What is Bernie?
Bernie is a wood fueled rocket stove, perfect for heating a kettle or pan, quickly, safely and efficiently with almost no smoke.
Based on simple rocket stove/burner principles, the wood is burned with an excess of air to create clean and smoke free combustion, leaving very little ash or unburnt material.
Fuels:
Any dry, untreated timber, around the diameter of a pencil is the perfect fuel for Bernie.
Kindling, sticks/twigs, scrap wood, chips or pellets can be burned.
Bernie can provide very high temperatures at the top of the chimney when burning a range of fuels provided they are dry and the correct diameter.
How to get going:
There are a few ways to get Bernie lit…..
The simplest is to use a small piece of solid firelighter, lit, and dropped down through the fuel tube and into the combustion chamber followed by some small sticks. Slowly add small sticks or twigs until the fire is established.
If you have very dry and thin kindling you can simply light the end of a few pieces and gently place them into the fuel tube, slowly adding more fuel.
You can also add a small piece of charcoal from another fire or BBQ in place of the fire lighter mentioned above and then slowly add more fuel.
The first time using Bernie, you may notice some thin smoke from the shell and outer surface, this is perfectly normal and will only last for a few minutes on first use.
Bring the heat:
Bernie blazes best with small diameter fuel, around the size of a pencil is perfect, added little and often to keep a strong and even burn. Bernie responds quickly with roaring heat when fed correctly, you’ll soon notice what works and what doesn’t.
Adding too much fuel or too large a diameter too quickly will cause burning to slow down and smoke.
Small amounts of 100% wood pellets and charcoal chips can be added with other fast burning fuel like softwood kindling, this gives good heat and stability.
Cooking and heating:
If you intend to cook or heat a pan, make sure the cross beam is fitted first.
In less than 10 minutes Bernie will have established some nice glowing embers and be ready to cook. Add a suitable pan to the cross beam and continue adding fuel at regular intervals to keep a consistent heat. Bernie gets very hot so regular stirring or turning of food is recommended.