A few words about the Kuuma stove. This stove is our best friend. This sauna stove is 400 lbs., and has been designed and refined over 3 generations of Lamppa sauna builders. The Kuuma stove burns super efficiently. Because of the efficient burn, when the stove is tuned properly, we need to use less wood than with other sauna stoves, while producing maximum heat. Lighting the Kuuma Stove. It is important that the firebox if free from ash. Use the ash rake to pull all ash to the front and down the air chambers into ash pan below. Empty the ash pan. Ash can smolder for hours, sometimes days, so be extra careful when disposing ash. Dispose ash in a non combustible receptacle vs. a standard garbage can. Start a fire. Keep Ash pan … [Read more...]
What is the best exfoliant to use as part of your sauna session? The answer may surprise you
In many cultures throughout history, sauna (and other forms of sweat bathing) has always been an enjoyable practice, yet it has also been a critical practice for hygiene: getting clean. Those that have saunas at their lake cabins, cottages or rural farms understand this experientially (meaning: "hell yea, you never feel cleaner!"). Whether cutting brush, building fences, digging an outhouse, we finish the day with dirt and sweat behind our ears and everywhere else. The mere process of sauna bathing (sweating, clean rinsing, sweating again, clean rinsing again) does an exceptional job of cleaning our skin, miles better than soaps and any other products found at Walgreens. We know this, so what's the best exfoliant treatment as part … [Read more...]
Does your electric sauna stove dial go to 11? Controlling the heat for better steam
Those familiar with saunas only in health clubs or hotels may wonder why there's a dial on the sauna stove control panel. The dial is always cranked to the max. And often, it's still not hot enough. SECRET: Most commercial sauna stoves installed in the US have a "governor" on them. Safety first!: It's against the law to have a hot room hotter than 165 degrees f. Clever health club regulars try to work around this by tossing a little water on the control sensor "tricking" the sensor to think that the sauna hot room is cooler than it really is, so the controller tells the stove to "get going!" Yet, often, even this trick doesn't always get the sauna stove rocking. Poor stove. Cranking it out all day everyday, like the little … [Read more...]
Is your sauna stove benefitting from intermittent fasting?
We've all been there: "should I toss on another log?" Is there enough fuel in the firebox? Is the sauna hot enough? Those of us who have taken a lot of saunas often stand in front of our saunas and hesitate before throwing in a log, just to throw in a log. We have learned that: Our sauna stoves don't need perpetual stoking. Once the heat chamber is "up to temp," we can damper down our stoves, idling at a spot of efficient burn rate. (gasification). No excess wood: only enough to get the firebox hot and give us enough fuel for our complete sauna session. This is like our bodies: we perform best not too full, and not too hungry. For our sauna stoves, this means burning well and hungry for wood. Before adding a log, we pull the … [Read more...]
With sauna, the cool down is as important as the heat up
You know that feeling when we mistakenly step into a freezing cold shower? "yowwwwwwwwwww!!!!" and we jump back in terror "Omg, that's so coooolllllld!!!" Well, here's a little secret: we sauna enthusiasts seek out that feeling. We are like crack heads for that adrenaline rush. After experiencing this feeling over and over, we are able to unpack what is actually happening, in a weird, rational kind of way. Conventional sequence from contact with cold water: Skin: "cold water, man! I'll go tell the brain to get our muscles to react, fast!" Brain: "shit, the skin down there just told us that there's fucking cold water hitting the body. Time for conditional response! sending an outpouring of stress hormones right now. Hey … [Read more...]
When bringing beverages to your next sauna party should it be in cans or glass?
Always, ALWAYS bring beverages in can containers to sauna gatherings. Never, NEVER bring beverages in glass containers to sauna gatherings. Same with boats. Same on the dock. It only takes one yahoo to knock over a glass bottle and smash. And glass fragments end up everywhere, including embedded in bare feet. Serious and immediate buzz kill to an awesome sauna party. BONUS: Transfer beverage of choice into a glass made entirely out of ice, and now you've got somethin'! (Especially after jumping through a hole in the ice). … [Read more...]
Is it better to take a sauna on an empty stomach or a full stomach?
The answer to this one is easy: neither. We go to sauna like we go to the gym, or go cross country ski, or pick up hockey, or a bike ride: not hungry nor not full. If we sauna soon after eating: We don't feel good heating up. Our bodies get super confused. As our body temperature rises in the hot room, our heart rate goes up. A higher heart rate is due to the need to pump more blood through our system faster. Same process as with rigorous exercise. Soon after eating, our body needs to devote energy to digestion, not the stress of heat. We don't feel good cooling down. Because our bodies are stressed and confused, our cool downs suck. We may burp or reach for water in an attempt to stabilize ourselves. At this point, we may get … [Read more...]
When to leave the hot room? The answer is about the best line I’ve ever heard
QUESTION: "When should I leave the hot room?" ANSWER: "You should leave the hot room when the idea of jumping into an ice cold lake is about the best idea you've ever heard." WHY DO I LOVE THIS LINE? Meditative quality. The line offers a suggestion for the sauna bather to become more meditative and introspective, always a good thing while sitting in a sauna. Consciousness. The line offers an invitation for the sauna bather to look within themselves. We often look outside for answers to our questions, yet so often in life, the answer lies within, especially as we untangle the wires in our head while sitting in the sauna. Rubber band theory. The line offers an understanding that a good long hot round, followed by a … [Read more...]
The cool down as a function of time outside between sauna rounds
Sauna bathers understand the nonlinearity of a good sauna cool down. As the wind blows and steam billows, we have a grasp of how our bodies retain heat, even in sub freezing temperatures. Further, we understand that after a certain threshold of time, are bodies are fully cooled. We feel it, and at this point, we either towel off and get dressed, or head back into the sauna for another round. An expression of this understanding can be represented as: The vertical access (n) is heat. The horizontal access (f) is time. As we exit the hot room, and after we jump in a cold lake or dump cold water over our heads, are bodies are still plenty warm. And we remain so, nonlinearly. Even after a few minutes outside, our bodies still give … [Read more...]
Between sauna rounds: are you jackrabbiting or benefiting from the complete cool down?
With steam billowing off our bodies, JP, 612 Sauna Society, and Scott Pollock, American Swedish Institute, and I were discussing the virtues of completely cooling down our bodies between sauna rounds. "It's no wonder why some people don't like sauna. I feel bad for the people who go from the hot room, to outside, then right back in. Back and forth. Jackrabbing their sauna rounds." JP is right. Microbursts may work for two guys who built a $120mm company, but for most of us, our bodies become confused and it is easy to feel dizzy with many short sauna rounds. From the tundra in Alaska, to the Northern reaches of Scandinavia, enclaves of sauna enthusiasts all over understand how awesome it feels to exit the hot room when "the … [Read more...]