Corncob fire starters - a critique


Old Philosopher

Old Philosopher

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This is more of a critique, than a tutorial. There was some talk here last Fall about early homesteaders using corncobs as fire starters. Everybody had heard about it, but nobody had tried it…so here you are.
First of all, without any graphic aids let me just say that dried corncobs are pretty much fireproof, unless you throw them in an established fire. They smolder, smoke and stink! So for my experiment at making fire starters for my wood stove, I decided I needed an accelerant. I just chose the handiest, and most obvious: charcoal lighter fluid, which apparently is almost identical to naphtha. This is the only chemical I used, so YMMV with other accelerants.
In the beginning, there were ears of corn. These are the cobs I saved after removing the dried kernels for seed corn. They are paper dry, and resemble a wasps’ nest.

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I cut the cobs into manageable lengths. I’d recommend a saw for this, by the way.

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I put an inch, or so of lighter fluid in a Mason jar, dropped in some of the cob pieces, and covered the jar with two layers of waxed paper. I didn’t want to seal the jar tightly, because of the volatile fumes. I hate it when I blow myself up. :p

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I let the cobs marinate for 48 hours. Then I pulled a couple out, and set them on a paper towel to drain. After about 30 minutes, I attempted a strike test with a ferro rod on one of the pieces. After 30 minutes of air drying, it still retained good combustion qualities.

Strike Test I - YouTube

As you can see, it took a spark, and was difficult to blow out, even with a couple strong breaths.
The second piece I let air dry for about 4 hours. I won’t bore you with the failed strike test, but when an actual flame was applied, it burned rather well. It was very easy to blow out, though. A subsequent test showed that I could expect about 5 minutes of flame from a similar piece.

Burn Test - YouTube

In following tests, I let a piece of cob sit out overnight. The results were similar to a piece that had never been soaked. At the same time, I put some drained pieces in a sealed Ziploc baggie. Those retained the property of the one which had air dried for 4 hours (2nd video). I have reason to believe they would probably still be effective up to a week, stored this way, maybe more.
I contemplated using my vacuum sealer to suck more lighter fluid into the cobs, but then decided I didn’t want to be sucking petroleum vapors into my food processing equipment.

Conclusion? Way more trouble than it’s worth, unless you want to keep a jar soaking in the kitchen to use on a regular basis. Pull them out, shake ‘em off, and they’ll burn like a candle in your wood stove, and start even coarse kindling. As far as something to make, stick in your pack, and save for a rainy day, there are many better options IMO.

Thanks for viewing.
 
We always used corn cobs as kindling on the farm. We had lots of them, and used them liberally. In the spring when we didn't need much heat, a bucket of cobs in the stove would drive off the chill.

I used them every day to get our tank heaters going. A bucket of cobs and a cup of kerosene was enough to light bigger chunks of wood and lumps of coal.

A cob soaked in kerosene threaded on a sharpened green stick makes a good torch.

I have a bucket of cobs at the cabin and I use a handful or two like kindling for getting my fire going, especially if it's wet outside my other kindling is damp.

Back in the '30s, corn prices were so low that lots of folks burned cob, corn and all for fuel.

The old blacksmith in our neighborhood made a circular ring of cobs and set them afire to expand the iron "tire" for wooden wagon wheels. The expanded tire was quickly fit to the wheel and tightened as the metal contracted.

Your testing and process is quite scientific compared to mine. I've always burned'em without much thought!
 
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I second what the professor said. We used cobs in the tank heaters all the time, and as a fire starter in the wood stove. The secret is the kerosine or diesel. They suck it up and burn like crazy.

One thing about burning corn in the 30's, it wasn't just that corn wasn't worth anything, it was also because coal was worth way more, and ear corn burns about as hot as coal.

One other use, they used to burn a pile of cobs to drive the frost out of the ground to dig graves in the winter. The deeper the frost, the bigger the pile needed to be. The top would burn quickly, and the whole pile would smolder until it burned up. It was the long smolder that drove out the frost.
 
Sounds like my choice of a light-end product like naphtha was a poor one. I certainly would have used kerosene, if I had any.
I still have some cobs left. I think I'll try 2-cycle gas mix, and see if that cuts down on the evaporation factor.
 
