Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association Searches
March 27, 2007
HPBA
Building a better pellet stove **HPBA**
Albany Democrat Herald - Albany, OR
March 26, 2007
Alex Paul
Morsels. Fill your belly for a good cause **HPBA**
The Virginian-Pilot - Norfolk, VA
March 25, 2007
Web and wire reports
Pellet Fuels Institute
Fleishman-Hillard hires ex-Sen. Talent, ex-Rep. Luther **PFI**
The Hill - Washington, DC
March 26, 2007
Ian Swanson
Alternative Heating
Cumberland Stove Works Releases New Pellet Stove
Alternative Energy Retailer magazine - Oxford, CT
March 26, 2007
AER Staff
Building a better pellet stove **HPBA**
Albany Democrat Herald - Albany, OR
March 26, 2007
Alex Paul
FOSTER — Growing up at Trail’s End Ranch at the end of a narrow, winding gravel
road high above Foster Reservoir, Geoffrey Johnson learned to be creative with his
hands. Running into Sweet Home every time a nut or bolt was needed for a project just
wasn’t practical.
Over the last six years, Johnson, 61, has put that creative talent to the test, inventing what
he says is the next generation of pellet stoves — actually a combustion capsule and heat
convection system — he hopes will someday be used by major stove manufacturers, with
proper licensing, of course.
His efforts were recently recognized at the annual Hearth, Patio and Barbecue
Association show held in Reno, Nev. The SNQ-1 prototype stove, constructed in
Johnson’s home garage near Redmond, Wash., earned a first-place Vesta Award as the
best pellet stove or insert. The award is presented annually by Hearth and Home
Magazine.
The 1964 Sweet Home Union High School graduate said the impetus for the invention
came from his wife, Jean Hoxter, an interior designer who found several things she didn’t
like about the pellet stove in their home nn primarily, that it created a lot of dust.
“I kept complaining and finally said someone ought to invent a better stove,” Hoxter said
when the couple visited Johnson’s parents, Bill and Sara Johnson, on their way home
from Reno. “They are also noisy.”
Her husband has the mind of an inventor, Hoxter said. Several years ago, he invented a
tanning lotion for use with tanning beds. Johnson’s quest for a better stove began
breaking down the operation of conventional pellet stoves to their most basic parts. His
new stove shares only one element with conventional stoves, which is an auger to deliver
pellets to a flame.
“Conventional pellet stoves are noisy,” Johnson said. “That’s because they have at least
three motors nn one to power a combustion fan, one to power a convection fan and
another for the auger.”
Johnson’s stove uses just two motors, one to power an auger and another to blow air into
the combustion capsule. At the heart of the new stove is a glass combustion capsule that
allows air to enter from both the top and bottom. Pellets are dropped onto a screen, where
they are burned.
The stove’s airflow system creates both turbulent air and increased oxygen, Johnson said.
“The action keeps the pellets in constant motion, which results in virtually complete
combustion,” he said. “This increases the BTUs per pound of pellets and results in very
little ash.”
In conventional stoves, pellets travel down an angled tube. The tube can clog, allowing
fire to climb up the pellets into the storage hopper. Not so when the pellets are dropped
— almost shot — into the combustion capsule. If the capsule clogs, the flame goes out,
Johnson said.
Although results of tests being conducted at an independent laboratory in Portland aren’t
yet known, Johnson believes the new system will be at least 30 percent more efficient
than current models.
He said production model stoves can be made much smaller than his prototypes.
“This stove works because the whole thing is a heat exchanger,” Johnson said. “Yet it’s
cool to the touch so you don’t have to worry about children getting burned.”
Johnson said he has built six prototypes, including the model that was on display in Reno.
But he does not plan to get into the business of building stoves. He would like to license
his stove’s technology to other companies.
Pellet stoves are extremely popular in Europe. Johnson has applied for a patent that
would be recognized not only in the United States, but in 110 other countries worldwide.
Johnson said the stove is simple to build — so simple that American manufacturers
should be interested in it. “They should not have to buy any parts from China,” Johnson
said.
“We were very surprised to win the Vesta Award,” Hoxter said. “It said a lot about the
sponsors, that they are willing to recognize the little people among industry giants. They
really couldn’t ignore it, They hadn’t seen anything this original and creative in years.”
