How to Use a Buschbeck Outdoor Fireplace: Wood, Lighting and Your First Cook

If you've just had a Buschbeck installed, or you've had one for a while but still feel like you're guessing every time you light it, this one's for you. Learning how to use a Buschbeck outdoor fireplace properly is the difference between a smoky, frustrating evening and a grill, oven and smoker all rolled into one warm corner of the garden.

I learnt all of this the slow way, in our Geelong backyard during lockdown, burning more wood than I care to admit before I worked out what I was actually doing. So let's skip the trial and error. Here's everything I know about wood, lighting and that nervy first cook.

What makes a Buschbeck different from a barbecue

A masonry outdoor fireplace is a different beast entirely to a gas barbie. It's heavy, it's solid, and it's built to hold heat. Once you understand how it works, it becomes a grill, an oven, a smoker and the warmest spot at any gathering, all in one unit.

Before we get into wood and lighting, it helps to know the parts you're actually working with.

Getting to know the parts of your Buschbeck

• The firebox is the heart of it, the arched opening where your fire lives. The walls and roof soak up heat and reflect it back down onto the food, which is exactly why masonry fireplaces are so good at baking and roasting. The longer the fire burns, the hotter those walls get.
• The fire base or grate needs air underneath the wood to burn well. You'll build your fire towards the back and rake coals forward when you're ready to cook.
• The grill sits over the coals and is often adjustable. Raising and lowering it is the easiest way to control heat: closer to the coals means hotter, higher means gentler.
• The chimney draws smoke up and out, and pulls fresh air in through the front. A good draw keeps the fire burning cleanly, which is also why a Buschbeck stays usable on a breezy evening when an open fire pit would just blow smoke back in your face.
• The ledge or hearth is your landing spot for a hot pan, a board of food waiting to go on, or a steak that needs a rest. It does get hot near the opening, so treat it with respect.

Depending on your model, you might also have a pizza stone or baking insert, a hotplate or griddle, a rotisserie, or hooks and trivets for a camp oven. You don't need every accessory to cook well. A grill, a cast iron pan and a camp oven will get you through most recipes, and if you want a proper rundown of what's actually worth adding, I've put together a full Buschbeck accessories guide.

One more thing before you light anything: every fireplace is a little different in size, draw and fittings, so check your own model's manual for recommended fuel, maximum fire size and any curing instructions. If the manual and anything I say here disagree, follow the manual.

How to use a Buschbeck for the first time

The best thing you can do with a new fireplace is light it a few times with zero pressure to cook anything. Watch how quickly it heats up, where the hot spots sit, how long a load of wood lasts, and how the smoke behaves in different winds.

Hold a hand near the grill at different heights. Toast a bit of bread at the front and compare how fast it browns versus the back. You'll learn more from twenty minutes of this than from any amount of reading.

New masonry also needs gentle treatment early on. Small fires for the first few uses let any moisture in the render and bricks dry out slowly, which helps prevent cracking. Again, your manual is the final word here, not me.

Once you know how your particular fireplace behaves, the recipes will make a lot more sense, and you'll start to feel when it's ready rather than guessing. That's the point it stops being garden furniture and starts being your outdoor kitchen.

Choosing the right wood

Good food starts with good wood. The single biggest improvement you can make to your fire cooking has nothing to do with technique and everything to do with burning the right timber, properly dried, in the right sized pieces.

Use seasoned hardwood: wood that's been split and dried for at least six to twelve months, with moisture under about 20 per cent. It burns hotter, cleaner and with a sweeter smoke. Green or damp wood hisses, smokes heavily, tastes bitter and refuses to make decent coals. Seasoned wood is noticeably lighter, sounds hollow when two pieces knock together, and often has cracks at the ends.

In Australia I reach for red gum, ironbark, sugar gum and box for long-lasting coals. Fruitwoods like apple, cherry and pear, or nut woods like pecan and almond, give a gentler, sweeter smoke that's lovely with chicken, pork and fish. Oak, when you can get it, is a great all-rounder.

Never burn treated, painted or laminated timber, pallets of unknown origin, particleboard, or anything with glue or chemicals in it. Steer clear of resinous softwoods like pine for cooking too: they flare, spit, and leave a sooty, resinous taste behind. Buy your firewood from a reputable, sustainable supplier.

What you need to light it

You'll want four things on hand before you strike a match:

• Tinder: natural firelighters, wood wool, or scrunched newspaper (nothing glossy).
• Kindling: dry sticks or split wood about as thick as your thumb.
• Small splits: wrist-thick pieces to build the fire out.
• Cooking wood: forearm-sized splits to build your coal bed.

Avoid petroleum firelighters, and never, ever use liquid accelerants like methylated spirits, petrol or lighter fluid. They're dangerous and they taint the food with a chemical taste that no amount of smoke will cover.

