Category: Blog

BBQ With Firemizer!

As the weather is forecast for a wet weekend it’s perfect English barbeque weather after all! Why not BBQ with Firemizer!

bbqEveryone loves a BBQ, the smell of the food cooking and enjoying a nice evening in the garden. If you want some BBQ inspiration check out our blog on BBQs around the world! 

To get your BBQ to cooking temperature 20% faster here are some of our top tips!

BBQ With Firemizer

Simply place it on the base of your BBQ, place the coals on top, and start it like normal and see the difference. It’ll get your coals hotter much faster, help them to burn more efficiently and last up to a third longer, and reduce any harmful pollutants emitted by 72%. The only way to BBQ is a BBQ with firemizer!

Using Firebuilder

why not try using Firebuilder to start your fire? With no kerosene, the food will be free from any harmful chemicals to keep your food tasting great. Just break the cardboard brick, light the edges, place it on top of your solid fuel and let the fire burn downwards.

Grilling Meats

  1. Beef = ground beef cook at 71°C Fahrenheit, steaks cook at 62°C. Use direct heat for chops and steaks. Use indirect heat for roasts and larger cuts of beef.
  2. Chicken = chicken breast and legs cook at 73°C. For thick pieces of meat cook over direct heat, larger pieces over indirect heat.
  3. Pork = sausages cooked at 73°C while pork chops cook at 62°C. Start cooking sausages on high heat so the outside is nice and charred then move to a cover part of the grill to finish off.
  4. Seafood = salmon or shrimp cook at 62°C. Oil the grill well to reduce sticking. 

For more tips and great advice check out this article

What To Do With Bugs In Your Firewood

However, you get your firewood there is a chance some small critters hitchhike their way into your home. These insects living in the firewood pose no threat to you or your home. They are either feeding on the wood, nesting or are overwintering under the bark.

bugsInsect Prevention

The best way to stop insects from getting into your home is to store your wood outside until it is ready to be burnt. spraying the wood with insecticides will not have much benefit and is potentially dangerous. This would not go deep enough into the wood to reach the insects.

Two insects that may cause problems are carpenter ants and termites. These can affect the house if stacked against the outside walls.

Carpenter Ants

wood that remains moist for a long period of time is a good place for carpenter ants to live. They do not feed on the wood but they hollow out pieces inside the wood for nesting. If the wood is bought inside the ants may warm-up and move from the wood however the likely hood of the ants nesting inside the house is slim. but stacking wood against your home may provide a route for the ants to enter your home.

Termites

wood that is stacked on the ground may be eaten by termites. There might be mud tunnels visible on the outside of the wood. Termites bought into the home in firewood can’t establish a new nest or damage your furniture. however, if the wood is stacked against the house this ould provide a way for termites to extend their feeding into your home.

If you find a termite infestation in stacked wood near your home then consult a pest management professional and have your home treated.

Bark Beetles

These beetles like dead or dying wood, this makes them quite commonly found in firewood. They tend to feed on wood in large groups so a log cut could contain hundreds of these beetles.

a lot of insects spend their winters under the bark of trees or in your woodpile. When bringing firewood into your home it warms the wood and these insects crawl out of the wood. Pillbugs, centipedes, millipedes, ground beetles are commonly found in firewood. They will not harm you or your house and need only be picked up and removed.

What Will Happen If The Planet Gets Hotter?

As some crazy people are enjoying the extremely hot weather its hard not to notice the danger increasing temperature will have on us in the future.

This week we saw record-breaking temperatures and this is going to continue to get worse if we don’t do anything.

This article was written in 2018 titled ‘the next five years could be seriously hotter than normal, say scientists’

They clearly weren’t wrong and that means we’ve got more hot weather to come!

ice cream What would happen if the planet was 2 degrees hotter?
  • Rivers and glaciers would disappear
  • An increase in landslides as what holds them together would melt
  • Sea levels could rise displacing 10% of the population
  • Many Plants would eventually stop growing making global warming worse as they absorb a lot of the carbon dioxide.
  • In 85 years one-third of the planet will be without fresh water
  • 40% of the Amazon Rainforest will be destroyed
  • Hurricanes would be stronger
  • Coral reefs would start to become bleached – this is already happening here
What would happen if the planet was 3 or 4 degrees hotter?
  • Ice poles would completely vanish and the sea would rise by 50 meters
  • Summers would be longer and hotter, increasing the demand for air-con putting pressure on the power grid
  • Forest fires increasing
  • Shortage of food
The human body in the heat

Your body will try and keep a core temperature of 37 degrees and only gets hotter or colder when you are ill.

