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Old 04-23-2013, 04:17 PM   #61
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My Review on the Wood Brick Fuel product

Longest story short: I'll keep buying and using them in addition to real wood, when that's available.

The Pros

Easy to transport - being bricks, I put them into totes because water destroys them. This gave me 3 handy boxes to carry around.

Easy to light - they caught very quickly with just a simple 3 block teepee and some cardboard and a paper towel rolled up inside of it. I caught the paper towel on fire, that lit the cardboard and the whole thing was up and burning with no fuss.

Safe to transport - this was the biggest thing. There are no restrictions on travelling with them - I can take them 1,000 miles away if I wanted to.

Even heat for cooking - once these got hot, they were a nice even and steady heat for cooking. We cooked burgers on my Amazing Grill and it made it pretty easy because it was a consistent heat.

Inexpensive (compared to camp store wood) - these definitely lasted longer then $6-worth of the camp store wood that I typically am stuck with.

The Cons

Need Protected from Water - as I mentioned before, these deteriorate when exposed to water.

Smokey start up - I didn't compare these against real wood, but the first three and then later 4 or 5 more were pretty smokey until they got red hot. However, I didn't compare this against an equivalent amount of wood.

The fire didn't feel "alive" - once they got hot, there was little flame. Basically it made good embers, but there wasn't any pizzazz or life to the fire. I kept throwing twigs and small branches on to have some yellow to look at and love. You also couldn't "play" with the fire - the bricks, once red hot, would break down if poked at with a stick. Truth be told, this was probably my single biggest issue with these.

Expensive (compared to a cord of wood delivered to home) - locally, I can get a cord of wood for (rarely) $150 to (more commonly) $200. A 1,000-brick pallet (weighing 2,000 pounds) would cost me $300.

Final Verdict

I'll buy and use these again with the plan on augmenting them with wood from the camp store or from a local seller. It should give me a nice combination of less expensive "wood" that is easy to transport and find and the "life" that I'm looking for in a fire.

Pictures!

20 bricks - $9 worth (we used 2 contains in 1 night with camp store wood):


Wood Bricks Packed and Ready to Go:


Fire Starting - Teepee Setup:


Fire Started - Burning:
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Old 04-23-2013, 04:17 PM   #62
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More pictures (continued from previous post)

Starting Burn - Added Sticks:


Early Burn - Cooking Hot Dogs:


Established Fire - Wood vs. Wood Bricks:


Established Fire - Switched to Wood for S'mores:
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Old 04-23-2013, 04:40 PM   #63
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ependy, how long do the bricks burn?
And where can one buy them?
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Old 04-23-2013, 04:49 PM   #64
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Originally Posted by ependydad View Post
You also couldn't "play" with the fire - the bricks, once red hot, would break down if poked at with a stick. Truth be told, this was probably my single biggest issue with these.
Thanks. Really great review!

I'll try them but I think its going to be an issue for me, though. Tending or playing with the fire is my thing at night. Its what I do and I'd miss that too much.
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Old 04-23-2013, 04:53 PM   #65
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BTW in another thread I posted getting 2 trailer loads of a beautiful large ash ruined by EAB.

ITS real !

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Old 04-23-2013, 04:54 PM   #66
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Thanks. Really great review!

I'll try them but I think its going to be an issue for me, though. Tending or playing with the fire is my thing at night. Its what I do and I'd miss that too much.
Huh birds of a feather !

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Old 04-23-2013, 04:58 PM   #67
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ependy, how long do the bricks burn?
It's hard to say as I was doing a hundred things at once. But this and a minimal amount of wood gave us a fire from about 4-10pm. I used 2/3 of my 20 blocks (for $9) in that time. Wish I could give a better answer...
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Old 04-23-2013, 05:01 PM   #68
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Re: where to get them?

Local hardware stores have them. The US Recycled Wood Products site has a store finder. Seems to be a north east thing since they're produced in PA.

If you buy another product- make sure it's *just* wood and no filler/adhesive.

As for poking at the fire- right now it's basically this or nothing or a much shorter time for fire, at least, due to cost. I miss it- but I'd rather have it than not.
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Old 04-23-2013, 07:22 PM   #69
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Quick update: I just got confirmation from the company via Facebook that they are food safe to cook over:
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...09702062499157
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Old 04-23-2013, 08:48 PM   #70
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Quick update: I just got confirmation from the company via Facebook that they are food safe to cook over:
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...09702062499157
/starts sending a million Facebook game requests

Kidding!
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Old 04-24-2013, 07:10 AM   #71
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/starts sending a million Facebook game requests

Kidding!
Ha! Go nuts- I block them after the first notification. You'd have to keep finding new games!
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Old 04-24-2013, 07:14 AM   #72
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I don't play any, and block all of them. Talk about a pet peeve....
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