Poochie Posted October 3, 2015 Report Posted October 3, 2015 By the time you buy the shredded Aspen and the candles to melt, then the wax paper to spread it on and the mess to clean up, I'd say Weber cubes are a good deal!
Gnomatic Posted October 3, 2015 Report Posted October 3, 2015 Starter cubes are plenty cheap. That said, I've stepped up my game with a Benzomatic weed burner torch, and don't see myself using cubes very often anymore. 2
Syzygies Posted October 3, 2015 Report Posted October 3, 2015 By the time you buy the shredded Aspen and the candles to melt, then the wax paper to spread it on and the mess to clean up, I'd say Weber cubes are a good deal! My base line here is warm urban weekends, where parks reek of lighter fluid, dominating even the smell of burning chicken fat. So I don't trust commercial products as a rule. I have a friend who won a trip to Germany (to lose the international competition) after matching a dozen German wines blind from memory four hours later in the U.S. finals. He could pick out the coconut notes in my brisket cooked using extruded coconut lump. Most people find extruded coconut lump to be neutral. (To be fair, this was Richard's lump. Dennis is in a different league.) If I could set it up, would you be willing to bet $1,000 that my friend can't pick out which four fires out of eight were started with Weber cubes rather than a weed burner? I have a pretty good understanding of the chemistry of burning propane. This would be a safe bet, comparing a weed burner to a neutral alternative such as transferring glowing embers. I tried wax a few times; the smell took too long to go away for me. I wouldn't take this bet.
bryan Posted October 3, 2015 Author Report Posted October 3, 2015 I generate my KK smoke and starter material from my fruit and nut trees. I also keep a Kelly Kettle in my truck for use at rest areas.
mguerra Posted October 7, 2015 Report Posted October 7, 2015 Starting a KK fire and starting a survival fire are two different animals aren't they? For the KK I have used torches, starter cubes, the Loofie, and a charcoal chimney. I have settled on a chimney and a wad of brown paper bag. Fast, simple, cheap and effective. Once it's just going I hit it with an old hair dryer, Dennis' trick. Gets a raging fire in about 6 or 7 minutes.
bryan Posted October 7, 2015 Author Report Posted October 7, 2015 Hey Doc. Long time. Know what you mean. but I have become a low and slow type fella. Where are those outstanding cooks youwere doing? (the old cook_shack)
mguerra Posted October 7, 2015 Report Posted October 7, 2015 Well, we have always said that to do a low and slow you only need to start a small amount of charcoal and you can certainly start a small amount of charcoal exceedingly fast in a charcoal chimney! I have been so absorbed in my new pyrotechnician hobby that I have not been hanging around the KK form near enough so I will try to post more often now.
tony b Posted October 7, 2015 Report Posted October 7, 2015 I figured "fireworks season" was over. Glad to have you back on the Forum, Doc!
mguerra Posted October 9, 2015 Report Posted October 9, 2015 The fireworks season is every excuse I can think of to light up the sky. Birthdays, parties, reunions, weddings, if it happens to rain...whatever. It is raining today for the first time in 3 months, so tonight I'm popping some shells!
ckreef Posted October 9, 2015 Report Posted October 9, 2015 The fireworks season is every excuse I can think of to light up the sky. Birthdays, parties, reunions, weddings, if it happens to rain...whatever. It is raining today for the first time in 3 months, so tonight I'm popping some shells!Finally this year (just before July 4th) GA passed a fireworks law that allows for things that go up in the sky. I've put on a reasonable show about 4 times already. At least a couple of my neighbors like it. Not sure about the other ones but, nothing they can do about it as long as I'm done before midnight.
