Firewood

Choosing a Wood-Based Fire Starter Over a Gas Starter

As you get ready for a relaxing night around the fire pit, the one aspect you might find yourself not looking forward to is the time you spend trying to get the fire pit. Whether this is your first summer with a fire pit or you’ve had a fire pit for years, there may still be evenings when you find yourself bent over the fire pit, frustrated as you try to get the flame to take to the wood. This scenario is particularly common if you’re trying to use a gas starter to start the fire instead of a wood-based fire starter. Read on to learn more about wood-based fire starters and how they can truly transform your fire pit experience this summer.

The Difference between a Gas Starter and a Wood-Based Fire Starter

When you’re asking the question of whether or not you technically need to replace your gas starter with a wood-based fire starter, the answer really comes down to how much time you want to save. Simply put, if you’re using a gas starter, it will take longer to get your fire going. The temperature at which gas burns is considerably lower than the temperature at which kiln-dried firewood burns, so the two simply aren’t an optimal match when it comes to starting a fire. This is especially true if you’re burning kiln-dried hickory--the hottest burning of all the kiln-dried firewood options. If you choose oak or hickory kindling as your fire starter instead of gas, it will be a much better match in terms of the burning temperature.

Starting Your Fire with a Wood-Based Fire Starter

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If you’ve spent years relying on your gas starter, you might be at a loss when it comes to actually starting your fire without it. According to fire starting experts, the key is to start by lighting the kindling, and then moving on to the larger logs as the flame begins to take hold. This strategy is particularly important if your fire pit includes oversized firewood and/or uncut rounds. These types of wood are notoriously challenging to light, especially compared to regular sized, kiln-dried oak and hickory firewood. If you’re using oversized firewood or uncut rounds in your fire pit, it’s actually best to include a few pieces of regular-sized firewood for sale in with the rest of the mix. That way, as you’re lighting your fire, you can go from the kindling to the regular-sized wood to the oversized wood to the uncut rounds--that is, lighting each log in order of size. This strategy is the most likely to minimize the time it takes you to start the fire, and it will maximize the overall burn quality of your fire.

If you’re still not sure about the mechanics of switching from a gas starter to a wood-based fire starter, consider asking your firewood delivery artisan for assistance the next time you get an order of firewood and/or kindling. They can walk you through the steps of lighting a fire using kindling instead of a gas starter. Alternatively, if you’re just too strapped for time to worry about the challenge of getting your fire going, schedule your delivery in advance of your social gathering, and the delivery artisan can simply get the fire started and let you get on with your evening--no questions asked, and no gas starter needed.

The light, kiln-dried kindling offered by Cutting Edge Firewood is always affordable--just $35 for a box of oak kindling (2.45 cubic feet) and $45 for a box of hickory kindling--which is well-worth the time you’ll save by replacing your gas starter with a wood-based fire starter. But we also have a special offer for summer 2018: share our page on Facebook and get complimentary kindling! It’s a gift that keeps on giving, at least for you: first, you get the gift of free kindling, and then, you reap the benefits of saving time that you would have otherwise spent in frustration, trying to get your fire started ahead of your social gathering.

Other Fire Starting Aids to Reduce Your Fire-Starting Time

Kindling isn’t the only wood-based fire starter that can bring down the time it takes you to get your fire going. Heart pine is another all-natural fire starter that makes it easier to get the flame to take to the wood. Plus, it adds an aroma of a pine forest to your fire that will bring back summer memories of the camping trips of your youth--always a plus!

Another fire-based starter is string wood (sold as Excelsior Fire Starter by Cutting Edge Firewood). This all-natural fire starter can be used for any fire, but it is especially popular if you’re firewood for cooking over your fire, since (unlike gas starter), it is scent-free and chemical-free.

Cutting Edge Firewood is here to help you get all your summer fires started with ease. Visit our order page now to get everything you need!


About The Author

Leroy Hite

Leroy Hite is the founder and CEO of Cutting Edge Firewood, an ultra-premium firewood and cooking wood company located in Atlanta, Georgia. Leroy's mission is to give people the experience of the perfect fire because some of life’s best memories are made in the warmth of a fire’s glow. He founded Cutting Edge Firewood in 2013 with a goal to provide unmatched quality wood and unparalleled customer service nationwide. The company offers premium kiln-dried firewood, cooking wood, and pizza wood in a wide variety of species and cuts to customers around the country.