I googled "Home Made Charcoal" and to my surprise, it appears people are
making charcoal.
Has any one tried this?
Is it worth doing?
Any how to's???

On Mar 13, 11:59 am, "Gizzard" wrote:
I googled "Home Made Charcoal" and to my surprise, it appears people are
making charcoal.
Has any one tried this?
Is it worth doing?
Any how to's???

I have access to a lot of wood, and it is easy to do. I don't do it,
because the highly compacted briquettes from Royal Oak burn a long
time and very evenly, and they are $6.49 for a 20# bag at Lowe's.
Couple that with a burn ban we have for most of the year, and it makes
homemade charcoal impractical.

The easiest way I have found to make charcoal is to put long, even
pieces of fairly seasoned wood (4" around - 24" long) in a steel drum
standing on its end. Light the fire, and let it get to roaring
stage. Put a tight fitting lid on it, and let it burn out. Depending
on how much wood you put in and how much you practice you can get a
great deal of charcoal this way.

The pieces aren't always charred all the way through, but this isn't a
problem as the resins and saps will be burned all the way out. Any
remaining uncharred wood will give your q a nice wood smoke flavor. I
only used oak, pecan, and mesquite, so I don't know anything about any
other woods.

Most of the old style custom knife and tool makers use homemade
charcoal since it has no additives to contaminate their forgings.

Here is more info than you can shake a stick at:

http://tinyurl.com/2zefrb

Robert

On Mar 13, 1:59 pm, "Gizzard" wrote:
I googled "Home Made Charcoal" and to my surprise, it appears people are
making charcoal.
Has any one tried this?
Is it worth doing?
Any how to's???

Not what you are looking for, but an observation...

When I use wood chunks in a cast iron pan over an electric skillet to
generate smoke, I cover it with a pie-pan that has a few holes punched
into it to prevent too much oxygen from getting in and causing an
actual flame. I noticed that the wood turns to charcoal in about 20
minutes, and the amount of smoke it gives off drops at that point. I
can take the cover off and burn it until it's ash (getting less smoke
from it) or dump it and put in some fresh wood. The low oxygen
environment is what changes it to charcoal. I'm new to it, but was
thinking that I should start saving these chunks for later use in the
grill, given the cost of charcoal. I intend to begin using larger
chunks to see if I get the same effect, and if so, I'll definitely
start collecting them rather than burning them to ash.

I'm not sure what's the best way to stop them at that point - dropping
them in some water or burying them in some sand. The moisture
shouldn't be a problem since it would be a while until I used the
charcoal.

I saw a show on the Discovery channel about difficult mid-evil jobs a
while back, and one of them was a charcoal maker. They would cut logs
and put them in a tight pile, then cover the pile with dirt except for
a hole at the very top. Then they would light the pile and let it
slowly burn over the course of a few days. It had to be closely
monitored because if a hole developed in the dirt, the pile would burn
to ash. Once it was finished, they would knock the pile over and
spread it out, then I think they buried the charcoal until it went
out.

--Jeff

On Mar 13, 3:40 pm, "
wrote:
http://tinyurl.com/2zefrb

Would you mind posting that full url for those of us interwebbing
behind enemy lines? that tinyrul site is blocked by my co.

Thanks,
--Jeff

On Mar 13, 1:44 pm, JeffH wrote:
On Mar 13, 3:40 pm, "
wrote:

http://tinyurl.com/2zefrb

Would you mind posting that full url for those of us interwebbing
behind enemy lines? that tinyrul site is blocked by my co.

Thanks,
--Jeff

No problem. But rather than to post all of the urls on the page, just
go to Google and just search "homemade charcoal".

I didn't see the drum method I talked about earlier, but that's the
way it has been done around here for a hundred years. I have seen it
for so long I think it is just one of those things that got passed
down from guy to guy.

Robert

"Gizzard" wrote:
I googled "Home Made Charcoal" and to my surprise, it appears people are
making charcoal.
Has any one tried this?
Is it worth doing?
Any how to's???

Giz, I think there's a section on making charcoal in the BBQ FAQ

http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/

Also might be something at http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ , A charcoal site.

HTH

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!
I've known US vets who served as far back as the Spanish American War. They
are all my heroes! Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not
forgotten. Thanks ! ! ~Semper Fi~

JeffH wrote:
On Mar 13, 3:40 pm, "

http://tinyurl.com/2zefrb

Would you mind posting that full url for those of us interwebbing
behind enemy lines? that tinyrul site is blocked by my co.

It's the first page you get when you Google on: homemade charcoal

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!
I've known US vets who served as far back as the Spanish American War. They
are all my heroes! Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not
forgotten. Thanks ! ! ~Semper Fi~

In alt.food.barbecue, Gizzard wrote:
I googled "Home Made Charcoal" and to my surprise, it appears people are
making charcoal.
Has any one tried this?
Is it worth doing?
Any how to's???

I made some, but I'll need to modify my technique to perfect it. I dumped
a chimney full of lump into my Weber Kettle, put several big hunks of
Hiclckory on top, and topped it off with some more lump. When th hckory
was burning well, I put the lid on and closed the vents.

It worked fairly well.


--
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
-- Bertrand Russel

"Gizzard" wrote in message
...
I googled "Home Made Charcoal" and to my surprise, it appears people are
making charcoal.
Has any one tried this?
Is it worth doing?
Any how to's???

I made it only once. I do use straight wood for grilling though, just let it
burn down to coals.

It is not hard to do if you have access to the wood and a drum with a lid.
Poke some holes, let it burn, put on the lid. Wait till cool.

Worth it? That is in the eye of the beholder. Certainly worth a try if for
no other reason than to say you did it.

