Starting your fire

[redbricknick]

Fornowood.

Euacalyptus, or Gum as we Aussies call it is full of natural, pungent oils. Hence the name gum. Fire is imperative to the Gum trees life cycle, as very high temperatures are needed to pop open their seed pods. Those of you who have smelled Euacalyptus oil know what a distinct and pungent flavor that is. Not the type of flavor you want in your food. It has a tendency to pop and shoot as well which kicks up dust in an oven, and all over whatever you are cooking. Gum also creates a lot of creosote which is the condensation of unburned flammable particles in smoke. It will stick to your flue, and over time gunk it up. Chimneysweeps aren't as prevalent as in the old days, and finding one small enough to clean an oven flue would most probably be a nightmare. Also a firehazard.

Corrrectly seasoning any firewood is a must. Most softwoods season in one year, two years for hardwoods is normal. Seasoned wood should be white on the inside. Hardwoods are a lot denser, as they take longer to grow.

Incorrect seasoning causes wood to smolder and produce a colder fire. Colder fire, more smoke, less draw on your chimney, a lot of coughing guests... Try this.. Split your unseasoned hardwoods, and before you go to sleep after a night of oven cooking, clear your oven of ashes and hot embers, and season your firewood overnight with the remaining heat... It should work as a kiln. Great if you live in a colder place.

The best firewood is Madrone. It is a very dense hardwood which burns long and hot. The thinner you split your firewood, and the more air you feed your fire, the hotter your fire will be. I'm thinking of installing an air line to hook up to a little compresser so I can feed air to my fire. Bellows are great too. The ladies love a man who knows how to work the bellows... The worst firewood is white oak. It doesn't burn all the way, and smokes.

Sawmills, orchards, vineyards... There are so many great sources for firewood. Frank Ostini of the Hitching post restaurant in Buellton cooks with red wine barrel staves on special occasions. I have been lucky enough to have been there on my share of them, and the flavor they impart is definitely noticeable.. Big wineries have scads of old barrels, and if you can stand to see them burned, it's worth it. Perhaps driftwood imparts a salty flavor... Try burning dried herbs in your fire... If nothing else, it will add to the vibe of your evening, and make everyone think you are some kind of alchemist.

Of course, this was all a guess, so don't sue me if you spontaneously combust... Before burning any fruit wood, be sure and make certain the trees haven't been sprayed with pesticides and such. Poison makes pizza taste bad. And it kills you.

[stuart]

While not nearly as impressive as Robert's weed burner, I use a MAPP Gas cylinder with the torch on a flexible hose found as a kit in the Home Depot plumbing section. The 48" hose/handle gives you more flexibility and you aren't sticking the fuel source inside your oven. MAPP is a hotter burning gas than Propane and I find the cylinder last longer as I don't need to fire the torch as long with the hotter flame.

[DrakeRemoray]

another flamethrower

I ran across this:
Weed Burner on Amazon.com
A little smaller than Musa's flame thrower and less expensive....not sure if I will get one yet, just FYI.
Drake

[firepie]

Robert, after seeing your demo video, I had to order one of those. After all, any tool that gets the spouse to say "holy crap", is pretty impressive indeed.

My weed dragon arrived saturday just in time to start up the oven. I knew what to expect, and even I was saying "holy crap".

Thanks for demo, you should get a commission on these things.

Tom

[christo]

Any concerns about using the wax/sawdust starters?

Any concerns about using the wax/sawdust starters? They are basically mini wax firelogs. They work great in my fireplace, but maybe they should stay there.

Does the floor of the oven get hot enough to get rid of any parafin/wax residue? If I used them, I don't think I'd want to place them on the side to keep them away from pizza cooking surface.

I love the weedburner thing, but have way too many toys already....

Thanks!!!

[CanuckJim]

Firelogs

Christo,

I've used wax, sawdust logs in my fireplace, too, but only when there was a thick bed of ash on the hearth. I'd stay away from them in your pizza oven, because the wax will penetrate the brick and the taste will be unpleasant.

Jim

[jayjay]

Rosin (like the stuff they put on the bows of violins)

We have a small package that comes wrapped in leaves here. It is called rosin, we open the leave, and spread a small amt on the stick, light the stick and then
put the stick in the bottom of the kindleing. The stuff is cheap. It is sticky, so one would need to avoid getting the stuff on your hands. Here in the Philippines many natives use rosin on a stick to start a fire to cook their daily meals. The rosin on the stick, light with a wooden match and put the stick on the hearth, then add other sticks or in the case of an oven, put the burning stick under tha kindling, works very quickly, cheaply and almost fool proof. No need for newspapers which are used to wrap fish in. The same newspaper may be used 50 times before it becomes starter for the evening meal.
JJ
Philippines

[woodrow]

Re: Starting your fire

I'm new to the forum but have been cooking on my pizza oven for about 3 years. I start the fire with Weber Fire starting cubes, available at almost all BBQ stores, BBQ Galore here in Sacramento. Build a log cabin of hardwood kindling, or dead branches from fruit or other hardwood around 3 cubes to start the fire. I do not use pine in the oven as it leaves to much resin and a bad flavor. Oak and almond are availabe for the 1/4, 1/2 and full cord around here. The fire starting cubes, about 1 inch square, leave no residue and burn long enough to start the kindling. After that its pretty standard. Put on 3-4 logs, burn down and push to the side, put on more wood and let the flame burn the soot of the dome. Push some coals to center to help heat the floor. I can get my floor temp to 700 and interior to est 850 to 900 in an hour.

