fire pits on your patio and newspaper paper compressors

[john royce]

tesco are selling those 'fire pits' round bowl fireplaces that you
could have a small log fire on your patio.
then they sell for £19 a paper compressor (apparently you make
newspapers wet and then stuff them in and compress them, then
when they dry out, kind of solid; they burn like logs of wood).
has anyone tried all this? the idea sounds great (who doesn't like
a bonfire, even a tiny one) but how does it work out in reality? i'm
thinking if it was really good, people would have been doing it for
years.. i know these compressors came on to the market years ago.

Know nothing about the fire pits but we used to make the paper logs, but
to get any sort of meaningful quantity we had to use the entire green
house to dry them, they burn hot and clean but produce a lot of ash, we
also had to import a lot of newspaper. I wouldn't bother probably better
off stacking your hard prunings and using that

Which is what I do, but isn't it disingenuous of Tesco to imply that
you can fuel your fire pit by also purchasing their paper compressor.
If they had a notice saying "make paper logs this summer, to fuel
your fire pit _next_ summer", I wouldn't have a problem with that!

Exactly.
You have to remember that most Tesco buyers have no experience with
fire-pits or paper log makers. It will have been someone's brilliant idea
for a good seller for the summer.
It makes me a bit cross really. Lots of people with a new fire-pit trying
to make it go with lumps of soggy newspaper.

Tescos recently put a bottle of vodka out on the shelves with all the other
normal bottles of vodka with only *half* the usual percentage by volume of
alcohol. It's called 'Vodkat' at only a pound less than the cheaper bottle
of full strength vodka.

So our party bowl of punch turned out very watery. I would call that
'deception', but i suppose others would be quick to say you must read the
'small' print on every Tesco's bottle and packet to avoid be caught out.

[DubDriver]

Post by john royce
Tescos recently put a bottle of vodka out on the shelves with all the
other normal bottles of vodka with only *half* the usual percentage by
volume of alcohol. It's called 'Vodkat' at only a pound less than the
cheaper bottle of full strength vodka.
So our party bowl of punch turned out very watery. I would call that
'deception', but i suppose others would be quick to say you must read the
'small' print on every Tesco's bottle and packet to avoid be caught out.

Vodkat is not a Tesco own brand, it's widely available at many other
retailers so why you should single Tesco out as one trying to deceive you I
can't imagine! If you feel someone is trying to pass off Vodkat as 'normal'
vodka then surly you should be blaming the makers Intercontinental Brands?

[George]

Post by john royce

tesco are selling those 'fire pits' round bowl fireplaces that you
could have a small log fire on your patio.
then they sell for £19 a paper compressor (apparently you make
newspapers wet and then stuff them in and compress them, then
when they dry out, kind of solid; they burn like logs of wood).
has anyone tried all this? the idea sounds great (who doesn't like
a bonfire, even a tiny one) but how does it work out in reality? i'm
thinking if it was really good, people would have been doing it for
years.. i know these compressors came on to the market years ago.

Know nothing about the fire pits but we used to make the paper logs, but
to get any sort of meaningful quantity we had to use the entire green
house to dry them, they burn hot and clean but produce a lot of ash, we
also had to import a lot of newspaper. I wouldn't bother probably better
off stacking your hard prunings and using that

Which is what I do, but isn't it disingenuous of Tesco to imply that
you can fuel your fire pit by also purchasing their paper compressor.
If they had a notice saying "make paper logs this summer, to fuel
your fire pit _next_ summer", I wouldn't have a problem with that!

Exactly.
You have to remember that most Tesco buyers have no experience with
fire-pits or paper log makers. It will have been someone's brilliant idea
for a good seller for the summer.
It makes me a bit cross really. Lots of people with a new fire-pit trying
to make it go with lumps of soggy newspaper.

Tescos recently put a bottle of vodka out on the shelves with all the other
normal bottles of vodka with only *half* the usual percentage by volume of
alcohol. It's called 'Vodkat' at only a pound less than the cheaper bottle
of full strength vodka.
So our party bowl of punch turned out very watery. I would call that
'deception', but i suppose others would be quick to say you must read the
'small' print on every Tesco's bottle and packet to avoid be caught out.

Its the price vs value thing. Thats why it is always good to ask
yourself why something costs less.

[Vic Smith]

Post by George
Its the price vs value thing. Thats why it is always good to ask
yourself why something costs less.

