Charcoal burning: anyone done it?

A lot of reenactment level work is about learning appropriate historical crafts and skills. This board is for all general skills that don't have their own forum.

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Elleth
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Charcoal burning: anyone done it?

Post by Elleth »

Particularly, the art of making charcoal from wood - basically the same thing we do with our little charring tins, but on a bonfire scale.
I've read about it of course, and looked at videos as well: Tales from the Green Valley has a wonderful presentation of the process.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=964WDzOyrks

... but I've got a few more questions for someone who's actually done it.
Anyone been there, or know anyone who has?

Thanks!
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Taylor Steiner
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Re: Charcoal burning: anyone done it?

Post by Taylor Steiner »

Fascinating!
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SierraStrider
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Re: Charcoal burning: anyone done it?

Post by SierraStrider »

I've done a bit, but plan to do a BUNCH coming up now that the first rains have fallen here in CA.

Here's an interesting video. It doesn't necessarily show much different than the video you already posted, but it's a good resource. For those not familiar with this youtube channel, turning on subtitles gives information on what he's doing.

Cody's Lab also did a video recently where he showed that simply burning wood in a shallow, conical pit until there's no more flame and then dousing it is surrprisingly efficient and effective. He was coming at it more from a biochar fertilizer/filter perspective than a fuel perspective, though.
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Elleth
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Re: Charcoal burning: anyone done it?

Post by Elleth »

VERY COOL - thank you for that other link!

.... you mention rain. If rain comes while the burn is underway, does that affect things? Or since its all sealed up anyhow, does it not matter?
Is there any rule of thumb for how long a burn takes - and how long does a mound after the fire's done for that much mass to come back down to a temperature you can open it?

Thank you!
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SierraStrider
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Re: Charcoal burning: anyone done it?

Post by SierraStrider »

I don't think there are any real rules of thumb on "X minutes per pound" or anything like that; it would be so dependent on surface area of the sticks, total volume of the pile, etc.

That said, the pile should give pretty good indications; if you use the Primitive Technology method, you wait until it's burned downward, so that the fire reaches the bottom vents. As the fire reaches each vent, plug that vent with mud.

Once all the vents are plugged, cap the top vent. Leave it sealed until the mound is cool--again, no idea what timeframe that would be.

I don't know about making charcoal in the rain, but I wouldn't have tried it before the rain had started here, simply for fear of errant sparks setting the entire state on fire. Last week our neighbor's pasture caught and if the wind had been blowing differently our house might've burned. It's red alert here until the winter rains come.
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Peter Remling
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Re: Charcoal burning: anyone done it?

Post by Peter Remling »

Both videos were excellent

Judging by the burn time and then the time to cool, I'd estimate at least a week before you can open it up and remove the charcoal. I'd probably err on the side of 2 weeks just to make sure there are no live coals, otherwise it will relight and you'll loose everything you worked for.
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