However in a temperature of 38 degrees and above you are at risk of:

  • Swelling in joints
  • Rashes
  • Cramps – caused by salt imbalances
  • Exhaustion 
  • Dehydration
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea
  • Numbness in hands and feet
  • Heatstroke

Its all well and good saying recycle, don’t use single-use plastics and reduce your meat and dairy consumption. These small changes will help. However, you can sign petitions get your local MP to take note that this is something you care about as the biggest change that needs to be made is for governments to take global warming seriously.

Everything You Need To know About Firemizer

Everything You Need To Know About Firemizer

 

Firemizer is a unique fuel-saving device made from stainless steel alloys that is easy to use and proven to optimise the performance of fuel in stoves.

How to use Firemizer

1. Remove Firemizer from the pack and simply place on the base of your fire or stove then build your fire with wood or coal as usual

2. Firemizer spreads heat evenly and makes your fire burn longer

3. After the fire has cooled simply brush the ashes off between fires

How it works

1. Firemizer slows the airflow to reduce the burn rate of fuel

2. Firemizer conducts heat evenly across the fire to ensure all fuel is fully combusted

3. Firemizer prevents small fuel fragments falling through the grate or being left unburnt in the ash bed

Benefits

In addition to a longer and more even burn, which can save up to 38% of your fuel costs and reduce creosote emissions by up to 57% Firemizer has several other practical benefits:

  • Easier to start the fire
  • Keeps all the fuel lit throughout the burn
  • Reduces the amount of unburnt fuel at the end of the fire
  • The fire requires less stoking and refuelling
  • Reduces the build-up of soot in chimneys and on the glass of stove doors.
  • Less ash is produced and needs disposing of
  • Less storage is required for fuel during the winter
Does size matter?

Firemizer should cover most of the base of your fire or stove but does not have to be an exact fit. If Firemizer is too big for your fire, wear protective gloves and cut it to size using household scissors. For really big fires you can place two Firemizers side-by-side.

Firemizer is available in the UK/Europe: 180mm x 420mm (7in x 16.5 in)

What fuels can be used?
  • Firemizer can be used with
  • seasoned firewood
  • Good quality coal
  • combination of firewood and coal
  • wood pellets
  • briquettes made from sawdust
  • other wood waste
What type of stoves can be used?

Firemizer has been designed for use in the majority of domestic wood-burning and multi-fuel stoves. The benefits may be reduced in specialist high-end stoves incorporating sophisticated engineering to control and pre-heat the airflow.

Will it damage my fire or stove?

No! Firemizer will help protect your grate or stove base from the intensity of the fire by spreading the heat more evenly. Firemizer has also been shown to reduce the emission of creosote by up to 57% which will help to reduce the build-up of soot in chimneys and on the glass of stove doors.

The working life of Firemizer can be reduced if you burn unseasoned wood or cheap coal containing lots of impurities. Firemizer is not designed for use with charcoal, very small husk pellets or some high-intensity coals.
How long will it last?

Firemizer will typically last for 500 burning hours – which is equivalent to 6 weeks if used for 12 hours per day. However, if some of the filaments start to break, there will be a reduction in efficiency if it is not replaced. Fragments of Firemizer wire that become detached with use will fall into the ash collection tray for easy disposal.

How is it maintained?

It could not be simpler. Leave your Firemizer in place for about 6 weeks and lightly brush off the ashes in between fires.

What about the ashes?

When using Firemizer the fuel will burn more thoroughly and there will be a considerable reduction in the amount of ash produced. The resulting ash will be a very fine powder with no lumps and will pass through the Firemizer grid. Any ash that does build-up can be simply dusted off before each new fire.

How do I replace it?

