How Many Pieces of Charcoal Do You Use to Start Your Handfed

I am just about to start some stoves to try them out and am wondering how many pieces of coal you use. Tried sevel different number last year and needed a lot to get the coal burning. Any wisdom? And yes Will I am going to start up the oakvale Andes soon also. I also am looking to design a magazene for the stoves I have and would like to see a photo from anyone who has one either out of the stove or in operation (please).

I just pile some charcoal in the middle of the firepot and then put a ring of coal around the charcoal. It starts up in about ten minutes.

With my extra wide firebox on the Mark III, I cover all the grates one layer deep. Add lighter fluid or diesel, & light it in all 4 corners, then toss the match in the center.

It helps to mutter obscenities about OPEC, too.

on a reading stoker, you don't need more than 2 briquettes of charcoal , I have been practicing at a friend of mine, and at one time we got it down to just one, to do it right, start with two red hot charcoal pieces, and it's best to have them ready outside the house ( minimize smell ) then crack them with a channel lock or a visegrip pair of pliers, put them in the middle of the grate, poor little rice coal on top and plug the stoker in, just remember a watched pot never boils ! the same with starting the stoker, just have some patience, once you see the green flames from the charcoal, add little more coal.

Good luck

I found some small bags of Cowboy Charcoal a couple months ago. Probably enough to grill a few burgers. I just threw the whole bag in and lit it. Slowly add the coal as things get going. Worked well so far.

Enough to cover the grate. The grate has to be covered and when you put the coal on don't smother the fire. You need the grate covered so the air can only go through the hot coals and ignite the coal.

All great advice (I will remember to mumble OPEC obsenities) What I am thinking of making is a ring that goes over the grate and tube in the middle that mimics a charcoal starter sort of like an old top hat (just for my cylinder type stoves). This way the grate is covered all but the tube and all the air will go through the tube. When I lift out the ring after the coals are red they will spread around and I can put on some hard rocks.
I have the Reading thing down from last year using a paper bag with 2 pieces of coal crushed some lighter fluid and a half a cup of wood pellets. Starts every time.

I use an entire bag (8lb) of Cowboy Brand Charcoal, I usually just put the entire bag in through the loading door, then I cut slits in the top of the bag (side) then flip it over and do the same on the other side, then I take a handful of fatwood and toss them on top and light them. Then as everything begins to burn nice and I start seeing some glow I start tossing in anthracite a shovel full at a time until I get 4-6" of glowing anthracite then I fill the hopper.

I put a small pyramid of lump charcoal in the middle of my grate, cyrcle it with ant maybe put one or two smaller and pieces on top of the pyramid and squirt lighter fluid over the charcoal open my draft settings light it, within a few seconds its off and sounding like a big ol' jet air liner. ( I kind of feel like singing ).. After a few minutes when the lighter fluid is burnt off I will scoop a couple shovel full of ant on top of the charcoal, not long after its all alight and I fill her up..

I just take 1/2 a bag of wally world self light--slowly put the NUT to it & she's good for the season--no smell , no mess, we're off & running.

I have a slight variation that I have found to work very well in my Harman Insert. I will completely cover the grates with a couple of inches of coal (nut) then dig out a hole in the center to expose the grates (about an 8” circle) wad up a couple of pages newspaper, add some kindling then pile a double handful of Cowboy charcoal on top then light it.

As the charcoal gets up to the proper temp, I will carefully add a few pieces of coal until I have a nice pile of coal burning. Then I gently spread out the burning coal and carefully rake the non-burning coal in from the sides. As the grates are uncovered on the sides I fill that area in with fresh coal. After spreading and covering three of four times the whole bed is now burning and about halfway full.

From there it’s a simple matter of building the bed up to its full depth. The whole process only takes about an hour, then maybe another hour or so to bring the bed up to full depth.

I take a pizza box or some other shallow cardboard container, fill it one layer deep with Matchlight (or any charcoal I suppose), place that on my grates and use that to start my wood fire before I get the coal fire going. I haven't tried to start a coal fire directly; rather, I like to get a good hot bed of wood coals going and then start shoveling on the coal!

I make a ring of coal around the inside of the stove, build a fire with newspaper and small wood. When the wood is
mostly coals... start adding coal a shovel full at a time. It takes 2-3 beers to get it going...not too long.

i'm with the wood guys,
just like a campfire, paper, kindling,
and get some good hardwood going, let it
get a little bed of coals and start adding the
nut in a little at a time.

I do think, that maybe, if you put a layer of coal down
on the grates, and built a wood fire on top, you could get that
fire to migrate down to the coal at the bottom as it all
gets going. maybe not, but I wonder.

No charcoal. 2 slabs of oak on top of a kidling fire, put coal on top of slabs. by the time the oak burns thru the coal is real hot and burning around the edges of the slabs. As the slabs colapse the rest of the coal falls into the oak coals and catches right away.