Homemade hardwood charcoal.

[maf58d]

Been looking to make my own charcoal for awhile now.
Finally rounded up all the materials i needed to build it, (as in salvage, no cost.)
For the base I used an old tractor/trailer 22.5 rim, it is the right size for a barrel to fit just inside the lip.
I cut a section out to feed in the fuel wood, and welded some rebar in for the charcoal chamber to sit on.
For the barrel I just cut off the bottom to make a retainer sleeve for the fuel wood and its heat.
For the charcoal chamber I used an old 40 gal. water heater, cut an 11 inch band out, then cut 1/2 inch out of the band to weld it back inside the radius to make an overlap fit for the top.
I then used the water in and out connections to put to a pipe that feeds volatile vapors back to the fire under the chamber.
All that was left then was to close up any other holes to the chamber and it was ready to try out.
Worked very well and I'm well pleased with the result.
Here are a few pictures of my "cooker" and the charcoal.
Did not have my camera with me during building or firing, sorry bout that.

 

[JohnSand]

I love home brewers.

 

[Jaybird]

That is so cool! Well done. How long did it take to MAKE the charcoal and what kind of wood is it?

Cheers
Jay

 

[schematix]

This looks like a really cool project.

For those of us who have never made our own charcoal, can you explain the process in a little more detail?

Also, what kind of yield do you get? How long does it take?

 

[Homercidal]

Is the process like making Char Cloth? I've done that on the grill using cut up jeans in an Altoids tin.

IIRC Henry Ford developed the first Charcoal plant to get sell unusable wood from this auto plant way back when. I'd have to look that up to be sure.

Correction: Not the first. But Kingsford made charcoal in a plant built by Ford and owned by a relative named Kingsford.

 

[maf58d]

I used Black Cherry and Pecan in this batch because they are my favorite smoking woods, and I had stock piled way more than I needed for smoking.

You want to load the kiln with seasoned hardwood, no bigger across than 2 inches, so as to get it charred all the way through. I used mostly the Black Cherry because it splits easy and the Pecan is a pain to split.

Start with kindling and smaller feeder wood under and around the kiln, (space between kiln and barrel.) to get a good fire going easily, and keep feeding it to keep it hot as you can. I had the barrel and part of the wheel rim glowing orange most of the time, I kept that up for about 3 hrs, went to bed, made pictures next morning.

What you are doing is heating the wood high enough to drive out all moisture and gases so you only have the charcoal left, but doing it with no air (oxygen) so it cannot combust or burn.

I have not weighed the batch but this chamber is big enough to make a big amount. I estimate 30 to 40 pounds finished.

Yes, heating cloth in a closed tin would be the same process. Some years ago, my Wife was going to surprise me by her cooking some brats on the smoker grill, got it going in grill mode, put on the brats, and got busy doing other things, with the lid down on full choke. That is the only time in 33 years I have flat not been able to eat her "cooking". Brats can be turned into pure charcoal.

 

[smurfjuice]

Very nice set up ... now you got me thinkin'

 

[Transamguy77]

That is awesome!

 

[Chomp]

I like beer and all.. But that may be the coolest thing I've ever seen on HBT

 

[Paps]

Interesting for sure.

 

[maf58d]

Thanks for all the nice post replies.
Got to use some of my first batch, made at home charcoal Sunday for Mother's day.
Some of the wood from the middle was not charred all the way. I used it as my smoking wood, (some Black Cherry). Worked well, but next batch will need to be split narrower or heated longer.
On the smoker Sunday was 3 racks of Baby Back Ribs, (12.5 lb) and two, 10.5 lb Turkeys. Came out very good.

 

[Staestc]

That's just too cool! Well done!

 

[Double_D]

I want to know more about that smoker set up you have there. Is that homemade too?

 

[Dixon9717]

Very impressive. Awesome job. I wish you was my neighbor.

 

[maf58d]

Thanks again for the compliments.
Yes, my smoker is homemade. The main body is a salvaged Themoking Reefer fuel tank, I think it was a 100 gal.
The fire boxes are a pair of 40 gal. water heater tanks.
The "oven" door, another panel on the back and the heat diffusers over the fire boxes are salvaged stainless steel sheets from an old store cooler box.
The wheels are from Harbor Freight and the stainless cooking grates were ordered by there size to fit my smoker, it took 4 grates, each measuring 11.75 inches x 17.25 inches.
I also used 3, 3 inch river country BBQ thermometers and am very happy with there readings.

 

[Double_D]

That thing is awesome!