When I bought booze, all vodkas were what, 90 proof?
I stuck to a few well-known brands, so beyond that I never
paid attention.
But it something was called Vodcat instead of vodka, I suspect
I would have read the label.
Same if I bought a six-pack of Bere.

--Vic

[The Real Bev]

Post by Vic Smith

Post by George
Its the price vs value thing. Thats why it is always good to ask
yourself why something costs less.

When I bought booze, all vodkas were what, 90 proof?
I stuck to a few well-known brands, so beyond that I never
paid attention.
But it something was called Vodcat instead of vodka, I suspect
I would have read the label.
Same if I bought a six-pack of Bere.

My son bought some Leiv's in Bangkok. Perfectly fine, and the spelling on the
label(s) was the only difference I could see.

[Vic Smith]

On Fri, 29 May 2009 14:53:18 -0700, The Real Bev

Post by The Real Bev

Post by Vic Smith

Post by George
Its the price vs value thing. Thats why it is always good to ask
yourself why something costs less.

When I bought booze, all vodkas were what, 90 proof?
I stuck to a few well-known brands, so beyond that I never
paid attention.
But it something was called Vodcat instead of vodka, I suspect
I would have read the label.
Same if I bought a six-pack of Bere.

My son bought some Leiv's in Bangkok. Perfectly fine, and the spelling on the
label(s) was the only difference I could see.

As long as they had hollow legs.

--Vic

[Brian Gaff]

Unless you are blind like me in which case the staff ought to be aware of
this sort of thing. Luckily I do not drink.

Brian
--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email: ***@blueyonder.co.uk
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Post by john royce

tesco are selling those 'fire pits' round bowl fireplaces that you
could have a small log fire on your patio.
then they sell for £19 a paper compressor (apparently you make
newspapers wet and then stuff them in and compress them, then
when they dry out, kind of solid; they burn like logs of wood).
has anyone tried all this? the idea sounds great (who doesn't like
a bonfire, even a tiny one) but how does it work out in reality?
i'm
thinking if it was really good, people would have been doing it for
years.. i know these compressors came on to the market years ago.

Know nothing about the fire pits but we used to make the paper logs, but
to get any sort of meaningful quantity we had to use the entire green
house to dry them, they burn hot and clean but produce a lot of ash, we
also had to import a lot of newspaper. I wouldn't bother probably better
off stacking your hard prunings and using that

Which is what I do, but isn't it disingenuous of Tesco to imply that
you can fuel your fire pit by also purchasing their paper compressor.
If they had a notice saying "make paper logs this summer, to fuel
your fire pit _next_ summer", I wouldn't have a problem with that!

Exactly.
You have to remember that most Tesco buyers have no experience with
fire-pits or paper log makers. It will have been someone's brilliant
idea for a good seller for the summer.
It makes me a bit cross really. Lots of people with a new fire-pit
trying to make it go with lumps of soggy newspaper.

Tescos recently put a bottle of vodka out on the shelves with all the
other normal bottles of vodka with only *half* the usual percentage by
volume of alcohol. It's called 'Vodkat' at only a pound less than the
cheaper bottle of full strength vodka.
So our party bowl of punch turned out very watery. I would call that
'deception', but i suppose others would be quick to say you must read the
'small' print on every Tesco's bottle and packet to avoid be caught out.

[Ian F.]

Post by Brian Gaff
Unless you are blind like me in which case the staff ought to be aware of
this sort of thing. Luckily I do not drink.

Luckily? I say 'sadly'! ;-)

Ian

[Lou]

tesco are selling those 'fire pits' round bowl fireplaces that you
could have a small log fire on your patio.
then they sell for £19 a paper compressor (apparently you make
newspapers wet and then stuff them in and compress them, then
when they dry out, kind of solid; they burn like logs of wood).
has anyone tried all this? the idea sounds great (who doesn't like
a bonfire, even a tiny one) but how does it work out in reality?

i'm

thinking if it was really good, people would have been doing it for
years.. i know these compressors came on to the market years ago.

I don't know about the firepits or the paper compressor. But...

Firewood, say oak, has a density ranging from 590-930 kg/cubic meter. Paper
ranges from 250 kg/cubic meter up to 1500 kg/cubic meter. Printing paper
typically is around 800 kg/cubic meter (50 pounds per cubic foot). We might
expect newsprint to be somewhat less.