When a used Firemizer starts to deteriorate, wait until the fire has gone out and is cold before removal. Wear protective gloves to replace it with a new Firemizer.

Did You Know

Manufacturing a single firemizer will create 100g of CO2 but during its life, you are saving 30 tonnes of CO2 being produced and chucked into the atmosphere.

Read more about Firemizer here.

Top Tips For A BBQ

As the temperature increases, it’s the perfect occasion to have a BBQ. Although us Brits can have a BBQ in whatever weather!

To help with your BBQ adventure here are some tips!

bbqClean

Wash hands and surfaces often. Make sure to clean your grill properly as when cooking seafood this can stick to previously cooked food on the surface.

Preheat

Place Firemizer in the bed of the BBQ place coals over the top. Light the coals at least 30mins before you plan to cook. Do not put food on the grill until the fire dies down to glowing coals.

Cook

Cook to proper temperatures to avoid undercooked food. Use a food thermometer to get your food to cooking temperature.

Rest

Remove meat from the grill and allow it to rest for the specified amount of time. Its temperature remains constant or continues to rise which destroys harmful germs.

Serve

Hot food should be held at 140 F or warmer. Perishable food should not be left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature. 

bbqGrilling Meats
  1. Beef = if you are using ground beef cook at 71°C Fahrenheit, steaks cook at 62°C. Use direct heat for chops, steaks and hammers. Use indirect heat for roasts and larger cuts of beef.
  2. Chicken = when using chicken breast and legs cook at 73°C. For think pieces of meat cook over direct heat, larger pieces should be cooked over indirect heat.
  3. Pork = sausages should be cooked at 73°C while pork chops should be cooked at 62°C. Start cooking sausages on high heat so the outside is nice and charred then move to a cover part of the grill to finish off.
  4. Seafood = when cooking salmon or shrimp cook at 62°C. Oil the grill well to reduce sticking. 

The Firemizer Alphabet

We all had to learn the alphabet at some point so here is another one for you! The Firemizer alphabet! stick around as you might just find out some rather interesting things.

The ABC’s Of Firemizer

AXEA is for Axe. Did you know axe throwing is becoming a popular sport!

B is for Bonfire. When starting a bonfire make sure you check that no wildlife, especially hedgehog are among the logs!

C is for Coal. Have you seen our blog post all about burning coal? check it out here.

dirtD is for Dirt. Did you know that wood ash a perfect for sprinkling across your garden to ward away those creepy crawlies?

E is for Extinguisher

F is for Fire

 

G is for Gloves. When using Firemizer we advise you were gloves as the metal fibres can be sharp.

H is for Hydrant

I is for Ignite

J is for Jalapeno

K is for Ketchup. The perfect condiment for a hot dog or burger.

L is for Log

M is for Money. Save money with Firemizer

 

N is for Night

O is for Open Fire

P is for Pizza. Firemizer can be used in a pizza oven. Who can say no to pizza!

Q is for Quality 

 

R is for Retardant. This is used to slow or stop the spread of fire, this is commonly used for forest fires.

S is for Smoke

T is for Time. Firemizer will last up to 500 burn hours giving you a longer lasting fire.

U is for Unseasoned Wood. To make sure you’re burning as efficient as possible only use seasoned wood.

V is for Viper. The bite of a viper is said to feeling like a burning sensation.

W is for Water

X is for Xylopolist. This is a fancy word for a timber merchant. Find out more words here.

Y is for yakitori. This is a popular BBQ dish in Japan.

Z is for Zeus. One of his sons Hephaestus is the Greek God of fire.

How To Increase Office Productivity

With the hot summer days, it can be hard to concentrate when office productivity decreases and Firemizer team are no different.

Here are some tips to help increase your office productivity!

office

 

  1. Tidy desk tidy mind! Before starting a big or small project it is important to have a tidy desk and this can help organise not only your work but also your mind.
  2. Take more breaks!
  3. Manage distraction! Create a system to help manage those pesky distracting emails. If possible, only check emails at certain times in the day and stick to it or allow lots of time to check emails or manage distraction.
  4. It’s Bring your dog to work day! Everyone knows a dog can lift a mood and what better excuse to bring a four-legged friend to work.
  5. Remember 80/20 rule. Also known as the Pareto Principle states that for many events roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. So 20% of tasks yield 80% of results.

