Is the Superkalan Really Smokeless?

In a previous entry, I mentioned the Superkalan was also sold inside the mall coz it was smokeless. But is it really?

Well, the answer is “yes” AND “no”. Yes, because once the fuel is dry and burning very hot, there is no water content to turn into steam that comprises the smoke. No, because when you are just starting the fire, there will always be smoke coming from firestarters like paper and dried leaves. And until the main wood fuel is very hot, expect the water content to turn into steam and smoke.

How to Protect Your Grill’s Chimney

Is this another missing accessory for the Superkalan? The Superkalan doesn’t come with a cover for the chimney extension. So, what to do? Improvise! For my chimney extension, a cap would have 2 important purposes:

1. To protect the chimney and the chimney from the elements. Constant moisture comes with rust – eventually. The chimney filter and extension are prone to rust if exposed for too long in rainy weather.
   
2. A wet cooking stove is VERY difficult to fire up. It will take some time for the wetness to disappear and the inside to become hot for cooking.

So, what to do? Well, the easiest solution is to put an open tin can over the chimney extension. But then the tin can would eventually rust out too, right? Well, a material that wouldn’t rust is plastic. So finding a suitable plastic container that can be cut will do the job. What I did was to use an empty container for rust treatment chemical.

Read more »

Making a No-Cost Chimney Extension Filter

When the grill (superkalan) was still new, we didn’t clean or inspect it regularly. Hey, it always worked well and it was new! So imagine one day when the smoke coming out of the chimney extension didn’t look right. By this, I mean the smoke just sort of lingered and drooped downwards rather than the usual rapid upward billowing. There was also more smoke than usual seeping out from the plates and the fuel feeder. In other words, there was too much smoke but not enough fire.

Somehow I suspected that hot air just wasn’t pulling the smoke out of the chimney as easily and as quickly. We were just starting to cook for the grill and concluded there must be something blocking inside the chimney. With potholders and gloves in hand, I carefully detached the chimney extension from the chimney. Yup, there was so much soot clinging inside the walls of the chimney. Lo and behold, a leaf was resting inside the chimney all blackened and thick with soot. The inside was 80% blocked. No wonder there was smoke everywhere. There was nowhere else for the smoke to go.

Read more »

Parts of the Superkalan Outdoor Stove

Thanx to the Superkalan website, I was able to get an exploded diagram of the Superkalan stove. I edited the labels of the stove parts to make them clearer and more readable. The unit as shown in the diagram comes with a pair of tongs also. This tool is very useful for moving coals around and picking up any hot items.

Read more »

The Superkalan: Is this a Grill or a Heater?

Two years ago, the DH and I chanced upon an odd-looking gizmo that was on sale at Festival Mall in Alabang. You see, occasionally, the Exhibit Center would showcase products from different areas or provinces in the Philippines. And on that particular day in January, 2005, it was La Union’s time to shine. There were plenty of the usual: woodcrafts, tupig, woven blankets, etc. etc. Well, somewhere in the middle of the Exhibit Center a few people were milling 'round a stall that had this gizmo.

Read more »