Is there a proper name for..

[goodlife]

..kind of bonfire that can be kept burning for days. You usually build it by burning something woody first to get embers.. piling some not so easily burning stuff over and covering it all with soil or lumps of turf so that very little air can get into the fire.
When well built very little smoke will escape and only just little whispers of it is evident that its all cooking down.
I've been wondering many times if there is its own name for it...I've never come across any..?????

I've finally mastered the 'skill' of that sort of fire...last one that I built week ago, smoldered for 3 days before running out of fuel.  ..and nobody wasn't any wiser that I had fire going all day long..no stinking smoke, no complaints

[goodlife]

[ACE]

We used to keep a bonfire 'stewing' for weeks when I worked on the parks and gardens.

[goodlife]

We used to keep a bonfire 'stewing' for weeks when I worked on the parks and gardens.

But have you ever heard it called with any particular 'name'? Countryman magazine always publish some wonderful old words for different things..some are regional and still used in places..and other are long fallen out of use...but so far I've never come across one that is  for that type of fire.
Perharps I have to invent one myself...

[cleo]

It`s a gardener`s fire, best started when the wind blows any smoke over open fields. But even then some ejit who lets their dog crap on a footpath will complain

[ancellsfarmer]

..kind of bonfire that can be kept burning for days. You usually build it by burning something woody first to get embers.. piling some not so easily burning stuff over and covering it all with soil or lumps of turf so that very little air can get into the fire.
When well built very little smoke will escape and only just little whispers of it is evident that its all cooking down.
I've been wondering many times if there is its own name for it...I've never come across any..?????

I've finally mastered the 'skill' of that sort of fire...last one that I built week ago, smoldered for 3 days before running out of fuel.  ..and nobody wasn't any wiser that I had fire
going all day long..no stinking smoke, no complaints

Best I can offer:
anthrakia: a heap of burning coals
Original Word: ἀνθρακιά, ᾶς, ἡ but then its all Greek to me!

[goodlife]

Thank you for trying to help...
I knew I might be pulling short straw but it is just bugging me. The countryman magazine always list of old words for things..many that I've never heard.
Bonfire is just fire..and first thought when hearing the word is..lots of smoke and flames..but this sort of 'stewing fire' is nothing like bonfire..though end result is same.
I like the name of 'stewing fire'...but it sounds like one is cooking..
Something that I learned today...word fash =discarded carrot or turnip tops (from Lancashire/Cheshire) 
And....lippen=beehive (from South West)

Grannyjanet ...see that?..I'm learning your lingo..."have you been throwing you fash about?"

[grannyjanny]

I will when I get some. Before you know it Goodlife you'll be joining 'The Cheshire Set' .

[lottie lou]

Is is something like charcoal burning - turning wood into charcoal.  Or where people bury their meat/food on embers covred with earth to cook?

[goodlife]

Is is something like charcoal burning - turning wood into charcoal.  Or where people bury their meat/food on embers covred with earth to cook?

Yes..same effect..you just cover the burnable rubbish with earth so only tiny amount of air gets through..the soil layer allow only tiniest amount of smoke through too..no more than cigarette would create, if even that.
I tend to burn all old onion waste and brassica stalks this way..brassica smoke tends to stink to 'high heaven'..but with slow 'stewing burn' you barely smell anything..doesn't aggravate neighbours. While it is smouldering away I do tend to it couple of times per day to make sure the soil is still covering the mound adequately or pulling it away if the whisper of smoke is starting to disappear to allow bit more air. After few days there is nothing left of the rubbish and as a result I've got nice heap of almost 'sterilized' soil that I can use in potting mixtures 

[lottie lou]

oh sounds great.  Wish I had enough room in back garden.  Daren't try on lottie as bonfires have been banned.

[davyw1]

We refer to this type of fire as a kiln as works on the same princible, intense heat inside the soil. I just done a search as i put pictures on 2008 the post is still there but the pictures have gone.
But it a great way to get rid of your rubbish at the end of the year and get some return from it.

[goodlife]

'kiln fire'...yes..it does work very same way.... so now we go 'stewing and kiln fire' .. Interesting..
Only 'trouble' with those names are that one could be mistaken for cooking purpose and other for pottery..there must be somewhere its own name..one that it is used for one purpose only...I shall keep looking..
When I talk about this sort of fire on allotments, I use 'smouldering bonfire'..but it is just to description not a name..

But it a great way to get rid of your rubbish at the end of the year and get some return from it.

Yep..I usually do it end of the year too..but last year weather ruined the chance and now the conditions were just right..that bit of rubbish was reasonably dry and wind blowing to 'right' direction'..and its all gone..stinky cabbage stalks are just handful of ashes

[GrannieAnnie]

Sounds a bit like a Dakota Fire Pit to me, very hot. This is a tedious video but skim through to the diagram which says it all (about halfway through.) His fire pit is small but could be enlarged.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amUXydTgwck

[sunloving]

Is it related to a damped fire? Thats what you call it when you put slack on your coals at night so they stay lit but dont burn away.

You damp the fire before bed.
x Sunloving 

[goodlife]

Sounds a bit like a Dakota Fire Pit to me, very hot. This is a tedious video but skim through to the diagram which says it all (about halfway through.) His fire pit is small but could be enlarged.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amUXydTgwck

Thanks for posting that..interesting...hmm..it gives me some ideas now for summer cooking..
No..sadly it is not same thing..as that pit depends of good air flow..where as the bonfire that I'm talking about is slowly burning..with minimum of oxygen that is able to get through almost solid covering of soil.

[goodlife]

Is it related to a damped fire? That's what you call it when you put slack on your coals at night so they stay lit but don't burn away.

You damp the fire before bed.
x Sunloving

sound similar principal..I'll see if anything come when go googling for 'damped fire'... 

[ancellsfarmer]

Is it related to a damped fire? Thats what you call it when you put slack on your coals at night so they stay lit but dont burn away.

You damp the fire before bed.
x Sunloving

PLEASE DONT TRY THIS AT HOME
A slowly smouldering fire is most definitely dangerous and is the state most likely to produce and not evacuate lethal carbon monoxide within your home. A dampened coal bed produces carbon monoxide. This is the silent killer! Better to rake over the ashes and relight in the morning while the kettle boils.

[GrannieAnnie]

this has nothing to do with the question  but reminded me of something terribly fascinating: how the early settlers got rid of forests of trees without chopping each tree down. They'd drill two holes at an angle into the tree trunk (similar to the Dakota Fire Pit holes that join together) then light coals in one and the oxygen would be drawn in through the other hole resulting in a slow burn which eventually ate through the trunk and down crashed the tree. Very dangerous though since they wouldn't know when the tree would crash or which direction, so again, not to be tried at home.

[goodlife]

this has nothing to do with the question  but reminded me of something terribly fascinating: how the early settlers got rid of forests of trees without chopping each tree down. They'd drill two holes at an angle into the tree trunk (similar to the Dakota Fire Pit holes that join together) then light coals in one and the oxygen would be drawn in through the other hole resulting in a slow burn which eventually ate through the trunk and down crashed the tree. Very dangerous though since they wouldn't know when the tree would crash or which direction, so again, not to be tried at home.

I love that sort of stories.. I love making fires.. Another thing to store in my brain.. ..maybe put it in use one day.. It would be so interesting to try that...

[GrannieAnnie]

...and another pyromaniac appears...