OK...
In the interest of being open minded, I finally gave the top-down method a try. Not in the stove, but outside in our chiminea. I put two fair size cherry splits on the bottom, then put several small 2 year-old white oak splits (about 1 1/2") in between them. I topped it with two layers of white oak kindling that had been out in the rain uncovered for a day. Then I put just three newspaper bows on top and fired her up. In other words, I didn't do anything special to make it work, even used damp kindling. If it was gonna make a believer out of me, I wanted it to earn that right.
After about three minutes, Lady BK started to gather up a handful of smaller kindling and I got ready to pull the thing apart and start over again. But wait... one of the smaller kindling pieces was starting to catch. It stayed lit for about a couple more minutes, then another one ignited. Then a few more, and in about five more minutes the whole top was in flames. Clean burning, too. No smoke at all, just waves of flame working its way down the wood stack. We got a nice coal bed real fast, with each new split we added popping into flames almost immediately. We were duly impressed. Did I mention how clean it burned? The oak even sizzled a bit, but the fire didn't seem to mind none.
The reason I tried it was because I finally got to watch that video with Vanessa and John Gulland. The way they explained it, it made sense so I thought I'd give it a try.
Not sure how this will change anything for me with the stove. I only have about half a dozen cold starts a year. But we really like the idea of loading the chiminea up ahead of time with dry wood and just lighting a match whenever we decide to start the fire. The newspaper worked fine, but I'll probably use SC-type fire starters for convenience and a 100% guarantee of one-match success. Thank you, Vanessa. ;-)
In the interest of being open minded, I finally gave the top-down method a try. Not in the stove, but outside in our chiminea. I put two fair size cherry splits on the bottom, then put several small 2 year-old white oak splits (about 1 1/2") in between them. I topped it with two layers of white oak kindling that had been out in the rain uncovered for a day. Then I put just three newspaper bows on top and fired her up. In other words, I didn't do anything special to make it work, even used damp kindling. If it was gonna make a believer out of me, I wanted it to earn that right.
After about three minutes, Lady BK started to gather up a handful of smaller kindling and I got ready to pull the thing apart and start over again. But wait... one of the smaller kindling pieces was starting to catch. It stayed lit for about a couple more minutes, then another one ignited. Then a few more, and in about five more minutes the whole top was in flames. Clean burning, too. No smoke at all, just waves of flame working its way down the wood stack. We got a nice coal bed real fast, with each new split we added popping into flames almost immediately. We were duly impressed. Did I mention how clean it burned? The oak even sizzled a bit, but the fire didn't seem to mind none.
The reason I tried it was because I finally got to watch that video with Vanessa and John Gulland. The way they explained it, it made sense so I thought I'd give it a try.
Not sure how this will change anything for me with the stove. I only have about half a dozen cold starts a year. But we really like the idea of loading the chiminea up ahead of time with dry wood and just lighting a match whenever we decide to start the fire. The newspaper worked fine, but I'll probably use SC-type fire starters for convenience and a 100% guarantee of one-match success. Thank you, Vanessa. ;-)