Starting your fire

[MSmallsr]

Re: Starting your fire

I am building a Pompeii oven as part of an outdoor kitchen. The architect shows a gas line terminating at the opening of the oven for a gas log starter. Has anyone done this or know what exactly this is? I am thinking this is a great idea but have never heard of or seen one.

Thanks

[Tscarborough]

Re: Starting your fire

Waste of time, effort, and resources. It takes one section of a newspaper and a match.

[GarnerAC]

Re: Starting your fire

Waste of time, effort, and resources. It takes one section of a newspaper and a match.

So we've found something the Austin Statesman is good for.

[boerwarrior]

Re: Starting your fire

I hope you are referring to some kind of local newspaper and not Mr Tscarborough!

[mrchipster]

Re: Starting your fire

I do not think Tscar would fire up well, I think he might smolder a lot and give off to much smoke.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Starting your fire

Actually, I use the Austin Chronicle, it is free and useless for anything else.

[mrchipster]

Re: Starting your fire

Here is how I start a fire and it works with one match every time.

1. Start with two pieces of wood about the size of your wrist and at least 1 ft (25cm) long.
2. Take 4 pieces of dry news print or other suitable paper and crumple into separate balls.
3. Split about 16 pieces of kindling no larger than .5 in thick (2cm) or so.
4. Place the two larger pieces of wood about 6 inches (15cm) apart and have a vertical face of each piece face inward, and just inside the inner arch of your oven.
5. Put the balled paper between the wood just placed.
6. Place 4 of your smaller kindling pieces over the paper bridging between the two larger pieces of wood.
7. Layer the next smallest 4 pieces of wood over the previous kindling.
8. Repeat your Cris-cross pattern of wood until your kindling is gone.
9. Light the paper on fire.
10. When well lit take a 3rd piece of wood long enough to contact both of the larger pieces of wood and use it to push the fire to the middle of the oven.
11. Add additional wood to the pile with your banjo peel or some other tool that allows you to place the wood carefully.

Works for me every time.

BTW the fire sequence photos were taken about 15 seconds apart.

[Filthymutt]

Re: Starting your fire

Rolled up newspaper on bottom, one sheet on top, a hole heap of twigs above that for kindling then two or three of the thinnest logs teepeed over that.
I use a long neck lighter for lighting BBQ grills and such. Then add bigger logs once the smaller ones catch

[bhorrocks]

Re: Starting your fire

I've been firing my brand-new FB oven for a few weeks, and I use the tops-down. I do a three-layer stack with thick logs on the bottom, with progressively smaller sticks on the top. I use 4 white Weber charcoal starter cubes, and I light them on the floor of the oven. They produce enough heat to get my top layer cranking. It's like someone else on the forum said, once you've figured it out, you can light a fire and the oven gets to cooking temp without having to add more fuel. I'm teaching my cub scout how to do it - it's that easy.

[deejayoh]

Re: Starting your fire

Has anyone out there tried a "Looftlighter"? It looks like a glorified hair-dryer that shoots 1250F air on your wood and is supposed to instantly start a fire. I looks like a pretty cool tool - no paper or kindling, no propane. I am thinking about ordering one, but they are about $70.

Looft Industries AB | Looftlighter, lighter, barbeque lighter, firelighter, original Looflighter

[GarnerAC]

Re: Starting your fire

Has anyone out there tried a "Looftlighter"? It looks like a glorified hair-dryer that shoots 1250F air on your wood and is supposed to instantly start a fire. I looks like a pretty cool tool - no paper or kindling, no propane. I am thinking about ordering one, but they are about $70.

Looft Industries AB | Looftlighter, lighter, barbeque lighter, firelighter, original Looflighter

Here's one!

[deejayoh]

Re: Starting your fire

That would work!

I read the reviews at Amazon. Sounds like it is a good idea, not well executed - as several reviews said it quit working within a few uses. One reviewer suggested that a Wagner heat gun works just as well. I happen to have one of those, so I am going to try that!

[mrchipster]

Re: Starting your fire

Has anyone out there tried a "Looftlighter"? It looks like a glorified hair-dryer that shoots 1250F air on your wood and is supposed to instantly start a fire. I looks like a pretty cool tool - no paper or kindling, no propane. I am thinking about ordering one, but they are about $70.

Looft Industries AB | Looftlighter, lighter, barbeque lighter, firelighter, original Looflighter

I would be willing to bet the heater element will burn out before 70 fires, that would be $1 per fire. Not counting the electricity.

I can buy a lot of matches for that. BTW I am still on my first box of stick matches after 2 years of. Using the oven, and the box is still more Than half full.

[Les]

Re: Starting your fire

Yea, but does your box of matches have an integrated bottle-opener? It looks like a pretty nice product but I'm with you on the price, I am sticking with matches as well.

[Greenman]

Re: Starting your fire

Very pretty. I would put it in the category of 'another thing to go bust'. The 'must have' accessory for your primitive oven.

Getting the oven fired up is the easy bit. Plenty of twigs increasing in size as the pile builds and the well dried smallish wood on top. My cheat is one small bit of a 'Natural, non-toxic' firestarter that is 55% wax and 45% wood fibre in the middle of the heap.