 

We all sometimes need a cuppa to get through a Monday morning. But did you know that coffee has some added benefits?

  1. It can lower the risk of heart failure stroke and coronary heart disease. In a study, Every cup consumed reduced each condition by 8%, 7% and 5%.
  2. It is a good source of antioxidants more than green tea and cocoa. Studies have shown that people get more antioxidants from coffee than from fruits and vegetables.
  3. It may help against cognitive decline
  4. Used coffee beans can be made into coffee logs which work perfectly with Firemizer!

 

 

References

www.health.com/nutrition/top-13-evidence-based-health-benifits-of-coffee#section2

https://time.com/5022060/coffee-health-benefits-heart/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Ways To Spend Father’s Day!

When does a joke become a dad joke? when it becomes apparent!

 

You can’t go through father’s day without a dad joke and they’ll be plenty more where that came from!

father's day Did you know that father’s day was created by an American woman who wanted to honour her father. He was a soldier and raised six children as a single parent.

Additionally, in China, father’s day used to be celebrated on August 8th but has moved to the third Sunday in June. This change was due to a linguistic one as the Chinese for eight is ba and their word for father is ba-ba. Therefore the eighth day of the eighth month sounds similar to papa.

Father’s Day was assigned as an official holiday by Nixon in 1972 and the most popularly purchased gift for Father’s Day is neckties.

What’s brown and sticky? A Stick!

 

father's day If you are stumped for what to do this Sunday, have no fear as we have 3 ways to spend father’s day!

  1. Camping. The weather isn’t perfect for camping. However, you could stay in a nice log cabin or wooden pod for the weekend. This is a perfect outdoor getaway. since most cabins would come with fire you can get nice a cosy. If you are braving the weather check out our blog on how to prepare for a camping trip.
  2. Build a tree house or indoor den. The tree house may take more time but an indoor den is perfect and it’s not just for little kids, there are loads of gadgets to step up your den making game, for instance, a phone projector perfect for watching movies!
  3. Cook or bake. Why not make their favourite meal? or cook together, a perfect way to spend the afternoon and you get to eat it too!

However, you spend your father’s day we hope its a good one!

 A ghost walks into a bar. the bar lady says sorry we don’t serve spirits!

How Can You Help Our Oceans?

How can you save our oceans?

As tomorrow is World ocean day it is important to know how we can help create a healthy ocean. Since the sea temperature is rising causing coral bleaching and plastic pollution is worse than ever causing marine animals to suffer, we need to do our bit for the environment.

Eat fish seasonally

You don’t have to give up eating fish altogether however to help with overfishing and help certain species avoid extinction, check when certain fish are in season. The marine conservation society has a sustainability guide, green rated [1 to 2] most sustainable to red rate least sustainable [4 to 5].

How can you help our oceansFor instance;

Alaska pollock – 1,2,3,4,5
Mackerel – 2
Atlantic Cod – 1,2,3,4,5
King Prawns -1,2,3,4,5
Brown Crab – 2,3,4
Albacore Tuna – 1,2,3,4
Humpback Salmon – 1,2
European Lobster – 2,3,4
Atlantic Squid – 3
Swordfish – 2,3,4,5
Pacific Halibut – 2
Oysters native, farmed – 1

Overfishing

You might have heard people say to be more sustainable cut-down meat and eat fish instead. However, if you aren’t eating sustainable fish this could be more damaging for our oceans. Catching fish isn’t inherently bad for the ocean but when boats catch fish faster than they can replenish this results in overfishing.

Another problem is the Bycatch. Which is the capture of unwanted sea life when fishing for other species. This is a serious marine threat as many unwanted species die, for instance, sea turtles. Many people who make a living through fishing are working to improve how they Catch the fish and conserve the ocean’s resources. To find out more visit the WWF.

How can you help our oceansHow to BBQ fish

If you do plan on cooking fish this summer here are some tips! Why not use Firemizer to get your BBQ to cooking temperature 20% faster!

