Lump Charcoal Making

[bigwheel]

Go to Google and plug in this phrase "Dan Gill Charcoal"..leave out the quotation marks. I think you will get a get a few hits which might prove helpful.

bigwheel

 

[Finney]

The things neighbors with get upset about. :roll:

 

[john pen]

I have been making lump charcoal for the past 6 months. So far I have learned how to piss off my neighbors, melt my buried internet cable and create a back-draft large enough to remove most of my upper body hair.

Now thats funny, I don care where your from, that ther's funny......

When you do the 3 hour burn , how much air is allowed in ? If there's something that takes more effort than its worth, sounds like a project for me and a case of beer..

 

[Bruce B]

There was a pictorial somewhere on the web I seen once on making your own lump and it seemed rather labor intensive for the amount of lump that this guy got for one load, however, your mileage may vary.

$7 for 20lbs works just fine for me. I mean I realize it's not authentic lump charcoal but.....

 

[john pen]

It aint real Q' if you don't use your own lump !! (and foil of course)

 

[Nick Prochilo]

I agree with Bruce. I don't use enough of it for it to be a cost factor for me.

 

[Steve McMurtry]

sounds like a project for me and a case of beer.. and the fire department
[/quote]

 

[Greg Rempe]

Not to let any type of proverbial cat out of the bag, but the guys over at the BBQ Guru are devising a lump charcoal maker as we speak. Shotgun Fred has been working on it daily...

I have no idea what the cost would be...but you know it is going to be good when they bring it to market!

(Greg refuses to kiss advertiser ass...just stating the facts!)

 

[DATsBBQ]

There was a pictorial somewhere on the web I seen once on making your own lump and it seemed rather labor intensive for the amount of lump that this guy got for one load, however, your mileage may vary.

$7 for 20lbs works just fine for me. I mean I realize it's not authentic lump charcoal but.....

Here's the pictorial. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/makinglump.htm

Cowboy and BGE here are $20/20lb bag. Laz? at safeway $8/20#bag. Add the 8.16% sales tax.

 

[Kloset BBQR]

I am making charcoal this weekend and will get some photos.

I keep it simple and use a single barrel. Get a good fire started in the bottom, load it up with wood, add the lid and let it cook for 3 to 4 hrs. When the smoke changes color and density I close off all air vents and let the barrel cool. Next morning I dump out the charcoal and sort.

yes, take pics.

i tried the 2 barrel approach and had trouble getting my fire hot enough the first time and then the second time did not seal the barrel well enough and all my lump burned up.

I tried that once too and the damn barrell caught on fire! :x :roll:

 

[Finney]

Thanks for the pictorial. Interesting...
If I read that right, you end up with 1/3 as much charcoal as wood. That would be what I would expect.
Thanks again.

 

[Griff]

Indeed, that was interesting. Thanks

Griff

 

[Puff1]

Great pics!
One question. How long using that process would it take to get, say....a 20lb bag?
Just curious.

 

[Smokey_Joe]

2/3 ?

So guessing that a processed full cord of wood will produce about 26-30 cubic feet of lump?

Have you weighed 1/3 of the barrels size in wood BEFORE burning it? Because 1/3 of an average cord of seasoned wood weighs about 1,300 and 2,000 pounds.... http://www.daviddarling.info/encycloped ... _cord.html

The weight of the amount of wood you put in the barrel to start with is the key to the equation of Puff's question.

 

[Puff1]

2/3 ?

So guessing that a processed full cord of wood will produce about 26-30 cubic feet of lump?

Have you weighed 1/3 of the barrels size in wood BEFORE burning it? Because 1/3 of an average cord of seasoned wood weighs about 1,300 and 2,000 pounds.... http://www.daviddarling.info/encycloped ... _cord.html

The weight of the amount of wood you put in the barrel to start with is the key to the equation of Puff's question.

[smilie=a_hrm.gif] Yeah........What SJ said

 

[DATsBBQ]

Go PUFF! I don't care what they say

 

[cleglue]

You may not be able to tell by weight because some wood is denser than others. I get about three 5 gallons bucket on my retort system.

http://usera.imagecave.com/cleglue/Charcoal-Making/

http://usera.imagecave.com/cleglue/Charcoal-Making2/

timroy...I'm going to try your system.