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DIY Charcoal

Started by metalspinner, February 15, 2012, 06:54:08 PM

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metalspinner

I'm not sure the best place for this discussion...

Charcoal is getting expensive.  We usually buy Kingsford briquettes because they reliably start and burn.  But the "big" bag is pushing $10 now.  Sometimes Lowes might have a buy one get one free, but that is rare.

The last bag I picked up was Royal Oak Natural Charcoal.  This appears to simply be fired wood that's been snuffed out, filtered and bagged.  My burgers are grilling over the coals as I type this. ;D  So it got me to thinking...

I have plenty of hardwood -  just about any Appalachian hardwood, an outdoor firepit, a match, a bucket of water, and a solar kiln.

Is it more complicated than this?  This sounds like an interesting Saturday morning project.  What do you guys think?
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Mooseherder

I have been buying the bags of oak and hickory firewood at the store to use on the grill.
A five dollar bag lasts twice as long as a ten dollar bag of charcoal.
I split them into 2 inch slices and use my radial arm saw to cut them into chunks.
Use a little charcoal to start and when the coals are ready put the wood on top.
Cooks great! :)

metalspinner

Mooseherder,
I've got so much scrap around, your plan has crossed my mind, too. 

Using a charcoal chimney got these bagged natural coals fired up really fast - under 10 minutes. My usual process is to light briquettes then make my patties in the 20 minutes it takes them to get briquettes going. But tonight, I almost got in trouble because the natural coals were ready to go in under 10 minutes.

The burgers were pretty tasty cooked over the natural coals, BTW. food6  I did notice the fire was not as hot as usual.

I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

zopi

making charcoal is stupid easy...getcha a fifty five gallon drum...cut both ends out and set it up on blocks where a fire can be built under it..think of the barrel as a chimney..poke four holes in the lower third of the barrel...run two pieces of heavy rebar through..this is to the 20 or 25 gallon grease drum on...you need one with a close fitting top. poke about a dozen sixteen penny nail holes in the lid of the little barrel..pack the little barrel about half full of hardwood chunks..no bigger than two by two or so..little chunks convert easier...flip this mess upside down, and lower it onto the rebar in the big barrel...now build a nice hot fire under the big barrel and let her sit...pretty soon you will see jets of steam out of the nail holes which will soon catch fire as the woodgas comes out of the wood..if all works well, these jets will self sustain and burn until the wood is charcoal.  let it burn out and cool to ambient without disturbing the retort..if you have a coal in the retort and oxygen hits it your whole batch will go up quick...once it has cooled, flip the little barrel over and sort your charcoal..any still woody chunks need to go back through, although I am not too picky about it. I made about thirty gallons of softwood charcoal last week for the foundry...need to make a batch of white oak charcoal..am feeling bbqish..
Got Wood?
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And lots of junk.

metalspinner

Thanks, Zopi.  I just noticed your mention of making charcoal in your "foundry" post.

As with most of my wonderings, though, things are a bit more complicated than I originally thought. :D

Check this guy out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHiyOP0PqMY&feature=related

At some point in the video, he's smoking a cigarette.  Seems kinda strange - like giving a drowning man a glass of water. ::)
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Norm

Well I'm the lazy kind and buy lump by the pallet.  :D

Looking forward to what you come up with Chis.

gspren

Quote from: zopi on February 15, 2012, 08:12:30 PM
making charcoal is stupid easy...getcha a fifty five gallon drum...cut both ends out and set it up on blocks where a fire can be built under it..think of the barrel as a chimney..poke four holes in the lower third of the barrel...run two pieces of heavy rebar through..this is to the 20 or 25 gallon grease drum on...you need one with a close fitting top. poke about a dozen sixteen penny nail holes in the lid of the little barrel..pack the little barrel about half full of hardwood chunks..no bigger than two by two or so..little chunks convert easier...flip this mess upside down, and lower it onto the rebar in the big barrel...now build a nice hot fire under the big barrel and let her sit...pretty soon you will see jets of steam out of the nail holes which will soon catch fire as the woodgas comes out of the wood..if all works well, these jets will self sustain and burn until the wood is charcoal.  let it burn out and cool to ambient without disturbing the retort..if you have a coal in the retort and oxygen hits it your whole batch will go up quick...once it has cooled, flip the little barrel over and sort your charcoal..any still woody chunks need to go back through, although I am not too picky about it. I made about thirty gallons of softwood charcoal last week for the foundry...need to make a batch of white oak charcoal..am feeling bbqish..

