The Dakota fire pit

[munckmb]

Hi guys,

I have been testing the Dakota fire pit and it works like a charm. Very hot, near smokeless and very inconspicuous, aka the wife not worrying about people nagging about a little fire
Took a short clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz9J7La6WXQ
And you can read more about it here: http://www.survivaltopics.com/surviv...ota-fire-hole/
The firepit was about 24" deep and distance to the "air intake hole" was bigger than my arm so I had to dig from both sides which was quite allot of work. But, it was a very nice fire and extremely hot bed of coals in the end. Lot of fun.

Any of you use/tried it?

Barry

+second try
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYxxyCEFvZ8

[IJ55]

Uh huh - safest fires going, and by damn the hottest! You can get a roaster going in mere minutes, but watch it don't over heat the the metal pot!

I was teaching my wife to make these last year out in the wilds, and ended up with a group of 9/10 people all in. Great for windy / wet environments as they can be sheltered easily.

IMPORTANT!

Do not make these in peaty ground - the fire can spread through the peat sideways with no visible flames / smoke, and then erupt into sheets of huge flames. Not funny at all!

[mojofilter]

I remember that from the SAS survival handbook!

I'd like to try it one day, just for fun.

[IJ55]

haven't got audio - but most folks fail when making these to slope the tunnel downwards towards the fire - that way sinking cold air rushes in because its drawn in by the rising hot air funnel.

I really dig this design of fire for boiling up water rapidly with a smaller amount of fuel needed.

[smee]

its funny the things you take for granted i have used the pit many times and now the kids dig one as the first job when we are in the field great link many pits will be dug from this.
nice one

[Toddy]

Did a hole two feet deep round here and all you make is a well

cheers,
Toddy

[Lebowski]

Looks like something to try, cheers

[IJ55]

Looks like something to try, cheers

Its an amazing way to get a high temperature fire going. It can also be made wider and shallower, with a base of stones and the fire made on them, so the air rushes though the air gaps created by the stones, air then gets up through the center of the fire as well as the edges.

[munckmb]

Its an amazing way to get a high temperature fire going. It can also be made wider and shallower, with a base of stones and the fire made on them, so the air rushes though the air gaps created by the stones, air then gets up through the center of the fire as well as the edges.

That's an idea I'm gonna try. Sounds good, less digging

[IJ55]

If you want a jet flame, make your pit, line it with stones as i described, but instead of having one air intake, have three, each at 90 degrees to the other.

LOL. Just don't leave your water boiling kit too close to the jet flame thats going to roar out.

[scruff]

Nice post Barry.

I've not really seen much on this method...I'd love to try it some time, ground permitting.

Thanks

EDIT: I hope you don't mind I've shared this on BCL. Its a great looking method, the original and simplified version of the smokeless cooking methods the Viet Con and Bielski Partisans used. Smashing!

[munckmb]

Nice post Barry.

I've not really seen much on this method...I'd love to try it some time, ground permitting.

Thanks

EDIT: I hope you don't mind I've shared this on BCL. Its a great looking method, the original and simplified version of the smokeless cooking methods the Viet Con and Bielski Partisans used. Smashing!

You're welcome and no worries.

[munckmb]

Tried the multiple airchannels and stones today. Works great, burns very hot but also very fast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYxxyCEFvZ8

Great tip, thanks!

[Arctic Explorer]

A realy stupid question but ill ask any way...

Whats teh best way to actualy dig this? with a trowle?
c

[deserteagle]

This way fire/oven is very popular, wide-spread tradition. I am not sure who invented this but like many other things, this fire pit very common.

Here in Turkey, for long term use, people put a clay cylinder (with an air intake hole close to the bottom) in a hole and fill rest of the surrounding area with soil. The alternative method is using bricks







There are four ways for cooking with tandir

1- Using the surface:




2- Using a pot in it. Clay pots are popular for this way.

3- Somehow suspending the food meat.


(ref.)


(ref.)


(ref.)

4- Using "sac" for cooking or making bread. Sac means metal sheet. A slightly convex metal sheet is used to make bread. For cooking, a concave sheet is used to cook meat and vegetables.





These methods are chosen considering the state of the fire. If the fire is new and there are flames "sac" will be preferred. If it is mature and there are no more flames the other methods will also be preferred.

Google image search for tandir
http://images.google.com.tr/images?q...title&resnum=1

Google image search for kuyu kebabi
http://www.google.com.tr/search?hl=e...B1&btnG=Search

also see: http://agaclar.net/forum/showthread.php?t=11837&page=2