Lighting the fire, properly

I almost always use the top-down method, because it's reliable and makes less smoke. Put two or three larger splits on the base towards the back of the firebox. Lay smaller splits across them, then a layer of kindling crossways, and finally your tinder on top. Light the tinder and let it burn down through the layers, each one catching the one below. You barely need to touch it.

The classic teepee also works well: tinder in the middle, kindling leaned around it, small splits around that. Light it, and once it's roaring, add larger pieces.

Whichever method you choose, give the fire air. Don't pack the wood tightly, and leave gaps so oxygen can move underneath and through.

Plan your timing properly. For most cooking you want coals, not flames, which takes 40 minutes to an hour from lighting. For baking and pizza, the firebox walls need time to soak up heat too, so allow 1 to 1½ hours. Light the fire before you start prepping dinner, not when you're ready to cook it.

Light your fire before you start chopping anything. A hungry crowd staring at cold coals is the fastest way to ruin an otherwise lovely evening.

Building and keeping a coal bed

Once your first load has burnt down to glowing coals with a light covering of white ash, you've got a cooking fire. Rake the coals forward under the grill and keep a small "feeder" fire going at the back. As you need more heat, push fresh coals forward from that feeder fire.

Add new wood to the back, never directly under the food, so you're always cooking over settled embers rather than smoky new flames.

Keep the fire fed little and often. One or two splits every 20 to 30 minutes keeps a steady supply of coals coming. A huge load dropped on all at once will flare up, drop the temperature under the grill while it catches, and send smoke straight over your dinner. If the fire seems to be sulking, open it up, double check your wood is actually dry, and give it more air rather than more fuel.

Your first cook

Once you've got a steady bed of coals and you understand roughly how your fireplace heats, you're ready. Start simple. A good steak over the grill is a brilliant way to get a feel for heat control, and I've written up exactly how I do the perfect steak on a Buschbeck if you want a recipe to follow.

If you've got a pizza stone or insert fitted, it's worth reading up on how to use the Buschbeck pizza oven insert before your first bake, because the base can catch you out if you rush it.

And once you're comfortable judging heat by eye and by hand, understanding the zones of your fire properly will take your cooking up another level again. That's a whole topic on its own, and one I cover in far more depth in the book, including a full heat chart for reading your coals at a glance.

Why it's worth the learning curve

Learning how to use a Buschbeck outdoor fireplace isn't complicated, but it does reward patience. Good wood, a proper lighting method, and a coal bed you understand will take you further than any accessory you could buy. Once it clicks, you'll wonder why you ever cooked on gas.

If you want the full picture, from building your first fire right through to 89 recipes built specifically for this fireplace, that's exactly what I put together in The Wood Fire Kitchen.

Buschbeck recipes to try next

• The Perfect Steak on a Buschbeck Outdoor Fireplace
• My Everyday Pizza Dough for the Buschbeck Pizza Oven Insert
• Damper on a Stick, Cooked Over the Buschbeck Fire
• Buschbeck Rotisserie Chicken with Garlic Butter

FAQs

How long should I let a Buschbeck fire burn before cooking?

Plan for 40 minutes to an hour to get a solid bed of coals for grilling. For baking or pizza, allow 1 to 1½ hours so the firebox walls have time to soak up heat too.

What is the best wood to use in a Buschbeck outdoor fireplace?

Seasoned hardwood that's been dried for six to twelve months is best. In Australia, red gum, ironbark, sugar gum and box give long-lasting coals, while fruitwoods like apple or cherry add a gentler, sweeter smoke.

Can I use a Buschbeck in windy conditions?

Yes. The chimney draws smoke up and pulls fresh air in through the front, which keeps the fire burning cleanly even on breezy days, unlike an open fire pit.

Do I need special firelighters for a Buschbeck?

Use natural tinder such as firelighters, wood wool or scrunched newspaper. Avoid petroleum firelighters and never use liquid accelerants like petrol or methylated spirits, as they're dangerous and taint the food.

How do I control the temperature on a Buschbeck fireplace?

The simplest way is to raise or lower the grill rack: closer to the coals means hotter, higher up means gentler. You can also rake coals forward from a feeder fire at the back to add heat as needed.

Get all 89 recipes in The Wood Fire Kitchen

This guide is one of 89 recipes in my cookbook, The Wood Fire Kitchen: Recipes for your Buschbeck outdoor fireplace. It covers everything from lighting and reading the fire to pizza, grilling, the rotisserie, camp-oven dinners and desserts baked in the embers, with a Buschbeck kit note on every recipe so you know exactly which accessory to reach for.

Get the paperback ($49 USD)

Want a look inside first? Grab the free sample on the book page, or browse more Buschbeck recipes.