Episode 1: How to Build a Fire

What good is the World’s Finest Fire Pit if you don’t know how to get a solid fire going? The last thing you want is a group of your friends sitting around your beautiful Cauldron while it’s blowing black smoke in their faces and you’re one more cardboard box away from grabbing the can of gasoline (don’t do that).

Let’s get you building a great fire every time.

First, you’ll need dry, seasoned firewood. I’ll get into more details in a future episode, but for now, grab two pieces of wood and bang them together. If it sounds hollow with an almost high-pitched ping, that’s dry wood. If the sound is a deep thud, that’s wet, unseasoned wood that won’t properly ignite and is going to smoke out your backyard. Put some dry wood splits in your Cauldron, running perpendicular to each other like a #. I like adding a few teepee pieces, as featured in the video- this will really get the fire going.

Next, add your kindling on top. These should be much smaller, narrower pieces. Great kindling is even smaller than the pieces I used in the video. Some of the best kindling is the little shards that break off when you split a piece of wood.

Then, add your fire starter. Yes, a fire starter. This isn’t the TV show ‘Alone.’ This isn’t a bushcraft series. We’re not trying to survive in the middle of the Arctic. We’re in our backyards- use a damn fire starter.

Finally, get the fire going. If you don’t have a propane torch, use a grill lighter. Once the fire starter is lit, let it do its thing.

Crack yourself a beer or preferred libation, cheers your pals, and enjoy the fire you just built.

About Chris Wing (Cast Iron Chris)

After a lifetime of training in martial arts, fighting professionally, and running a gym, I began restoring cast iron professionally in 2019. I started sharing my hobby on social media in 2021, and after finding a lot of success, I closed my gym in 2023 to run “Cast Iron Chris” full-time. Beyond posting videos about “all things cast iron,” I fell in love with wood-fired cooking, with Francis Mallmann as a major inspiration. When I first cooked on a Cowboy Cauldron in 2023, I stopped cooking on anything else. I coined it “The World’s Most Badass Fire Pit” because it’s not only incredibly functional, but also a showstopper- so much so that I created an annual event called the “Cowboy Cook Off,” where everyone comes together to cook over a Cauldron. At the end of the day, it’s not just about cooking- it’s about food, fire, and the people around it.

Episode 1: How to Build a Fire

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