Check out our tips for building a well-burning wood fire that generates lots of heat for cooking.
- Tightly twist a few sheets of newspaper and add them in a tepee shape to the center of your Fire Box. Twisting the paper tightly will make it burn longer.
- Add 4-5 sticks of fat lighter, following the tepee shape of your newspaper. Fat lighter comes from pine tree stumps and is full of resin that makes a great fire starter.
- Layer on small pieces of fire wood, slightly larger than the fat lighter, continuing to follow the tepee shape. We recommend well-seasoned hardwoods, like Oak, Hickory or Pecan.
- Gradually work your way up to the largest pieces of wood, which should be split to fit the diameter of a coffee cup. Building up your fire this way will create space between the logs and allow air to circulate and fuel the flames.
- Light your pieces of twisted newspaper. As they catch fire, the fat lighter will begin to burn and the rest of the logs should catch as well.
- After approximately 30 minutes, you should have a nice bed of coals. You can control the intensity of your fire by stoking the coals and adding more wood as needed.