Morsels. Fill your belly for a good cause **HPBA**
The Virginian-Pilot - Norfolk, VA
March 25, 2007
Web and wire reporters
HELP PREVENT CHILD abuse Thursday between 6 and 10 p.m. by letting a local
celebrity serve you during the 25th annual Child Abuse Prevention Night. Participating
restaurants in Norfolk are Azalea Inn, Baker's Crust Ghent, Bodega and 456 Fish.
Virginia Beach: Aberdeen Barn, Croc's 19th Street Bistro, Gordon Biersch Brewery and
Restaurant, and Il Giardino Ristorante. Portsmouth: Roger Brown's Restaurant & Sports
Bar. Chesapeake: Rose Bay Seafood Restaurant. Suffolk: Pisces Restaurant.
The cutting edge
You might say the Edge Brownie Pan is about to turn a corner. It has been about a year
since former urban planner Matthew Griffin started selling his mazelike invention, which
delivers more crust per square inch to baked brownies than does a standard pan. A few
specialty retailers and plenty of online buzz have prompted positive reviews from
America's Test Kitchen, Fine Cooking magazine and newspapers. The smooth, rounded
channels of the 9-by-12-inch pan reduce the baking expanses. The premise is that chewy
edges are what brownie lovers want. The nonstick cast-aluminum pans are manufactured
by Nordicware and cost about $35, with spatula. www.bakersedge.com or
www.bakerscatalogue.com.
Books that cook
In one of the latest Southern cookbooks to hit shelves, author James Villas explores the
region in "The Glory of Southern Cooking" (Wiley, $34.95). Expect nearly 400 recipes,
from pimento cheese to Memphis-style barbecued baby back ribs, along with
explanations of regional cooking basics such as frying, making a roux and baking tender
biscuits.
Something new
Kyocera's new Wide Julienne Slicer, shown below, lets you cut fruit and vegetables like a
pro. Its ceramic blade is set in a lightweight mandoline designed to fit on top of bowls.
Hand guard included; dishwasher-safe. From $22.49 to $24.95; it's available at WilliamsSonoma stores and online at www.metrokitchen.com and www.ming.com
Almost homemade
To reach new heights in homemade flavor for boxed mixes, try gourmet cookie and
brownie blends from Jacques Torres Chocolate and King Arthur Flour. Of the three
mixes, we preferred the very rich French Kiss Cookie Mix. $12.95 to $14.99 each . Order
online at www.bakerscatalogue.com.
- From Web and wire reports
Chocolate added
Quaker has added a little chocolate to Life cereal (the box front says "Made With Real
Chocolate") and called it Life Chocolate Oat Crunch. The semisweet chocolate is
combined with rolled oats (and rolled wheat) to make "chocolate flavored oat clusters."
There aren't all that many, so don't expect a huge chocolate rush.
Eggsactly
As Easter approaches, keep these egg safety factors in mind.
n\ Store raw eggs in the refrigerator below 40°F to maintain their freshness; store eggs in
their original cartons to avoid absorbing refrigerator odors, for three to five weeks from
the time they are purchased.
n\ Store hard-cooked eggs in the refrigerator safely for up to a week.
n\Cook eggs so that both the yolk and white are firm; any dishes containing eggs should
be cooked to an internal temperature of 160º F.
n\Cooked eggs should not sit out for more than two hours; after that the eggs should be
discarded.
Are you freezing?
Foods frozen in smaller quantities will freeze faster than foods frozen in larger quantities,
helping to prevent a buildup of large ice crystals, says Susie Theodorou in her new book,
"Can I Freeze It? How to Use the Most Versatile Appliance in Your Kitchen."
Some more tidbits from the book:
n\Use shallow containers with a wide surface area relative to depth. This will enable food
to freeze quickly all the way through.
n\It is important to cool food completely to room temperature before freezing. Placing hot
foods in the freezer will raise its temperature, slowing down the freezing time and
possibly thawing other foods, and the centers of the foods may not freeze quickly enough
to prevent spoilage.
What's new
If you are looking for a new grill this season, expect to see set-ups with multiple burners.
According to the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association, the love for grills is growing,
and, apparently, consumers say the more burners the better. Grills with more than one
burner, allowing cooks to grill meats, veggies and other items at the same time, but at
various temperatures, are the latest trend.
