Lighting nut coal

merry christmas coldcoal . good to see you are still around .

Watch these short videos about starting your fire with charcoal.

http://nepacrossroads.com/about17768.html

Vinmaker wrote:This past time I used some wood that I thought was seasoned. Apparently not by all the black goo on my nice clean stove window. So I am thinking about using this charcoal method. Never used it before. Might be pretty cool to try.

As far as this cowboy stuff goes. Never saw the stuff in my life. Doubt they get that stuff here in the northeast corner of the USA. We are not exactly know for our cowboys. I have seen the royal oak stuff.

They sell it here trust me...
BigBox stores, Supermarkets, Hardware Stores...
http://nepacrossroads.com/about18671-225.html#p224104
Burn this picture in your brain...
You will see it everywhere...

I have seen the royal oak stuff.

Royal Oak brand is lump charcoal...as is Cowboy brand.

Any charcoal will do. And it is a very clean and neat way to light. But wood is free and lights the stove much faster.

Maybe if you've got a 14-16 inch fire pot--for my 50-93, I dump a half bag of SAM's self light briquettes in the fall,spread it to totally cover my grate area, follow SOP for all stoves, fill my hopper & I'm good till spring--takes about 30-45 minutes one time. I'm not looking for the fancy names of things, I'm looking for heat for the season. $6.00 for two seasons, even this tight ass old farmer can afford that.

I bought two 20 lb bags back in '05 & they lasted me 4 years. This was before I improved my relighting method.

Back then, every time I shut the stove down I'd clean it out completely & start with a whole layer of charcoal across the grates. Now I leave all the crap in there, put a couple layers of coal across it, 2 handfulls of charcoal in the center & surround it with more coal, soak in diesel, #2, or lighter fluid & light. At this rate I'll still be using my current 40 lb charcoal purchase 10 years from now.

Yep, that's the plan & damn if it don't work.

only had to light twice this year. first time used half the bag,second time i put 20 lbs. coal on grates then used 6 pieces cowboy charcoal. 2 1/2 hours later, 80 lbs. coal and 60 gallons water to 180 degrees, alot easier and faster than firewood