[Xabia Jim]

Re: Starting your fire

Welcome Woodrow

I'm a pyro from way back. Heated with wood only in upper Michigan and in Minneapolis too! Burned many a open fire...nothing like a fire, every one is different!

Crumpled up paper, small pieces of wood, larger pieces of wood. Light with match and let 'er burn. Log cabin style or teepee, if it starts small and gets air, it's going to burn as you add larger pieces of wood.

Bad fire, wet wood? The small propane torch is great! I've used it regularly to get my paella pit fires going. (Green wood?, switch to the indoor oven)

I tend to use a lot of junk wood to get a fire burning. I kind of get ready for the fire....Sticks picked up in the yard, pieces of pallets, paper and wood trash, bark...whatever, if it burns I'll use it! (Okay, I have not tried tires! and I stay away from hazardous waste) But, save your pinecones or pick some up when you pass some conifers....they make a great fire starter.

My philosophy is to get the fire burning and hot...save the better woods for cooking once the fire is hot. I do use pine here but it's a dense southern style pine that has been well dried. It actually provides a nice flavor. I also use designer chips (hickory, mesquite, apple...in Michigan) soaked in water and put on or near the fire when you want a nice smoke flavor.

And the best fire aroma? Yes, some rosemary branches near the fire while you're cooking whatever with your friends...natural air freshener.

[christo]

Re: Starting your fire

Looks like a torch similar to Roberts is on sale at HF. I put the coupon below.

No financial intererst and I don't know how good it works....

[james]

Re: Starting your fire

I can't wait to see how the geo-dome ovens work. Christo -- go slow.
James

[Chris]

Re: Starting your fire

I've got that Harbor Freight weed-burner torch, although without the pushbutton ignition. It works great. Don't put it inside the oven and open it full blast. It uses up all the oxygen inside the oven in about five seconds, and snuffs out. I set the flame on low, and put it under the wood pile for a few minutes. It acts as kindling, without having to scrounge for small sticks, etc.

[dbegler]

Inconsistent flame intensity

Hello - I've used my oven about 6 times (post-cure) now, and while I've gotten it pretty hot (white dome) and made the best pizzas I've ever had(!), my oven firing seems to be giving me trouble.

I start out with a bunch of kindling and fire starters, which gets going nicely, and then I put on a 3 diameter inch log, which seems to catch for 5 or so minutes, and then the flame dies and it smolders a bit.

So I throw some more kindling on to get the flame going again.

Sometimes when I put on a new log and try to move it into place (or push the fire to the side), the flame smothers completely, and I have throw on more kindling to use my safety lighter to nudge it back to life. My kindling supply is dwindling rapidly.

I guess I was expecting that I could start a big fire and keep it going rather easily, instead of having the size of the flame ebb and flow, requiring me to be paying constant attention to it, which makes me fall behind in the pizza prep.

I am using almond that seems fairly well seasoned, and it's taking me about 2 hours to get a white dome.

I did just order the log holder, so maybe that will help.

I have the feeling I am getting some basic firemaking technique wrong.

Any clues, advice?

Thanks a lot. -- David

[Archena]

Re: Starting your fire

You're putting too big a log on too small a fire. Go from tender (twigs) to kindling (small branches) and then to the actual logs. You want the kindling to be burning well before you put the first log on. Once the logs catch well it should burn okay. Never tried an oven but I suspect it will take a bit more tending just because it's so enclosed.

[maver]

Re: Starting your fire

It sounds suspicious for wet wood if it starts to catch and then goes out. I know in my area the wood never gets really seasoned as it is just too damp. After your next bake, once you rake out the coals and the oven has cooled down to about 400-500 (give it an hour or so with the door off and no coals) place some of your wood (enough for a few fires) in the oven and place your door or some bricks over the opening to get a fairly good seal. Just leave it there until you are ready to fire the oven again. Take some of this wood apart with a hatchet for kindling. If this doesn't burn very easily then you have some other major airflow issue, and I don't think the log holder alone explains this. You may need to consult with a boy scout for further tips. And I agree with Archena, you may be going too fast from small to big, but 5 minutes ought to be enough time to get a well seasoned log burning.