Fleishman-Hillard hires ex-Sen. Talent, ex-Rep. Luther **PFI**
The Hill - Washington, DC
March 26, 2007
Ian Swanson
Fleishman-Hillard is known primarily as a public affairs and communications company,
but it is beefing up its government-relations business in Washington in hopes of
becoming more of a one-stop shop for clients that also want help with lobbying.
During the last two weeks, the group has announced two high-profile hires at FleishmanHillard Government Relations (FHGR), a subsidiary of Fleishman-Hillard International
Communications, one of the world’s largest public-relations firms. Former Sen. Jim
Talent (R-Mo.) joined the firm as a co-chairman last week, and former Rep. Bill Luther
(D-Minn.) was hired as a senior vice president the previous week.
The two join former Rep. Max Sandlin (D-Texas), who was hired as a co-chairman in
November. Fleishman-Hillard now has more former members of Congress on staff than
ever before. The changes come on the heels of a short period when the group did not have
any former members in its organization.
It’s not the end of the group’s hiring, according to Paul Johnson, Fleishman-Hillard’s
vice chairman of global growth and president of public affairs. “In the next year, we plan
on being very aggressive,” Johnson said. “We’ll look to get talent from our competitors
in the marketplace.”
Sandlin came to FHGR to lead the government-relations team and recruit “the best of the
best.” He worked to bring Talent and Luther on board, and said FHGR intends to grow
“by adding the best talent, and some of that talent is in former members of the House and
Senate.”
Also on FHGR’s staff are Senior Vice President Paul Sweet, a former chief of staff to
Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Calif.) and a senior staffer on the Gore-Lieberman campaign, and Vice
President Michael McSherry, a former deputy political director for the National
Republican Senatorial Committee.
Johnson said client demand has driven Fleishman-Hillard’s new emphasis on the
government-relations part of its business. Traditionally, companies and other
organizations have hired public-affairs teams to handle that business while separate firms
handle lobbying, Johnson said.
“If you were working for the PR arm, they didn’t want you to be the lobbying firm,”
Johnson said of the traditional approach. “In the last five years, those walls have been
broken down.”
Increasingly, Johnson said clients that hire Fleishman-Hillard for public-affairs work,
whether it involves a new media campaign or grassroots organization, also are interested
in hiring the firm to lobby for it in Washington.
For example, Fleishman-Hillard worked in 2005 and 2006 with the Coalition for
Asbestos Reform to lobby against asbestos legislation that would have created a 30-year,
$140 billion trust fund to resolve claims outside the tort system by mandating a new
corporate tax. Small and medium-sized businesses formed the coalition and hired
Fleishman-Hillard to create a focused advertising campaign, to promote the group’s
message with the media and to lobby members of Congress directly.
Despite support from the White House and the National Association of Manufacturers,
the bill died in the Senate after falling two votes short of breaking a filibuster.
The recent hires also fit into the group’s plans to integrate Washington work with
business in its secondary markets. That includes St. Louis, the group’s corporate home,
where Talent, a longtime Missouri politician who was elected to the state House at age
28, will spend much of his time.
Johnson said Luther, who served almost 20 years in the Minnesota state House and
Senate before his election to Congress in 1994, will spend half of his time in
Minneapolis. Johnson Fleishman-Hillard hopes to duplicate this approach in other states,
including California, Texas and Florida.
The goal is to help clients that need lobbyists who can open doors and monitor issues in
Washington, and have local connections with state government officials, Johnson said.
Talent, who was defeated for reelection in 2006, will have to wait for a one-year coolingoff period to end before lobbying. Luther was defeated in his reelection bid in 2002 after
serving four terms in Congress.
Sandlin, who has been out of Congress since 2005, is registered to lobby for the National
Association of Broadcasters, as well as Stonewater Controls and the Pellet Fuels Institute,
according to Senate records.
Cumberland Stove Works Releases New Pellet Stove
Alternative Energy Retailer magazine - Oxford, CT
March 26, 2007
AER Staff
Cumberland, Wis.-based Cumberland Stove Works, a division of Ardisam Inc., has
released the MF 3500 multi-fuel pellet stove.
According to the company, the new, efficient stove includes a circulating air filter, an
automatic door latch adjustment, a gravity seal ash pan and fuel-burning technology that
reduces the amount of carbon monoxide produced by the stove during shutdown. In
addition, the stove's automatic Tri-X controller allows its users to choose which type of
fuel they wish to burn.