  I am trying to picture exactly how you do this and it sounds like the nail holes will be on the bottom of the small barrel while burning so how can you see it? Maybe I am missing something.
Stihl 041, 044 & 261, Kubota 400 RTV, Kubota BX 2670, Ferris Zero turn

paul case

Here is an old thread about making charcoal that is well worth the read, it even has a video and some detailed instructions. PC https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,17666.0.html
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
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sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

Al_Smith

If you have a slash/burn pile after you've burned a bunch of brush just dig through the ashes .You'll find enough charcoal to last you for a while . Pile the big pieces of whatever you want to coal up on the bottom of the pile and light off the brush .If it gets enough ash coverage you'll get plenty of coal .If not a majority of it will burn up .Lazy mans method .

Burlkraft

I just burned a 3 year accumliation of tops, some slabs and a bunch of stumps. We had have Oak Wilt pretty bad and I've had a few die.
Some of them stumps have been burned 3 or 4 times now. They are all oak so I have been makin' a harvest after each burn.
There's a lot a charcoal in them stumps yet.
Why not just 1 pain free day?

SPIKER

I saved a lot when I make syrup as I get 25 or 30 gallons a day and make a fire to give the NEW collected sap once prior to storing it for a day or two.   I burn good wood on somewhat closed up fire pit with the pan on top.   I get the batch going a real good boil after work I usually run out of time/daylight.   so often put out the fire with a bucket of water leaving 2/3 full fire pit of chard wood & charcoal.   close up the sap, and cover over the pit (sometimes it re-ignites even covered over & burns back to all charcoal or ash... :( )

I keep out a lot of the big natural charcoal hunks for summer BBQ.   I like to BBQ on wood fire as much if not more than charcoal anyway but still have about 3 5 gallon buckets left from last year...

mark
I'm looking for help all the shrinks have given up on me :o

Mooseherder

I'm thinking kiln dried wood chunks for cooking may be less work and actually better than charcoal.  Just a theory I'm leaning towards. :D

WDH

That is what Tom would do.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Mooseherder

He sure knew what was good.  The flavor of a good steak on a hot oak wood fire is something worth raving about. :)

WDH

He sure did.  I miss him.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Dodgy Loner

I had a dream about Tom last night. I only met him in person once, bet he certainly made a lasting impression on me. I miss him too :'(
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

Dodgy Loner

Quote from: Mooseherder on February 15, 2012, 07:04:45 PM
I have been buying the bags of oak and hickory firewood at the store to use on the grill. A five dollar bag lasts twice as long as a ten dollar bag of charcoal.

Mooseherder, I just wanted to let you know that I tried your idea tonight, and it worked great! I'm in the middle of building a bed out of QSWO for my wife, so I just grabbed some appropriately-sized chucks from the scrap barrel and grilled a meal of chicken breast, steamed veggies, and garlic toast. It was a little different than cooking on charcoal, but I'm sure with a little practice I'll get good at it. Sure beats just burning all my white oak scraps on the campfire!
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

WDH

If I burned scraps from my workshop, I could save a fortune  :).
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Mooseherder

I wish we lived closer to you guys.  I'd buy your scraps. :D
We cooked some smoked sausage and burgers tonight over wood chunks I had cut.  They were good. :)

WDH

Stop by on your next road trip and I will fix you up. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Mooseherder

Sounds like a great plan.  :)

LeeB

I prefer wood over charcoal myself.If I don't have enough scraps from the shop, I just split down a couple of sticks of firewood. When I do use charcoal, it's a local made lump charcoal made just up the road a couple of miles.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

Dodgy Loner

The food smelled amazing after cooking it on the oak fire. Mmm, rich, smoky, delicious. I may have to grill another meal tonight. I should have enough scrap wood from this project to last me through the year :D
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

WDH

This project should fatten you up  :D.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Dodgy Loner

Yep, I may actually have an incentive to build something with hickory now - just for the scraps :D

I did have grilled hamburgers tonight. Delicious :)
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

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