timroy said: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.
Bruce B said: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.....
brian j said:yes, take pics.timroy said: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.
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.
[smilie=a_hrm.gif] Yeah........What SJ saidSmokey_Joe said: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.