Coffee fire log

My wife and I stopped at a store to grab some extras for our camping trip. She noticed a coffee fire log on clearance and bought the last one. We lit it after setting up camp. It burned great and smelled fantastic for several hours. Several weeks passed and I wondered how I would make my own using recycled materials. I found instructions for a simple one online and made it a few days ago. My prototype consisted of a disposable coffee cup, chopped wax, old coffee grounds, molasses and a cotton ball. I filled the coffee cup with equal parts coffee and wax. I then microwaved the mix in thirty second intervals, stirring after each run. Once thoroughly cooked and mixed it had cooked down by half. Then comes the mistake we’re I filled the cup with more coffee grounds and mixed. Seems like it would have worked much better if the ratio had been kept at equal parts. At this point I added couple tablespoons of molasses and stirred once again. Half a cotton ball coated with petroleum jelly was my starter. It burned for two hours and smelled like burnt coffee when hitting the areas of poorly blended ingredients. In the better mixed sections the burn was much cleaner with little smell. My next batch will be done differently. My
plan is too cook it in a pot and letting it thicken enough to dump it into a square of cardboard. Once moved into the proper ratios roll the cardboard and tie it with twine in the shape of a log. Pictured below, the prototype.

Are you burning the disposable coffee cup too?

Yes, but this was just a trial run. I won’t be going that route again.

This is a great idea.  I hope you will share you final product.

Here is a suggestion that I don't know if it will work or make the product any better.

Take a piece of 100% cotton cloth that you coat with wax.  Wrap the final product and tie with cotton string or twine.

You may find you have a sell-able product.

Best wishes!

I think that’s a fine idea Anne. The only reason I wanted it wrapped in cardboard was portability. I just want to be able to toss it in the car and take it to the mountains. I’ve also considered stuffing the contents in an old toilet paper roll. For home use leaving the coffee blob to dry and storing as is. I plan on trying all ideas!

Trial two: the coffee burrito.
Cooked it outside on a portable burner. I added way less coffee than before, and the same amount of molasses. It was a complete failure. I didn’t completely melt the first experiment that I did in the microwave and it burned pretty well. I can’t even get this one to stay lit. Phase three will be yet another variation.

I believe that I’ve settled on the best way to make coffee fire logs. Start by melting wax and used coffee grounds together. Once boiling dump the mix into a cardboard egg carton and let dry. When ready to use just light the egg carton and relax.

With the egg carton idea, you could break it apart to make individual fire lighter briquettes?

How do you ensure your used coffee grounds are dry to start with? Obviously they are damp when the come from the coffee machine.

Hi Michael. I have cardboard that I sprinkle the grounds on a few days before I make them. To keep it all from blowing away I put it in my grill with the lid slightly propped open.

What were the final ratios? 1:1 coffee grounds and what kind of wax? Did you keep the molasses?

I settled on 2/1 wax to coffee. Having more wax than coffee is a must. I don’t think molasses are a must though. I had read that they helped bind the grounds and coffee together better which I can’t tell makes any difference.
I happed to have some craft wax leftover from another project so that’s what I used. I think that any blend of wax would work as well though.
If you try this please post so I can see what you did. I imagine there are better ways to do it than I did.