Setup

How Do You Light a Fire for Wood-Fired Cooking?

The top-down method gives you an efficient burn, very little smoke and a steady supply of embers. It's the way I light my grill at home.

The top-down method

1. Build the base

Start with two layers of larger hardwood logs in the Ember Maker. Leave gaps – air is the whole game.

2. Add the firelighter

A natural firelighter goes on top of the logs, not underneath. That's the "top-down" bit.

3. Build the kindling tower

Surround the firelighter with a small tower of kindling and light it. The flames work downwards through the logs. Resist adjusting anything for ten minutes. Once the fire is going and has settled, add a few more logs to the top if there's room.

Thirty or forty minutes in, the fire is doing the work on its own. Sit back with a drink and watch it, or go and get the food prepped.

4. Knock the embers down

As the fire burns you'll see the ember structure form inside the logs. When it does, add a fresh log and give it five minutes to catch, then give the logs a hit with the Ember Rake to drop the embers from the Ember Maker into the cooking area. Don't wait for them to fall on their own. Keep adding logs as the old ones break down – you don't want to knock the fire out when you drop the embers.

5. Keep it going

Allow about an hour to build a good bed of embers. After that, keep a smaller fire burning in one corner of the Ember Maker so new embers arrive every twenty minutes or so. That's what keeps the heat consistent through a long cook.

Top tips

Getting smoke? Check the airflow around the logs first. Smoke means the fire's short of oxygen. Use the Ember Rake to move the logs apart and let the air in.

Hardwood logs under 20% moisture. Happy fire, happy neighbours. And avoid big logs – the aim is embers, fast. Big logs take a long time and waste a lot on the way.

For cooking temperature, you want to hold your hand at cooking height for about ten seconds. See The Hand Test.