Gizzard wrote:
I googled "Home Made Charcoal" and to my surprise, it appears people
are making charcoal.
Has any one tried this?
Is it worth doing?
Any how to's???

http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMI...20CHARCOAL.htm

"Shawn Martin" wrote:
Gizzard wrote:
I googled "Home Made Charcoal" and to my surprise, it appears people
are making charcoal.
Has any one tried this?
Is it worth doing?
Any how to's???

http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMI...20CHARCOAL.htm

Excellent, Shawn. We used to use coke in the forge.

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!
I've known US vets who served as far back as the Spanish American War. They
are all my heroes! Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not
forgotten. Thanks ! ! ~Semper Fi~

On 13-Mar-2008, JeffH wrote:

On Mar 13, 3:40 pm, "
wrote:
http://tinyurl.com/2zefrb

Would you mind posting that full url for those of us interwebbing
behind enemy lines? that tinyrul site is blocked by my co.

Thanks,
--Jeff

No problem Jeff. Just google for "Homemade Charcoal". That's what
that URL is really. You'll get the expected listing of articles.

--
Brick(Youth is wasted on young people)

Gizzard wrote:

I googled "Home Made Charcoal" and to my surprise, it appears people are
making charcoal.
Has any one tried this?
Is it worth doing?
Any how to's???


I have read a bit on it over the years. I don't live in an area where I
can do it. What I have learned and remembered is it can take a day or
or more to make a big pile of charcoal. Basically you need a huge
barrel with a tight fitting lid, lots of wood, let it burn down to
coals. I also remember that the barrel needs to be turned over, so you
will need some extra muscle to flip the barrel. You may need beer,
depending on your helps beverage preferences !!!

I can't do it where I live, but even if I could, I don't think it's
worth while. I don't have access to logs very often.

Here is a site of Home made pits.
http://www.ibiblio.org/lineback/bbq/wdh.htm
This brick one is my favorite. On the one side is a hearth, where he
burns logs to coals. On the other side is the bbq pit.

This is something I would like to make someday, but I think I would
eliminate the hearth and make a larger pit. Keep in mind though, he
includes a bill of materials and 10 years ago this was $700 to build.


Enjoy your research.

BBQ

"bbq" wrote in message
. ..
Basically you need a huge barrel with a tight fitting lid, lots of wood,
let it burn down to coals. I also remember that the barrel needs to be
turned over, so you will need some extra muscle to flip the barrel. You
may need beer, depending on your helps beverage preferences !!!

I can't do it where I live, but even if I could, I don't think it's worth
while. I don't have access to logs very often.

Here is some info from a while back



How to make Charcoal


Hello fellow smoker/bbq/grillers!



Here is the recipe, as requested, to make your own Lump Wood Charcoal
(thereby saving yourself tons of cash, and successfully robbing the
"Kingsford Mafia"..)

To make 30-40 lb of charcoal, you will need: ( yes, Jeff... more
equipment..) A clean 55 gallon metal drum with the lid cut off roughly (you
will be able to reuse this drum many, many times)



Enough seasoned wood to fill said drum, chopped into big fist-size pieces
(ok, say 5"x5", and the wood just needs to be a couple months seasoned,
although the dryer the wood, the faster the process..)



A bag of sand

3 or 4 bricks

A case of beer(optional)

Time and patience



Start by punching/cutting 5 holes in the bottom of the drum which are each
2" square. Try to keep them towards the center. Put the drum down on the
bricks, placed so it is off the ground and fill it with the wood.



Start a fire in the drum. When it is going well, put the top back on to
reflect back the heat. Since it was cut off roughly, there will be slight
gaps to allow the a draft. Now, turn the whole thing over, placing it back
onto the bricks. (This is where you might need the case of beer to convince
several men to help you lift the sucker. It will be heavy. And mind the lid
doesn't fall off!) Wait, consuming the beer as necessary.



The smoke will start out white. This is the water vapor burning off. Next
the smoke will go blue/gray which is the alcohol and phenols burning off.
Then the smoke appears yellow, which is the tar burning off.



Finally the smoke will clear and you will just see waves of heat. When this
happens, Carefully remove the bricks out from underneath. Take the sand and
make a pile around the bottom lid, plugging up the bottom draft. Also, cover
the top with either a piece of turf or a large piece of metal. Use the sand
to seal around the turf/metal so no air can get into the drum. We are trying
for a closed system here. If air/oxygen/fire-fuel DOES get into the drum,
the charcoal will just burn up. Not what we want. Also, try not to let the
sand fall down into the drum through the holes.



Allow the drum to cool (2-3 hours). Then turn back over, pry off the top and
remove your charcoal. If there is a spark, the charcoal may "catch", but
just douse it with some water. The charcoal will still be hot enough to dry
out. Repeat above process as necessary.



Thanks to my Bodger brother-in-law, Don Whiting, who taught me how to do
this.



(P.S. A "bodger" is a pole-lathe wood turner. He makes nifty besoms as
well...)

Best of luck to you all with the above process.



Hogs and quiches from Cheshire (by way of Palm Desert!)

Belinda

=?iso-8859-1?B?VEZNrg==?= TFM@ttack wrote:
wrote in message
On Mar 13, 1:44 pm, JeffH wrote:
On Mar 13, 3:40 pm, "
[ . . . ]
Try Googling "charcoal retort" for some interesting reading.

http://64.176.180.203/charcoalretort.htm is my favorite.

Great read and method, TFM®. I don't think I could get away with that in
NH, but will definitely give it a shot when I move to Texas or Thailand.
Thanks.

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!
I've known US vets who served as far back as the Spanish American War. They
are all my heroes! Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not
forgotten. Thanks ! ! ~Semper Fi~