Weather cold / big fire or not

[ross]

Hi

Im having a big get together this weekend ..

The weather has gone very cold in the UK nearly O celsius..
My oven takes only an hour to get up to temp as its only small 32 ins
I just build a big fire at the start and let it go...its great...

Am I ok to fire this quickly???? or should I take it slower because of the cold??

Id prefer just to do the usual fire as its a very clean way to heat up the oven.
no smokey clothes etc

has anyone had problems occur from heating up a cold frosted oven too quick

[nissanneill]

Re: Weather cold / big fire or not

Hi Ross,
I don't envy your seriously cold weather, but I would certainly get and keep the oven going. It is wonderful down here in South Australia, 17 to 25˚C today and a low of 20˚C for tonight's low!
I also have great fires but take a little more time to get it up to 500˚C, usually between 1 1/2 to 3 hours, that is in a 40" Pompeii.
I would burn slower to reduce any chance of thermal shock with a single fierce fire, which do serious cracking of your beloved oven. I also believe that the old saying of "better safe than sorry" very much applies.
I don't see why you should get smokey clothes if you set your fire with not only dry, but fully seasoned wood, kindling and split logs. All you need to do (and there are numerous postings on this forum), which explained a good method to ensure a thorough burn and good heat.

Neill

[ross]

Re: Weather cold / big fire or not

Cheers Neil

I think what ill do is go slow...better safe than sorry...Ill get it upto heat in a couple rather than 1 hour...

I say a bit smokey only because sometimes I get a little smoke out of the front arch when I "grow" the fire. I could do with extending it a little and sometimes "seasoned wood" in the UK isnt quite as dry and spliting at the ends as it should be Ive tried a few supppliers but found a half decent place about 5 miles up the road...at a good price

Your right the tips for fire lighting on here are great I found the wood fire video and that technique of criss crossing the wood is brilliant after 5 mins of a big fire theres no smoke at all

Ill just do the same technique with smaller logs

Thanks again

[james]

Re: Weather cold / big fire or not

I think you should fire it the usual way, but give yourself more time for the oven to come up to heat. Don't push it and take your time. It really only adds up to a couple of pieces of extra wood and an extra 20-30 minutes.

James