We’ve all been there. You’ve got your wood, you light it up, and you spend what feels like an eternity trying to get a roaring fire going for you and your guests. It can be intimidating, demoralizing, and downright awful. Here are some tips for making a fire the experience you’re looking for:
Make sure you have the right (dry) wood! Even a well-built fire can’t get going if you’re dealing with soggy, wet wood. Make sure that you have dry wood to work with. What is “dry” wood? In the firewood business we consider any wood that has less than 20% moisture content – as read by a moisture meter on a fresh split of the wood – as “ready to burn”. You should also consider the type of wood you’re burning, but we discuss that in another article.
You NEED kindling. Those bundles you got from East Nashville Firewood Delivery will burn great! BUT… not on their own. We need to feed our logs with a nice hot bed of coals. Depending on your situation you can gather up sticks from the yard (again, dry), or split a few smaller pieces. We recommend keeping one of these kindle “cracker” tools around with a mallet. It’s a great way to turn some of your larger logs into starter kindling.
Use some starter “fuel”. You have lots of options here. Some people like “fatwood” – smaller sticks made of pine and sold at most hardware stores. Others might use newspapers or cardboard. Here at East Nashville Firewood Delivery we use a little homemade solution – Dryer Lint, Egg Cartons, and Gulf Wax. Here is an article we found where they substitute used crayon for Gulf Wax but the idea remains the same. The sole purpose of this “fuel” is to get the kindling burning hot. You don’t want to use anything that will burn too quickly, which is why we like our solution. The wax slows the egg carton burn down and creates a sterno-can-effect.
Tepee vs. Log Cabin. There’s a lot of debate on these two formations of firewood builds, but, if you ask us, it doesn’t matter! The key is to create a shape that will hold its structure while also letting in plenty of air to feed the fire. We are partial to the log cabin but sometimes we switch it up! Either way you want to get your fuel down at the bottom, kindling stacked over the fuel with space to get a hand/match/lighterstick in, and a few logs stacked around and above the kindling.
Fan those flames. Oxygen is a fire’s best friend. Once you’ve got your fuel and kindling going, gently fan the flames to start building the heat. If you’re doing this part right you’ll hear a very satisfying “whoosh” with every fan stroke. “Gently” is the operative word here. Fan too hard and you put out your fire. Aim for that “whoosh!”.
Be PATIENT. Once you have your kindling roaring, you may be tempted to start piling on more logs. DON’T! Let the kindling build up to its full potential and hold off on stacking any logs directly on top of it, until you have a scorching hot bed of coals.
Stoke it. Once your kindling has caught onto the logs you are in the home stretch. If you build a solid structure it just becomes a matter of piling new logs into strategic places as the fire starts to wane. Think of it as a game of Jenga. Each new log should be placed in a spot where, if it fell, would still come in contact with the hottest coals in the bed. Once you place a new log, poke into the fire with a stoker to disturb the coals and ashes. You’ll notice when you do this, the heat kicks up and it helps to catch the new logs ablaze.
There are many more details when it comes to fire building, but these basic tips shouldn’t steer you wrong. As you build more and more fires you’ll no doubt establish your own routines and preferences. The key here is that when you find a formula that works, you stick to the program! Replicate all your steps militantly and you won’t be let down. We can’t stress enough that everyone may have a slightly different method. If you ask us, it’s a waste of time to argue some of these details. Time that would be much better spent sitting around the fire.
Speaking of spending time around the fire. If you like pondering deep thoughts with your friends and family around the fire, check out our Campfire Conversation Starters. We are currently asking our community to curate a list of their favorite questions and we'd love your help!