doubt if a log has completely burned or has just been lightly toasted, bash it with a poker.

+ It is ideal to have a bed of glowing embers (“coals”) that is somewhere over 100 degrees to create a chain-lighting situation.

+ When opening the door to add more logs, open it slowly.

+ When the fire is bright, that is not the time to add more logs. Add more logs when it is glowing red.

+ Do not pile logs onto existing burning red logs. Instead, bash existing red logs into coal bed, then add logs on top.

+ Once coal bed is achieved, you should refuel at 2-3 logs at a time. The more you open the door, the more you risk losing the fire.

+ There is no art to log stacking in a wood burning stove. Just shove ‘em in there and shut the door.

+ The more air, the hotter and brighter the fire. Also the faster it will go out.

+ The less air, the more “efficient” the fire. “Efficient” fires can stay around 100 degrees for a long time without refueling, five hours I’ve found so far, but I am also new at this.

+ It’s important to figure out where your vent is, because this way you can control the airflow of the fire without opening and closing the door.

+ Sometimes it happens that you think your fire is hot enough, but it’s not so the logs start to smolder. If you open the door a little, often it will light. Per above, fires need air.

+ Sometimes it happens that you open the door to give your fire air, and it only relights when you shut the door again. Air is mysterious.

+ Not all logs are seasoned equally. Some logs will light at a lower temperature, while others need more heat to take. See above, on cheating.

+ Fires are salvageable, even when they seem like they have gone out. Newspaper and air will fix most of your problems.

+ When you finish with your fire, leave some of the cinders—fires light easier atop a bed of ash.

May all of your fires burn bright this week!

xx