tenniswitch Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I don't know where to post this, but since we do discuss poêle à bois in this forum...In the southern US, we find something called "fat pine" or "lighter pine", a highly resinous type of pine wood that is excellent for starting fires. It lights very easily, and quite a small piece will start a hardwood fire very quickly.Is there a European counterpart? If so, does anyone know what it is called in France?Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Firelighters - 24 to a packet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave&Olive Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 hi ok yes it`s called ` poplar ` Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 We have a basketful of dry pine cones by the wood burner. Easy to find, easy to dry and ideal to start fires with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenniswitch Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 Thanks, everyone. All of those things work well for starting fires. None of them is like fat pine. I guess I'll just have to let the DH bring over a (small) suitcase full next spring. That should give the airport security guys something to scratch their heads about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jotty Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Souche de vigne? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Talk about taking coals to Newcastle!! [:-))] There's no good reason for bringing firelighting wood to France!Dave has already mentioned poplar (peuplier); in our region it's used for 'voliges' in roofing... the wooden planks on which the tiles are placed. It's a very light wood but it burns brilliantly and is excellent for lighting fires. We've done a couple of roof renovations and have enough of this stuff left over to start fires for the next ten years!!Anything small and dry will do really, but you can use Zip firelighters too, as Ron said; they're stocked in all the supermarkets. Why struggle?Sid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MAC Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 This is a wind up.........right?.......pretty much any small kindling will work. Resinous pine..is is from the Blue Range Mountains of Virginia perchance?.........I have heard of people using dried orange peel as a firelighter but screwed up newspaper (aren't they always!) and a few twigs is all it takes to get our log burner going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Years ago (and living in a small isolated cottage) we used to collect pine cones and then soak them in white spirit - excellent for lighting fires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I believe its just a typical American response to a situation. Accept you are crap at lighting fires and learn how to do it properly. Do you honestly believe that everyone in France is Freezing because they do not have special "American" wood.We need your pine like you need Sarah Palin[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I wonder if its carbon neutral coming all that way from the US ?Seriously, a (transport) pallet is quite good. Takes about a hour to cut it up and split it down in to inch by inch pieces but it has one advantage, it take up much less storage space and you can keep it in the garage. It's cheap too, well free normally and lasts for ever. One pallet has lasted us about three years. Some screwed up paper, four or five bits of pallet wood and then a bit of Hetra (beech) works for me. If you are rich then use fire lighters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 One of the things left by the (very generous) last owner of our house was about 4 cubic metres of kindling, carefully broken into small equal-sized pieces. I think it's willow, but it works just fine in starting the fire. Kept dry in the corner of the barn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cendrillon Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Shops such as M. Brocolage and now even Super-U sell bags of small pieces of wood, these are ideal for lighting the fire and can be helped along with a firelighter. There's certainly no need to import the stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 [quote user="Cendrillon"]Shops such as M. Brocolage and now even Super-U sell bags of small pieces of wood, these are ideal for lighting the fire and can be helped along with a firelighter. There's certainly no need to import the stuff.[/quote]Our local sawmill sells big bundles of offcuts - approx 2m long and 1m diam. The price varies according to type of wood but pine is about €15. You can select which bundle you want to buy as the content can be anything from very chunky to very slender and everything in between. I realise that these would not meet the US standard of oven-ready but hey, you are in backward Yoorp now.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I'll go along with Clair. Pine cones are great to start fires. Just look all cross the Var in the summer and see how well they burn [:-))]!!!About 4 or 5 is all you need. Free, don't need any work like splitting and easy to get!!! We have a garden full of the things. I remember the first summer we were here we took a trailer full to the detchetterie! Domage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenniswitch Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 [quote user="teapot"] I believe its just a typical American response to a situation. Accept you are crap at lighting fires and learn how to do it properly. Do you honestly believe that everyone in France is Freezing because they do not have special "American" wood.We need your pine like you need Sarah Palin[:D][/quote]Is that intended to be a "typically British" response to my query?Actually, we're quite good at starting fires and have a good store of nice, dry French hardwood (nicely split into various sizes by the DH) and a bit of anthracite coal. We also have a lot of small bits for kindling, although no pinecones (not so common in our area of France).Fat pine is something special, but evidently develops only in certain climates (such as SE US). Apparently it does not develop in France or the UK as none of you seem to have run across it.It's great stuff, but my remark about bringing it over was intended as a joke. Perhaps your remarks were also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MAC Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Hmmmmm 'Flaming' on France Forum........is that a first?...bearing in mind pine cones advice, maybe a FIR-st.......In the spirt of bigging up Uncle Sam, of course the traditional cowboy method of throwing an oil lamp into the hearth should work.......or perhaps with typical Yankee underkill perhaps a Rocket Propelled Grenade would bring the whole affair 'Bang' up to date?Joking aside, pine cones have to be prettier stored in the fireplace rather than 'Fat pine' which sounds a bit like the incendiary equivalent of Roseanne Barr....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenniswitch Posted November 2, 2008 Author Share Posted November 2, 2008 [quote user="BIG MAC"]Hmmmmm 'Flaming' on France Forum........is that a first?...bearing in mind pine cones advice, maybe a FIR-st.......In the spirt of bigging up Uncle Sam, of course the traditional cowboy method of throwing an oil lamp into the hearth should work.......or perhaps with typical Yankee underkill perhaps a Rocket Propelled Grenade would bring the whole affair 'Bang' up to date?Joking aside, pine cones have to be prettier stored in the fireplace rather than 'Fat pine' which sounds a bit like the incendiary equivalent of Roseanne Barr.......[/quote]I knew I should have brought my grenade launcher. Those six-guns are simply useless for fire-starting (handy for keeping down the souris, however). Pine cones are plentiful in north Florida, but, oddly enough, I rarely see them around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now