How Do You Make Charcoal?
Many people with small woodlands are attracted by the idea of using their wood for charcoal making. You can either allow a charcoal burner to use your woodland for a season or you can try making it yourself. Several people who have bought woodlands from us have successfully made their own charcoal and they have been selling it at woodfairs and other rural events.
If you want someone to make charcoal for you, try advertising or make contact with one of the experienced charcoal-makers who work permanently in woodlands. There are about 100 or so charcoal burners in the UK who make charcoal more or less full time. These burners are concentrated around Dorset, Hampshire and Cumbria and the main market for which they make charcoal is the home barbecue market.
Typically, full-time charcoal burners have a large, steel kiln which is almost three metres in diameter and a little over a metre in height. This is loaded up with wood, mostly hardwoods such as oak, which have a very slow burn. The kiln is then sealed with a large lid. To make charcoal the burn must be slow and incomplete so that the wood dries out and its structure and capacity for burning remains. This process - converting wood to charcoal - takes about 14-16 hours and produces ready-to-use lumps of charcoal.
Blacksmiths who prefer charcoal to coke still use woodland-produced charcoal. Surprisingly perhaps, charcoal is still used industrially for some metallurgical processes and as a filter to remove organic compounds from water and air.
Selling to the supermarkets has been a challenge for the charcoal burners, but a group of entrepreneurs at Bioregional Charcoal Company Limited have worked hard to coordinate the marketing of UK-produced charcoal. Locally produced charcoal is now available at B & Q, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and the Co-op. Bioregional now has 25 producers and sells about 300 tonnes per year. Because home- produced charcoal eliminates much of the transport costs it reduces the carbon emissions from its production by as much as 85%. Many other producers sell direct, through local shops, petrol stations and at summer events.
If you fancy trying to make your own charcoal, you may want to work on a smaller scale and use an oil drum but the same principles apply as for commercial burners. You can see a description of the process at: http://www.allotmentforestry.com/fact/Charcoal.htm
The raw material is cordwood, lengths of wood between 25cm and 80cm of wood roughly the same diameter as your arm. Oak is the preferred wood but other hardwoods usually work well. There is another description of the process at: http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/charcoal/
We’d love to hear if anyone has had a go at this and how you got on …
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Badgers, Beeches and Blisters
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5 comments so far
Tracy Pepler
8 July, 2008
Thanks for this information!
Mike had a go at making charcoal in our wood - you can read about it here:
http://www.woodlands.co.uk/swog/articles/making-charcoal-by-mike-pepler/
The Netherfield centre do charcoal making courses if anyone is interested.
Tracy
Peter Milburn
8 July, 2008
Hi.
Thanks for the wonderful info on charcoal making. I have just bought 20 acres of woodland and although there are some nice oaks in there, i have a surplus of beech which I was going to saw and log. Could you tell me if beech is a suitable alternative and if so is the burning time the same. I am dying to give it a try.
Could you also tell me if the Netherfield centre is the Netherfield in kendal as I would be interested to try the course. Thanks peter
Eric Anderson
12 July, 2008
Actually there are woodcolliers operating quite widely around the country, and the best way to find your nearest one is through www.localcharcoal.co.uk. Here you’ll find out more on how to make charcoal, and a little of the history of this traditional craft which supports sustainable local woodlands.
Beech is suitable for charcoal. In fact most native British hardwoods make excellent charcoal - it’s down to the skill of the craftsperson with their kiln rather than anything else. Burn times vary depending on wood type, moisture content, size of kiln, weather conditions and above all, the skill of the woodcollier. There’s no hard and fast rule.
I’d encourage anyone who has woodland and wishes to try their hand to contact their local woodcolliers and get involved, it is immensely rewarding. Many of them will be delighted to make contact with local woodland owners.
Please think local when you buy your charcoal!
Tracy Pepler
15 July, 2008
I think you can make charcoal from Beech, but Mike says it needs to maybe be very dry- and he is not sure about the methods.
The Netherfield centre I am taking about is in Sussex. http://www.thenetherfieldcentre.co.uk/
You could also post this question on this forum as well as this blog…
www.woodlands.co.uk/swog as some people who read it make charcoal.
hope it works for you!
Tracy
greyman
17 July, 2008
There is no problem making charcoal from Beech, and if cut and split to 2′ x 4 to 8″ and stacked for the minimum of 6 month covered you can use it in a standard ring kiln. Making it in smaller drums may need a bit of practice and only using the branches unless you feel energetic enough to split length to 4″ x 3′ long - you’ll still need to season it to get a good burn.
Greyman