 

[maf58d]

Hoping we get enough rain tonight so as to make some charcoal this weekend. We have had virtually no rain for two months plus and have been under a burn ban. I have a couple of turkeys to smoke for Thanksgiving day, and am out of charcoal. If I can make some, I will try to remember to take some pictures of it.

 

[maf58d]

Did not get the rain.
Had a pass through shower for a total of .04 of an inch.
Looks like I will be buying charcoal one more time.

 

[wishingiwasfishing]

Nice! We've been making our charcoal too...never seem to make enough between my Weber Kettle and my Smoker

 

[maf58d]

Some rain has come through and I should soon be able to make some more charcoal. I have cut and split some Oak, and have it loaded in kiln to fire up when I get enough time.
On Thanksgiving, I smoked two turkeys on the smoker/grill I made for my son. I had to use store bought charcoal for them.

 

[maf58d]

Had the time to make some on Tuesday the 6th.
!st and 2nd pictures during burn off. Also showing wood for next batch in wheelbarrow ready for next batch. (With Dunkelfest Lager for refreshment sitting on it.)
3rd and 4th pictures on Wednesday after it was finished.
Started fire at 11:30, had good heat by noon.
Stopped stoking it at 4:00, high heat done at 4:30.
This batch fully charcoaled all the way.
May finish in less time, I will try to shorten burn time on next batch.

 

[maf58d]

Had a nice day, getting lots of chores done. Took a break to set up and load wood for next round. ( Did not make time to fire it off yet.)

 

[maf58d]

Saturday evening, I cooked off a batch of charcoal that I had loaded in previous post.
1st picture shortly after starting.
2nd is while it was gassing off vapors, adding to flame and heat.
3rd is taken Sunday, finished and cooled, showing how much it had shrank from its original loaded size.

 

[maf58d]

One more time, made another batch on Tuesday.
#1, loaded up.
#2, fired off.
#3, cooked down.
#4 and #5, new barrel made up to store ready charcoal in. 3 batches = 38 gal. mark, settled.

 

[maf58d]

Used some of this charcoal for family spring picnic. Usually do butt, brisket or ribs started the night before, but all day rain Saturday dampened that. So instead I smoked chicken leg quarters for the first time. They came out great. I was more than pleased with the outcome of this and will certainly do the same again soon. Pictures are lighting the charcoal in fire boxes at noon, and 20 pounds of leg quarters and 5 pounds of breasts at 1:50 pm. That was the one hour mark when I flipped them to finish. Brine was sea salt and malt for about 16 hours, then drained, coated with olive oil and well dusted with a blend of paprika, cayenne, onion, garlic powders and a little oregano powder added too. Served with potato salad, pasta salad and grilled asparagus. I meant to take more pictures of picnic, but focused on eating and playing on the zip line afterwards and didn't think anymore about it till everyone was gone.

 

[SanPancho]

a bit of white pepper goes great with chx.

ask the colonel.

 

[maf58d]

I like having large family picnics, and I like making my own stuff, which is why I started making my own charcoal, to use in a large homemade smoker, to use at the pavilion I built for get-togethers. Then added a fire pit, a cedar limb swing, a tree boat and a zip line to get my family park where it is now.

 

[Redtab78]

I need a treeboat.....

 

[maf58d]

Making more hardwood charcoal.

 

[gromitdj]

Did you say (and do) treeboat? That's awesome! So is the charcoal production...

 

[maf58d]

Some pictures from Tuesday. Snow accumulation is pretty rare for us.

 

[maf58d]

Been awhile since I posted here. Smoked two turkeys for Thanksgiving, total weight, 35 pounds. Used up most of charcoal on hand made in spring this year. Need to make up more before I smoke anything else

 

[maf58d]

Made up 3 more batches in January. Have a good supply to work with again.

 

[maf58d]

Been awhile, but charcoal kiln still doing great. This is the fifth batch made so far this year.

 

[BrunDog]

This is cool. WTF is a Tree Boat?!?

 

[Staestc]

A tree boat is a tree with one boat in it. A boat tree would be a tree with many boats in it.

 

[BrunDog]

Makes good sense!

 

[maf58d]

For me, it came along like this, My brother had traded for an old boat that needed way to much work, and sat in the field across from my shop for near a decade. I asked him what he was going to do with it, as I was mowing and cutting trees that were growing up around it. He said he was going to get rid of it, and if I could do anything with it, to go ahead. In the same time period, I had committed to building a tree fort for/with my grandson. Well, Tree boat was born as an inexpensive way to do both a tree fort and clean up the field of the old boat.