Fire Starters or Fatwood Bad For Oven?

[WaWaZat]

Originally Posted by Archena

It's just high resin pine - shouldn't be a problem unless you burn a ton of it and build up creosote. But those little starters shouldn't cause any noticeable creosote in the chimney and the oven will burn off any residue easily.

Yeah, I guess my concern comes from reading somewhere... when I was 1st setting up my oven & reading everything I could, trying to absorb it all... that soft pine was bad to burn in an oven because of residue.

But doesn't all wood produce at least some creosote?

Is this the only concern with burning soft pine... the creosote? If so, I suppose the small amount used for kindling wouldn't be an issue.

[Archena]

Pine has three issues:

1) fast burning - it's not an efficient fuel wood for long burns. (But since it is often cheaper than hardwood it may not be any more expensive to use depending on local supply.)

2) Creosote - it will build up over time if a sufficient quantity of pine is being used. Good chimney maintenance will take care of the problem - it's not going to gunk up the chimney in one firing. (Remember, your chimney gets its teeth brushed once a year whether it needs it or not - and whether you use pine or not. Chimney fires are bad things.)

3) Flavor - Pine is highly resinous and imparts a strong flavor. Not a problem if only used early but the closer to cooking time the more likely it will alter the flavor. (This isn't necessarily bad - but few Americans find pine palatable. Unless you're preparing a medieval feast this probably won't work out well. If you are planning a medieval feast think pork or lamb.)

[blacknoir]

How do you clean your chimney? I should do that this summer.

Do you think newspaper gives of Creosote?

[WaWaZat]

Originally Posted by blacknoir

How do you clean your chimney? I should do that this summer.

Do you think newspaper gives of Creosote?

I remember having a chimney fire in my family's fireplace when I was young. I don't believe my Dad was burning pine. Based on that, I'm going to assume that burning any kind of wood gives off at least some creosote that can build over time.

Regular chimney cleanings were in order after that incident.

My oven chimney has a removable spark arrestor/cap on top so I would imagine it's just a matter of pulling that off & giving it a brushing. ???

[Archena]

For the small chimneys on an oven a good brushing is more than enough. Probably need to give the arrester a good scrub while you're at it. A house chimney should be done professionally - they're bigger and trickier and REALLY bad if they catch on fire.

All wood produces residue - creosote is associated with resinous woods like cedar and pine. Doesn't matter - any wood will eventually gunk up a chimney. Only retorts and masonry ovens burn so thoroughly that the residue is nearly non-existent. The interior of the oven burns off the residue - but not in the chimney.

Newspaper doesn't produce creosote. Creosote is a residue of resin - the resin turns to vapor when burned and returns partially to resin when it cools. If it happens to smack into the 'cooler than the oven' wall of the chimney it sticks. When enough builds up it becomes flammable (technically, it just gets thick enough to hold a flame) and can catch fire - which is very, very bad.

Don't freak about it. Brush once a year - twice if it does get gunky - and you're good.

[bmartin1984]

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