Firekeeping

[iimpavid]

Some notes on fire building in our condo, lest I forget.

•  using a top-down method creates long-lasting and very hot embers out of the base later of wood
• use smaller (bicep width) pieces for the base layer
• bigger logs should bracket the kindling
• use kindling (paper and thinner sticks) to create a bridge between bigger logs
• as fire continually burns down, use smaller wood pieces to maintain the bottom layer of embers, still stacking bigger pieces on top
• if no flames are visible but embers are still audible it is very easy to restart the fire with a couple of pieces of well-bridged kindling and a match or two
• use kindling sticks to transfer flames to opposing ends of new logs
• use fireplace tools to turn logs. Sometimes this is all it needs to catch anew
• regularly praise the fire as this seems to have a positive effect
• don't forget to refresh the charcoal loptr by the kindling pile