Cooking with small wood starts before lighting, but fuel preparation does not end when the first flame catches. A pile that was dry when you carried it outside can pick up water from a wet patio, a rinsed chopping board, or a splash from the washing-up bowl. On the Hillrein Zhengtu, protecting the next refill helps preserve the cooking rhythm you have already established.
The practical habit is to keep a protected reserve and bring out only a small working supply. This is about keeping dry fuel dry during the meal, not trying to season wet wood beside a hot stove.
Cooking with small wood: separate the reserve from the wet work
Before lighting, choose dry small pieces around 10 cm long that fit the chamber. Keep the reserve in a dry, weather-protected place away from the stove's heat, sparks, and operating area. Follow the stove instructions for clearances. Do not put the container against the stove or under the fuel opening simply because that makes refueling convenient.
Set a modest working supply on a dry surface away from ingredient rinsing and pot draining. Leave a clear route to the fuel opening and keep the fan intake unobstructed. A towel draped across a nearby wood pile is a poor substitute for a suitable storage location: loose fabric does not belong near the fire.
Give splashed pieces a separate place
If water reaches the working supply, separate those pieces from the protected reserve. Take the next refill from wood you know stayed dry. A quick wipe removes surface droplets; it does not establish that a piece is dry throughout. Put questionable pieces aside for proper drying and reassessment before another cook.
Do not lay wood on the stove body, over the chamber, or beside the exhaust to speed up drying. The cooking stove is not a fuel-drying rack. If weather makes the cooking position unsuitable, follow the operating instructions rather than moving the burning stove into an enclosed shelter.
Why the next refill changes a settled fire
Zhengtu uses fan-forced oxygen, annular air intake around the burn zone, and gasification combustion. Once the chamber is hot, it burns much of the wood gas that would otherwise escape as visible smoke. Wet fuel asks that hot chamber to deal with extra water while the pot is still asking for useful heat.
A low-smoke wood gasifier stove therefore depends on more than a successful first light. Dry refills, open airflow, and a warm chamber all matter. Startup and refueling can still create visible smoke; a protected fuel reserve does not make every addition smoke-free.
Use the dry reserve at the pace of the meal
For startup, use dry kindling and a modest first load with air spaces. Support the small fire with low-to-medium fan, let the chamber heat, and increase airflow gradually. During cooking, add suitable short pieces before the working fire collapses, without packing the chamber tight.
A fuller working load and about 80% fan suit strong wok cooking. An established soup or porridge simmer usually needs about 20% fan and one to two short dry pieces. Running at 100% is possible but consumes wood faster; it is not a reliable remedy for damp refills.
Pack away the unused fuel, not today's moisture
After the meal, return only dry, unused pieces to dry storage. Keep wood that was splashed separate. Never mix embers or partly burned hot fuel into the reserve. Continue supervising the stove through its shutdown and cooling routine.
The Hillrein Zhengtu stove can be a fuel efficient wood stove for long cooking sessions, with consumption below about 1 kg of dry wood per hour in suitable steady use. That is a practical estimate, not a guarantee: dryness, airflow, wind, cookware, and the cooking task change consumption. Keeping the next refill dry is one condition you can manage before the pot loses heat.