Exactly. Cook until done. If not done, cook some more.

I've had to re-cook a batch or two. No big deal, and for some technques, char cloth that's not completely charred actually works better. If you're holding it with your thumb against the flint, you can blow it into flame by itself without other tinder.

As for the "pinhole", I'd advise making it at least finishing-nail size, and no larger than an eighth of an inch or so. The only caution I'm aware of is that you get a fair amount of pressure buildup in these things. With a tightly-fitting tin like a candy tin, the bottom (which is sitting on the coals) often heats and expands faster than the top, sealing it even tighter until it cools. I've gotten pretty impressive gas jets coming out of some of these (especially if it catches fire), and a couple of times I've enlarged the hole because I was afraid the thing might "pop" while it was cooking. That could get interesting- I envision small squares of flaming cotton scattered randomly over the surrounding area...

I was told, way back when, to blow the flame out if the gas jet caught fire. I don't know if it really makes any difference or not- hard to see how it could, unless the flame got inside the tin somehow- but I still do it.

Excellent point!

State job...

Yeah, "pinhole" was a poor choice of words - thought I corrected that later by saying 4dwt - 6dwt nail...

Haven't tried carmel colored cloth. The fully chared stuff sure loves a spark, though.

I have found that I also have trouble if I try to light the tinder by holding the sparlite like a lighter and flicking it with my thumb. When I hold the sparklite with my my thumb and middle and other fingers and strike with my index finger I get much better results. It usually only takes me a couple strikes to get the tinder lit this way.

As a sidenote, I prefer to use the dry outer bark of a grape vine as my fine material bewteen the tinder any whatever fuel I am working with. I make a nest of it and get it burning from the center out. It will become a smoldering hot ball of fire and light damn near everything I have messed with so far. This stuff also works great with charcloth.
I still mess with real flint and steel from time to time, just to make sure I can.

When I make charcloth, I generally let it go until the jet of gas catches fire and burns out on its own, then remove the tin from the fire and let it cool. It works for me. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I also use the method of holding the charcloth over the flint and then striking against it with the striker. Even the tiniest spark will catch on good charcloth with this method. When you are first starting out it might be good to add and extra peice of charcloth to your nest of fibers just to give you more fire than you need. It will speed your success. Once you get some practice in with this you won't need to do this anymore.