My Mom had a Monarch combo bottle gas/coal range out on the farm when I was a kid. It had four gas burners and a gas oven with a coal burning side burner with two eyes in the top. That's what heated the kitchen on cold winter mornings and the water for the wringer washer and the milk pail full of scalding water we dunked the chickens in before picking the feathers. She always got the coal burning with a couple of cobs dipped in a quart mason jar full of kerosene she kept in the pantry. We burned straight cobs if we just wanted quick fire to take the chill off in Spring or Fall. We saved a few burlap bags full of primo red cobs when we shelled corn and before Dad burned the cob and shuck piles. Some people picked up the cobs left in the hog yard after the hogs had eaten all the kernels off of them, but Mom didn't like using poop-covered cobs:57:
 
wolfy said:
... She always got the coal burning with a couple of cobs dipped in a quart mason jar full of kerosene she kept in the pantry. ...
Click to expand...
My buddy from the Adirondacks loaned me a very neat thing a couple winters ago.
It's a little pot that looks like pioneer cooking kettle, with 3 legs and a lid. It holds about a pint of kerosene. It has a wand that has a ball shaped pumice stone on one end. That pumice stone absorbs the kerosene. You light the stone, push it into your kindling and off she goes! Pull it out by the handle, let it cool, and put it back in the pot. A really elegant little device.
 
Old Philosopher said:
My buddy from the Adirondacks loaned me a very neat thing a couple winters ago.
It's a little pot that looks like pioneer cooking kettle, with 3 legs and a lid. It holds about a pint of kerosene. It has a wand that has a ball shaped pumice stone on one end. That pumice stone absorbs the kerosene. You light the stone, push it into your kindling and off she goes! Pull it out by the handle, let it cool, and put it back in the pot. A really elegant little device.
Click to expand...

I saw one of those in a fireplace store one time:57:
 
They make good toilet paper:) I think the Anasazi used them for both toilet paper and fire at the same time. Why not? I have no proof of this but corn cobs (maize) have been found in burn middens at their more permanent sites. They lived in the desert and did what they had to do to survive. The Anasazi were brilliant people.
 
wolfy said:
My Mom had a Monarch combo bottle gas/coal range out on the farm when I was a kid. It had four gas burners and a gas oven with a coal burning side burner with two eyes in the top. That's what heated the kitchen on cold winter mornings and the water for the wringer washer and the milk pail full of scalding water we dunked the chickens in before picking the feathers. She always got the coal burning with a couple of cobs dipped in a quart mason jar full of kerosene she kept in the pantry. We burned straight cobs if we just wanted quick fire to take the chill off in Spring or Fall. We saved a few burlap bags full of primo red cobs when we shelled corn and before Dad burned the cob and shuck piles. Some people picked up the cobs left in the hog yard after the hogs had eaten all the kernels off of them, but Mom didn't like using poop-covered cobs:57:
Click to expand...

If this farm had been over a couple of states, I would say we were brought up in the same house. Gosh, this thread brings back some memories of old.

We had the coal furnace in the basement of the farm house for heat (grandma finally got her gas stove in the kitchen in place of wood or coal). Above that old monster of a coal furnace, was a metal grate in the floor to let the heat in to the entire house. When the furnace was going, it didn't take long as a kid to learn to avoid that grate while in your bare feet! Talk about hot! Anyway, we touched off the old coal furnace with cob soaked in kerosene. It certainly did the job.
 
Trail Dust said:
If this farm had been over a couple of states, I would say we were brought up in the same house. Gosh, this thread brings back some memories of old.

We had the coal furnace in the basement of the farm house for heat (grandma finally got her gas stove in the kitchen in place of wood or coal). Above that old monster of a coal furnace, was a metal grate in the floor to let the heat in to the entire house. When the furnace was going, it didn't take long as a kid to learn to avoid that grate while in your bare feet! Talk about hot! Anyway, we touched off the old coal furnace with cob soaked in kerosene. It certainly did the job.
Click to expand...

Grandpa's wood furnace was just the same! I think every kid in the family went through the waffle burns on the hands and knees one time!
 
joboo said:
And that may have inspired the term "tough as nails"!

Ok beside starting fires and TP what else can be done with corn cobs? There has to be more than just two. Oh and yea checker pieces but that wont save you in the bush.<--#3
Click to expand...

You can use them to cork your jugs when you make corn squeezin's.
 
used to do this with cinder blocks in diesel fuel ,hang them in a tree and light... much younger and less wiser then.
 
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