1. Prepare the BBQ and clean
To make sure the fish doesn’t stick to the grill make sure you clean the BBQ as the fish will stick to anything you last cooked on it. Oil the grate as this will lubricate the BBQ so the fish won’t stick. Wipe until the grate is glossy.

2. Heat the grill high heat
You want the BBQ to be very hot as this will stop the fish from sticking. If you are using charcoal wait until the charcoal turns grey which indicates it nice and hot

3. Choosing the right fish
salmon, tuna, halibut and swordfish are some of the best to BBQ as these aren’t too flaky and shouldn’t fall apart. You want to use a steak like textured fish as they will hold up to high heat.

4. Prep the fish and cooking
Using any oils and cooking spices to your preferred taste. Place the fillets on the skin side down as this will help the fish hold together. It takes roughly around 3 to 5 minutes per side to cook.

5. Flip the fish and plate up
Use a metal spatula to flip the fish. Once cooked place on a plate and the fish should easily flake when poked with a fork and will be opaque all the way through.

It’s not all doom and gloom

How can you help our oceansSometimes it is hard to see how the small things you do will make a difference so here are some positives;

  • Deliveroo signed the ‘no shark fin’ pledge. This commits to removing ant shark-related products form restaurant menus on the platform.
  • Indonesia pledges $1 billion to clean up the ocean
  • In 2017 new Delhi banned all disposable plastic including plastic bags, cups and cutlery.
  • Sea turtles are making a huge comeback, increasing their populations by 980% thanks to the endangered species act.
  • The billion oyster project uses oyster shells to clean the polluted New York harbour. Oysters are natural purifiers and can cleanse 50 gallons of water per day. The group has restored 30 million oysters to the local waters but that is only a fraction of what was once there.

 

Five Wood Stove Myths That You Shouldn’t Believe

Fact or Fiction? Every product seems to have myths attached to it and wood burning stoves are not exempt from this. As Wood burning stoves have been a part of homes for hundreds of years there are many myths.

Here are five wood stove myths that you shouldn’t believe!

chiminea Stove flue doesn’t need to be swept

If you are using Firemizer in your stove even though it reduces soot in the chimney we still recommend you get your flue swept at least once or twice a year. The best times to have your chimney swept are just before the start of the heating season and after your stove has not been used over a prolonged period. The second time should be after the peak of the main heating season. As well as this, cracks could appear, or animals may nest in the chimney it is better to be safe than sorry as most chimney fires happen when the stove hasn’t been in use for a while. Check out our blog on cleaning your stove!

Stoves are bad for the environment

With the current climate change, emergency people are worried their stove could be harming the environment. However, this may have been true many years ago but as stoves burn off 90% of the fuel meaning this high efficiency leaves very little to up the chimney. In addition, burning wood is carbon neutral as it only releases the same amount of carbon dioxide as it took in.

Stoves burn the best when they glow orange

This is false, if you see a stove with patches of its glowing orange from the heat this is known as over firing. this will damage the stove. It can weaken the body of the stove and burn fuel at a faster rate.

Stoves are banned from cities in the UK

Many UK cities are smoke controlled areas where you can only burn a DEFRA approved stove. DEFRA stand for the department for environment, food and rural affairs, they have set a high standard for stoves to ensure a clean burn. Stoves with a low particle emission and very high efficiency are approved to burn in smoke-controlled areas. If you have an older stove using Firemizer is proven to increase efficiency and reduce particulate emissions by 72%.

coalI can burn anything on my stove

If you have a wood burning stove, you should ideally only burn wood. This should be well seasoned with less than 20% moisture content. Treated wood, for instance, wood that has been painted, creosoted and railway sleepers must not be burnt in your stove. These will release harmful pollutants into the atmosphere and could harm your stove.

If you have a multi-fuel stove, you can burn seasoned wood and smokeless fuels. Make sure that your smokeless fuel has less than 20% petroleum content with your fuel merchant before buying. A high pet coke content will overheat the internal components of your stove and will cause premature damage.

Modern stoves are not really designed to be an incinerator, so it is best to recycle your rubbish rather than burn it on the stove. Paper and newspapers can be used to start lighting the fire but never put any plastic on the fire.

 

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