Make Lump Charcoal at home.

[cleglue]

I've been discussing making lump charcoal on another forum. I was referred to the following website

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/makinglump.htm

I'm setup ready to fireup the barrel on Saturday if it doesn't rain. I'll let you know the results.

Here are my preparation pictures at

http://usera.imagecave.com/cleglue/Charcoal%2DMaking/

 

[Finney]

Looks like you're ready to go. Just don't be too dis-heartened when you see the amount of the finished product. Fun to do on occasion, but you'll probably go back to buying it. Reguardless... have fun.

 

[Greg Rempe]

The guys at BBQ GURU were devising a lump charcoal maker. I don't know when Shotgun Fred was going to bring it to market but he did mention it in the podcast I did with him. Cool idea!!

 

[Bobberqer]

The info from the guy on the other forum is that he gets >>>>16 gallons of loosely packed big pieces of wood made 9 gallons of lump.<<<<

he has a readily available supply of wood, as well... his only problem so far is that the inner barrel burnt out on him already, and he is getting another one to continue his efforts...

it's a bit time consuming, but with a vessel to do it in, like a Weber Kettle, any smoker, for a small time operation, it's well worth the effort... With alll the recent winds here in NY, I've collected loads of downed, good sized branches for my efforts

Good luck to ya Cle!!!

 

[Finney]

A gallon of wood?!?!?!?!

roflmao

 

[Bobberqer]

lol a gallon of wood ?? that's what I said ,, but he sent pics and it's in 5 gallon buckets.. go figure... he's making gallons of it everyday now 8-[

 

[cleglue]

Here are the results of my venture of making charcoal.

When I first opened the lid of the retort this morning I was a little disappointed in seeing brown on some of the charcoal. I wasn’t able to unload the retort until this afternoon. Upon unloading the retort only a small percentage of the charcoal had a little brown on them. I cracked a few brown pieces as well as all black pieces and the insides were fully black. I’ve updated my charcoal album.

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

The wheel barrow with the wood did not all fit in the retort. I had 2 five gallon buckets left. A full retort yielded a little less than three 5 gallon buckets of charcoal. The retort was 2/3 full of charcoal after the burn. The original wood was split the size of softballs and I hand load the retort.

 

[Greg Rempe]

So it was a success?? Looks good to me. I am getting to the bottom of a bag of store bought lump and it is a massive amount of smallish pieces! Were you happy with the results or not??

 

[Captain Morgan]

well, probably not fair to ask until he's cooked with it.

 

[cleglue]

I grilled some steaks tonight and used the charcoal that I made yesterday. It seems to work well. I'm planning on doing a brisket next Saturday if my schedule (honey-do-list) permits. I'll let you know how the charcoal worked.