The logs only getting heat from one side is the issue. With the logs being on top of the fire, the fire can reach around them and burn them more completely.
There’s probably a bit of an increase in burn time with the log cabin method, but it’s going to require more maintenance in the long run. The key to a good fire is to get a solid bed of coals built up quickly.
My experience with the log cabin method reduces the flame and smoke aspects of a bonfire, and keeps it at a steadier, more even burn rather than the quick, higher heat of larger fires. We mostly used it for cooking.
Again, I’m sure that with deeper knowledge of fires someone could get better results. But for consistently made fires that were good for cooking, and didn’t burn through fuel as quickly as a teepee fire would, the log cabin method was easiest to consistently reproduce. We’d usually cook using a Dutch oven, so coals were more important than flames, and high flames were often not allowed at the sites we stayed at.
The logs only getting heat from one side is the issue. With the logs being on top of the fire, the fire can reach around them and burn them more completely.
There’s probably a bit of an increase in burn time with the log cabin method, but it’s going to require more maintenance in the long run. The key to a good fire is to get a solid bed of coals built up quickly.
My experience with the log cabin method reduces the flame and smoke aspects of a bonfire, and keeps it at a steadier, more even burn rather than the quick, higher heat of larger fires. We mostly used it for cooking.
Again, I’m sure that with deeper knowledge of fires someone could get better results. But for consistently made fires that were good for cooking, and didn’t burn through fuel as quickly as a teepee fire would, the log cabin method was easiest to consistently reproduce. We’d usually cook using a Dutch oven, so coals were more important than flames, and high flames were often not allowed at the sites we stayed at.