This morning while preparing for school runs, the double burner was fired, boiling water for breakfast and cooking for the kids' lunch boxes. The flame looked ok but it did not have that hissing sound. It was suspicious and as suspected it might disapoint, a few minutes after all ingredients were put in, the flame suddenly died out in a woosh.

There was no other option that early in the morning so switching to wood fire was the only available option which I had to explore.

The tipping-tapping sound of the drizzling rain was not friendly, but the need to save the partially cooked food and something for the kids to eat at noon break far outweighed the discomfort. So when my wife confirmed that we were out of options, I had to assist quickly.

Starting with a good location and the iron tripod stand that would hold the pot in position above the fire. I positioned it on a levelled ground. You don't need any instrument for that, your eyes are all you need.

The selected spot should be elevated and dry. Not in the way of running water. If it were a fixed kitchen, all this would have been taken care of but this is just a scrambled wood fire.

Wood is the fuel for a wood fire. I had to get the wood. The drier the better. Hardwood burns hotter, longer and slower. They are often red, dark, dense and heavier. The wood has to be stacked properly to optimise the intake of air.

Tree sticky sap from trees like "Eben", the local plum, the one called bush butter tree (Dacryodes edulis), makes an excellent accelerant to help start the fire. That is what you do in a real village setting and the fire will come from the next compound.

I used a lighter, it was a lot faster and I was racing to catch up with time. As Ejike my friend would put it, "no time to waste time".
At first, the fire needed assistance but once the wood was raised to a combustible temperature, burning became spontaneous. Once the wood is good and well arranged, you will not have to blow into the fire, just push in the wood.

Now comes the pot. The wood fire is ready. Hot and smoky. Did you know the scent of the smoke fuses into the food and I can tell from its flavour when a dish was cooked on a wood fire. It has that smoke signature. It is often said that Ekpang Nkukwo has a better flavour when cooked with wood fire.

A few minutes into the cooking and the pot was covered with soot. The heat was intense, and the rolling sound of boiling was almost immediate, tumbling the contents around and having it mixed as it cooked.

The pot's handles are hot at this point, and you would stain the whole place with soot. That is why the pot is carried with a rag cloth and placed in a basin.

After cooking you will have to turn off the fire by pulling out the wood and dousing it with water else the wood will slowly burn out completely.

Later in the evening when I was back from work, I went to a local gas station and made a refill. A kilogram of gas is 1800 Naira. At the current rate of 56.4 Naira per steem. That makes it 32 Steems per Kg.

Conclusion.

Some skills can save you from a tight situation. The wood fireplace was a backup plan and it saved the day this morning. Now that the gas is refilled, it will have to wait and save the day again when situations call for it or when cooking a local dish that needs wood fire.

I would love the following to sample their opinion about this local wood fire, do you have any wood fire skills you would like to share? @okere-blessing, @emmalex25 and @josepha.

Media Credit

Composer	@manuelhooks
Graphics from	Galaxy-A15
Entry type	Freelance
Date	Mon.. 29th June
	(@) 2026