Making your own charcoal

2007-04-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

1. Using a drill or chisel, prepare a 50 gal drum by making five 2
inch holes in one end. The other end should have an airtight lid.

2. Position the drum, open end upwards, on three bricks to allow an
air flow to the holes in the base.

3. Place paper, kindling and burnt ends (incompletely charred butts
from the last burn) into the bottom of the drum and light.

4. Once it is burning well, load your favorite hardwood at random to
allow air spaces until the drum is completely full. Keep the pieces to
a fairly even diameter but put any larger ones to the bottom where
they will be subjected to a longer burning.

5. When the fire is hot and will clearly not go out, restrict the air
access around the base by using dirt placed against it, but leaving
one 4 inch gap. Also place the lid on top, leaving a small gap at one
side for smoke to exit.

6. Dense white smoke will be seen during the charring process. When
this visibly slows, bang the drum to settle the wood down, creating
more white smoke.

7. When the smoke turns from white (mainly water being driven off) to
thin blue (charcoal starting to burn) stop the burn by first closing
off all air access to the base using more dirt, and secondly by
placing the lid firmly on and making it airtight. The burn will take
between three and four hours.

8. After cooling for about 24 hours, the drum can be tipped over and
the charcoal emptied out onto a sheet for grading and packing.

cooking with charcoal

Making your own charcoal