Still, it looks like newsprint falls into the density range of oak. You'd
probably do as well to just stack up the newspaper in the fire, and save
yourself the bother of compressing the stuff or making logs of the stuff.

Unless you're going to cook with the stuff - hot dogs on a stick, or steaks
on a grille, anything open to the flames. I wouldn't use newspaper for that
unless there was no other choice (like being caught in the depths of a
nuclear winter) - who knows wht contaminants might be in the inks
(especially colored ones) or the paper itself? For that, use wood/charcoal,
unless you're one of those who barbecue on a gas or electric grille.

[cupra]

Post by Lou

tesco are selling those 'fire pits' round bowl fireplaces that you
could have a small log fire on your patio.
then they sell for £19 a paper compressor (apparently you make
newspapers wet and then stuff them in and compress them, then
when they dry out, kind of solid; they burn like logs of wood).
has anyone tried all this? the idea sounds great (who doesn't like
a bonfire, even a tiny one) but how does it work out in reality?

i'm

thinking if it was really good, people would have been doing it for
years.. i know these compressors came on to the market years ago.

I don't know about the firepits or the paper compressor. But...
Firewood, say oak, has a density ranging from 590-930 kg/cubic meter.
Paper
ranges from 250 kg/cubic meter up to 1500 kg/cubic meter. Printing paper
typically is around 800 kg/cubic meter (50 pounds per cubic foot). We might
expect newsprint to be somewhat less.
Still, it looks like newsprint falls into the density range of oak. You'd
probably do as well to just stack up the newspaper in the fire, and save
yourself the bother of compressing the stuff or making logs of the stuff.

Heh - ever tried to burn a stack of newspaper in a fire? The top few pages
burn and the rest just smoulders!

I've got a wood compressor and it does work, however it's a hell of a lot of
hard work for 5 mins burn time!

[sf]

On Sat, 30 May 2009 11:04:21 +0100, " cupra"

Post by cupra

Post by Lou

tesco are selling those 'fire pits' round bowl fireplaces that you
could have a small log fire on your patio.
then they sell for £19 a paper compressor (apparently you make
newspapers wet and then stuff them in and compress them, then
when they dry out, kind of solid; they burn like logs of wood).
has anyone tried all this? the idea sounds great (who doesn't like
a bonfire, even a tiny one) but how does it work out in reality?

i'm

thinking if it was really good, people would have been doing it for
years.. i know these compressors came on to the market years ago.

I don't know about the firepits or the paper compressor. But...
Firewood, say oak, has a density ranging from 590-930 kg/cubic meter.
Paper
ranges from 250 kg/cubic meter up to 1500 kg/cubic meter. Printing paper
typically is around 800 kg/cubic meter (50 pounds per cubic foot). We might
expect newsprint to be somewhat less.
Still, it looks like newsprint falls into the density range of oak. You'd
probably do as well to just stack up the newspaper in the fire, and save
yourself the bother of compressing the stuff or making logs of the stuff.

Heh - ever tried to burn a stack of newspaper in a fire? The top few pages
burn and the rest just smoulders!
I've got a wood compressor and it does work, however it's a hell of a lot of
hard work for 5 mins burn time!

Those newspaper roller compressor things are old news, 10-20 years at
least. Didn't work as advertised then, sounds like they aren't any
better now. I just buy commercial "3 hour" logs and call it done.
Love them and don't miss real wood fires.

[cupra]

"sf" <***@geemail.com> wrote in message news:***@4ax.com...
snip>

Post by sf

Post by cupra

Post by Lou
Still, it looks like newsprint falls into the density range of oak.
You'd
probably do as well to just stack up the newspaper in the fire, and save
yourself the bother of compressing the stuff or making logs of the stuff.

Heh - ever tried to burn a stack of newspaper in a fire? The top few pages
burn and the rest just smoulders!
I've got a wood compressor and it does work, however it's a hell of a lot of
hard work for 5 mins burn time!

Those newspaper roller compressor things are old news, 10-20 years at
least. Didn't work as advertised then, sounds like they aren't any
better now. I just buy commercial "3 hour" logs and call it done.
Love them and don't miss real wood fires.

I use them every winter to complement real logs - 3 hour ones would bankrupt
me as my main heat source is wood!