Sunday 27 July 2014

We Certainly Wood like some more s'mores !


The summer is here and that means barbecue season has well and truly kicked off. Certainly Wood sent us through one of their Fire Starter Kits to try out. (Every time I type that, I want to launch into a mad impersonation of The Prodigy !) 


The box contains some Kiln Dried Logs, along with Matches and Kiln Dried Kindling, to help get your campfires and barbecues off to a natural start. The logs have a real rustic charm - so much so that my mum pinched a few with bark on to put on the rockery as a design feature ! They're a very eco-friendly option.  Certainly Wood  makes sure that the firewood they source is sustainable, British wood. They fell only the weakest trees in their forests, meaning the other trees can grow stronger, and they are constantly replanting trees that then absorb carbon dioxide. All of their electricity is produced using solar panels and biomass, so all of their processing equipment is powered using renewable energy and they burn all their wood waste to create heat to dry the logs. 


My favourite part of the kit, though, was these Flamers Natural Firelighters, which are made with untreated, wax dipped, fine wood shavings. They are natural, odourless, easy to light and have a long burn time. I much prefer them to the usual solid or liquid firelighters that Madhouse Daddy uses because they always reek of chemicals and I'm worried about that tainting the meat. It's also dangerous when he uses the liquid one - watch your eyebrows when the flames shoot up high ! - so the Natural Flamers offer a gentler, safer and more natural option.



Certainly Wood have come up with a great video on how to light a fire easily using the Flamers and Kindling provided in the package.


Getting the fire started was only half of our challenge though. Certainly Wood also sent us through everything we'd need to create the All American campfire classic, S'Mores. We've seen these mentioned in numerous American films and TV shows but had never tried making them. 


So what is a S'More exactly? As defined by Wikipedia: "A s'more (sometimes spelled smore) is a traditional night time campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada, consisting of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker. National S'mores Day is celebrated yearly on August 10 in the United States." The name comes from the fact that they are so yummy (as we were about to discover) that the kids (and grown ups !) will constantly be asking for "some more" until the whole pack of biscuits has magically disappeared !


They are great fun to make and, although they do require adult supervision, you can keep it all relatively safe by using long twigs to put the marshmallows in the flames.


They're a delicious explosion of tastes and textures - crunchy wheaty biscuit, smooth creamy chocolate and gooey, sticky, molten marshmallow.


We kept going until we ran out of biscuits and chocolate and the kids have made us promise to buy in more stocks so that we can have them as dessert after our next barbecue !


RRP : 50 Flamers Natural Firelighters - £4.91 (usually £5.99), Kiln Dried Kindling - £3.40 (usually £4.15), large 1.6m3 bulk bag of Kiln Dried Logs - £197.62 (usually £241)

(Certainly Wood is running a "Massive Summer Sale" until 31st August. The Flamers as well as some other products are currently discounted by 18%.)

Disclosure : We received a Fire Starter kit, along with supplies to make S'Mores.

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

Madhouse recipe : Fruity summer rolls

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