Thursday, May 3, 2018

Food and Fire

Just some neat pictures I took while cooking last night's diner . . .
. . . on a Swedish Candle
a twelve inch log with five chainsaw cuts run lengthwise
I was rushing things . . .
. . . but it was getting late and we were hungry .
 The thing really puts out some serious heat .
if I were to guess the pan was probably around 700 deg F
here is what it all looks like with flash
The smoke is from the pan , not the fire .
This was what it looked like when I started . An eighteen inch long log , twelve inches in diameter . Five chainsaw cuts run lengthwise three quarters of the way down . Drove three spikes in it to set the pan on . Stuffed some newspaper in the cuts and lit it with my propane torch . This was my first try at doing one and there is a learning curve. Should have given myself more time and started earlier. As I was in a bit of a rush and was less than careful, got smoke in my eyes at just the wrong moment and did manage to splash myself with some grease when I dropped the second steak in . Spent the night holding an ice bag . Lessons learned . Start the thing an hour before you want to cook so the flames have a chance to die down a bit before putting the pan on . A twelve inch diameter log is probably more than needed . Eight inch would be more than plenty .

6 comments:

  1. Despite the understandble errors, I believe it was an interesting and profitable experience.

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    1. Second time around we will make some improvements to the process.

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  2. I have never seen, nor heard of, a Swedish candle. Looks like it makes a lot of sense to me. When I cook with cast iron, it's usually over a bed of coals on a tripod, or a very low setting on the propane range. Looks like it worked out ok for you even though that frying pan must have gotten extremely hot.

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    1. I said this was my first try doing this and there was a bit of a learning curve to the process. Overall it worked out well. It did get awful hot. Essentially it is a rocket stove and operates on the same principle. Next time I will use a smaller diameter log. The Swedes working in the woods in winter came up with the idea. They call it a "Solva Stove". Cut down a dead dry tree, make four or five vertical cuts in the remaining stump and light it off. It keeps things out of the snow and gives you a solid base to cook on. It is a very efficient use of fire wood.

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  3. I am impressed with your Swedish candle. I'm always experimenting with alternative ways to cook. We have a rocket stove, volcano cooker, solar oven, wonder bag, Weber grill, etc. We also have lots of trees so I am tempted to try this on a cold day. Thanks.

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    1. Hi Janet, it was an experiment and there was a bit of a learning curve to it. But it is easy to do. Google around for more tips on it. I am told Solva Stove is what Swedes call it. It effectively uses the same principle as a rocket stove taking advantage of a chimney draft to add oxygen to the fire and make it burn hotter. But when I do ti again I'll use a smaller log. The one I did provided too much fuel and burned way too hot. Though it would be ideal for a stir fry in a wok. A smaller diameter log in the six inch range would be sufficient for most regular cooking. Give it a try, it was good fun.

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