Charcoal Making: A Feasiblity Study

[tmjst]

So, over the weekend, I had nothing to cook, and so of course I started thinking about making a small batch of lump charcoal - maybe just enought for one cook, not enough to bother the neighbors (much) :thumb:

Step One: Pile the wood in the trusty Weber Kettle. It's a combination some kind of hardwood log and some scrap oak lumber from a woodworking project.


Step Two: Git 'er burning, a bit of smoke going


Step Three: Fully engulfed in flame. I used tong to move the chunks around to get them to burn as evenly as possible.


Step Four: When the flames die down a bit put on the lid and close the vents.
OH NO! Much nasty, yellowish smoke. The smoke barely shows up on the picture - it was pretty thick!


Step Five: Open the vents and let it burn for a while. When the smoke again starts to lessen, close the vents to extinguish the burn.


Step Six: TA DAA, home-made lump!


How'd it turn out?? Well, I think I was too impatient; I should have let it burn until more of the smoke was gone. The charcoal started quickly, but with smoke and flames instead of coals. I left it in the chimney starter for a while until the flames were mostly gone.

All in all, it worked OK, but the yield was very low - probably about 25% of the volume that I started with. But it was free, not especially difficult, and way more fun than mowing the lawn! Next time I'll leave the vents open until there's just some faint smoke.

 

[jeffboyette]

I just dont know if id waste the wood... Yield is low. Lump Coal is pretty cheap, i use the chunks on a good coal bed.

If i had raw hardwood, of the smoking kind. I believe i would use it as raw wood little harder to do on the kettle. But to each his own. Looks usable to me!

 

[1FUNVET]

Sounds like a good excuse to drink more beer :becky::becky:

 

[tmjst]

Sounds like a good excuse to drink more beer :becky::becky:

I can use the money I save on charcoal for beer! Sounds like a win to me. So far it's only about a half a beer, though.

 

[jeffboyette]

I put some more thought into it.... You would probably have less waste if you burned larger chunks, and break them into useable sized lump when they are done.

At the factory they provide high heat without the presence of oxygen. i wonder if getting a small bed of coals going, and put all your larger chunks on it, and shut off the vents all together

 

[tmjst]

You may well be right about the larger chunks. I think more wood on the pile might help as well.

I believe the key, though, is to cook off the volatile chemicals from the wood, leaving only the carbon. So uncooked wood in a closed kettle wouldn't cook off very well; I don't think you'd get enough time at temperature to do the trick.