Keeping Cooking Fire Smoke to a Minimum

C

coote

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Apr 3, 2006
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Sometimes it is best to have little or no smoke from your fire. How is this best achieved? I think that the following things might help:

- Use dry fuel
- Use very thin pieces of wood
- Feed the fire slowly
- Keep the fire as hot as possible
- Have a small fire

It seems that the worst time for smoke can be when the fire is first lit.

Any other ideas on minimising smoke, especially at start-up?

Thanks in advance....Coote.
 
dead dry hot burning timber is best.

putting a layer of gravel, sand or rocks below your fire helps keep the fire from burning moist, damp materials that may be below it.

at the beginning of the fire, i usually fan it so it burns very hot very quickly which helps to prevent smoke.

also having a steady supply of coals/embers ensures clean burn up and reduces smoke.

just my experiences, cheers :)

JCA
 
Build a tiny fire under thick canopy or against a bluff face with a strong updraft. By the time the smoke rises to the height that it is detectable, it is well enough dispersed to at least not be seen.

Oh...you meant a smokeless fire, not hiding the smoke. Best answers for that above!

Codger
 
How you build the fire can make a big difference too. . . I've seen lots of people make a nice neat log cabin to start off with which works great, but they don't maintain it as it burns and it all falls in on itself and smothers. You need to keep things propped up to allow airflow into the bottom and middle of the fire.

I've found that if you're trying to burn a relatively big log on a smaller fire, keeping the big log propped up on another log or a rock with smaller stuff burning underneath keeps it burning instead of smoldering.

Don't dig a deep pit for your fire. . . It won't get enough air if it's too deep.

That's all I can think of.
 
Most of the tricks I klnow have already been mentioned....you can screen and filter the smoke through evergreen bows... just make sure they're far enough from the flame so they don't catch... as the smoke slot when burning...
 
The first looks too big in the youtube video. Or that guy is just making use of the superior efficiency of the design, not trying to practice evasion skills of making a fire that is hard to detect. The design is off a little too. It should be more of a "U" shape with the fire shelf being a bit above the bottom of the U so that the fire doesn't also lick out the other hole. The diagrams rarely show the "shelf part" but it keeps the fire from migrating to the bottom of the U. The U must be there to force the flames and heat up the hole you wish to use for heating.

FWIW- today, if you are ever in a real evasion scenario, a fire is a luxury you may not be able to afford especially once the sun has gone down. Nightvision and thermal imaging devices make most fires very easy to see, especially if the pursuit has helicopters or is posted on high points. You'd better be in an area of very dense thicket to hide it. If you are going to do the Jeremiah Johnson bed thing, warm the rocks BEFORE the sun drops.
 
A bed of red hoat coals is the best for cooking over. Build a good fire with lots of dry fuel. Wood choices will vary depending on where you live. Pine and it's realitives burn hot and fast while hardwoods burn longer and slower. Each has it's pros and cons. A mixture is best if it is available. After the fire burns down into a bed of coals and the flames have died down is the best time to do your cooking. At this point the smoke is at a minimum and the fire had plenty of heat. If you are going to be cooking for a long time seperate your fire into two sections. The first section is where the active fire is and is used to reduce the wood into coals and the second area is where the actual cooking is happening and consists of coals. As the coals cool more can be added from the other part of the fire. This two part system works best when doing dutch oven cooking since the lid on the dutch oven keeps the ash out of the food.
Hope this helps answer your question.
 
All good answers to help you out.

For not being detected, Codger does it like I have in the past. One better is to keep a cold camp and use a candle under your cover for warmth and heating up a bit of food.
 
i really wanna go try the dakota pit fire method now. not because i need to evade but just cause it looks so darn cool :D
 
Thanks for all the comments and the links.

Just yesterday I made a woodburning cooker based on a picture of the "Z Ztove" that Doc recently described in another thread. Instead of making a square outer case, I bought an old aluminium pressure cooker from our local recycling center. The inner combustion chamber tube is a bit of stainless steel pipe. I didn't bother with making a feed tube because I found it was easy enough to slip twigs in under the pot. Neither did I feel it was necessary to make the ash/ignition drawer or a separate air control port. I just cut one opening at the base for ash removal and air control.

It smoked a bit on start-up, but it did run very cleanly when the fire became well established with a few coals. It was necessary to keep up a constant flow of fuel.

This particular cooker is destined for a permanent camp, so it doesn't have to be very light. I will have to keep it in a dry place because I think that rainwater reacting with the wood ash will produce lye which will corrode the aluminium.

PortableCooker.jpg
 
Aside form using dry well seasoned wood, keeping the fire burning hot with plenty of air flow for combustion – the kind of wood you burn will make a big difference.


For example, most types of oak burn hot with little smoke. In general, hardwoods burn hotter with less smoke than soft woods, although there are exceptions. Some types of wood have an unpleasant smelling smoke. Avoid rotted/water logged and green wood as they will give off a lot of white steam mixed with the smoke and often smell worse than dry seasoned wood. Also avoid painted or treated wood. Try to build your fire in the wind so that your fire burns hotter and the smoke is dissipated. Do your cooking on coals that have no flame but are still hot so that there are less flare-ups from the food or cooking oils.
 
Awesome post!!!! Yes air flow as mentioned above is the key for sure. Oxygen fuels the fire as a result it will get hotter ==== less smoke.
 
jca21 said:
i really wanna go try the dakota pit fire method now. not because i need to evade but just cause it looks so darn cool :D
Click to expand...
Done properly, it is highly efficient. All the heat goes up the fire hole. So you use less wood. Good for cooking/boiling water.
 
It is nice to have a cooking fire with minimal smoke. That way you don't have to move to stay out of the smoke. If you want to evade helicopters and thermal imaging devices then stay indoors and spread bullstuff on the internet. Its just way too scary out here in the real world.
 
There are times in the real world when I do not want to be hassled by curiosity seekers. Whether by Bubba and Luke out for a beer drinking hell-raising spree, or Marge and Theodus looking for hunters to hassle. Sometimes keeping a low profile when miles from law and order is not a bad thing. Ask the guy who had his arm severed by the Ninja with a sword not long ago. IMHO, occasionally even paranoids have predatory enemies in the real world.

Codger
 
I should have been more clear Codger, I like all my fires to be smokeless. I like to be invisible in most things I do so I don't wear camo while hiking or wear a sheath knife on my belt. I hope the people I meet on the trail will forget about me in short order. Now the thing with Ningas is they are invisible so maybe a smokey fire might reveal their presence. Just a thought. :D
 
Me too. I just feel it is better that the less people who know about what I am up to the better. This is especially true for my hunting and fishing activities. I don't want to give nosey people a marker by which they can find my camp.

We also have a rule in our urban area that we can't have outdoor fires. However, apart from the Winter months, we are allowed wood fired barbeques outdoors. (In winter the smoke tends to accumulate in the still air over the city....the rule sux but I can see why we've got it). Charcoal is permitted as a fuel at any time.

I like to cook outdoors....even round home. One reason is that if I barbeque or fry outdoors I don't splatter oil all over the kitchen and I don't create more odors inside than necessary. I could get a gas burner for frying/boiling outside during winter...and I might eventually. However, it is also good to be able to have a fire with minimal smoke for when I do cook around home. If there's no smoke, there won't be any trouble.
 
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