Upside down fire in the fireplace
 

It’s that time of year where we’re lighting up our fireplaces. I’ve been building fires for years the way I always have; criss cross large pieces, being mindful to leave some space between, stuff some kindling and such beneath to get the stack burning. One lit and burning I stoke it now and again to keep the flames enjoyable while accumulating a nice coal bed. Add a log now and then and stoke a little here and there. I enjoy a fire and maintaining it too!

Anyhow, my Son in law recently purchased a house with a fireplace. This is only their second season with it. Being younger and always looking to find different ways of doing things he found on the interwebs a counter-intuitive way of building fires: upside down! You put your big logs at the bottom and leave NO space. Work your way up stacking the lesser size pieces, always leaving NO space until you have brush and tinder on top. Light it from the top. It takes about 20 minutes to get going but once it does it burns down to nothing with essentially no maintenance. Oh you might have to reposition a fallen piece now and then, but for the most part it burns down with little maintenance. I tried it a couple nights ago and am currently burning my second fire now. It’s Thanksgiving here in Canada this weekend, so I’m trial running this. It works!

Do it like this:
https://www.facebook.com/anne.spillers/videos/10207427361669459/

(edit)- that was me btw and when I was walking away from the fire, I was scared s$;less, and went for the garden hose. The flames were over 20 feet high. As my wife said " I can feel the heat"... I was getting a sunburn!!!

Or this link
How to Build an Upside-Down Fire: The Only Fireplace Method You'll Ever Need | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

I just flip a switch.

I wish I had a fireplace!

Upside down fire building encourages maximal wood energy efficiency and minimizes chimney soot. Solid fuel gasification prior to combustion is about as good as one can do.

I read the same article... somewhere.... last year too. I've been building them "top down" for a while - in the fireplace and the wood stove in my shop. Works much better. The draft builds slowly while the smoke output is less. Makes sense. I also use 1/2 of a fire starter cube (I get them at the Big Green Egg store). Some kindling on top, cube, light and forget it.