How To Make Lump Charcoal- Small Batch Setup

[Scalliwag]

Here is an easy setup to make coal. You need a 5 gallon metal bucket ith a lid, some pipe and elbow fittings and a propane burner like used for a turkey fryer.
Drill a hole in the lid for the first elbow fitting to go into it, run a long enough pipe to get to the edge and another elbow to run a pipe straight down next to the bucket. You can use another elbow at the bottom to go under the bucket if you want to. The gases coming out are flammable so you can route it to the fire and utilize that fuel if you want.
If you wanna make it real simple or if you are using wood that does not produce much flammable residues don't worry about the pipe at all and just poke several small holes in the lid to vent. Do not make any holes in the bottom.
You want as little air as possible, but it needs to vent unless you want to pretty good BOOM

Put wood chunks, coconut hulls, etc. in the bucket and put the lid on. Do not use treated or softwoods or any wood that make smell like ass. Cedar and juniper, etc are not good candidates. Don't fill it more than half way to start out. The wood near the top and the larger pieces take longer. So put bigger chunks at the bottom.
Crank up some heat under it. There are a lot of variables but this will get you going if you ever wanna brag to your friends that you made your own coal

Hopefully the pic makes sense. Edited January 28, 2009 by Scalliwag

[Capt. Morgan]

Interesting idea. Gonna have to try this once I get back home.

[Scalliwag]

it works like a champ but it not real cost effective. If you have a lot of hardwood trees and have to get rid of limbs anyways you can burn some and just sit the bucket on the fire. Then it's pretty practical.

[SimplexCoda]

how long you let it burn there scalli?

[Capt. Morgan]

My family's property is about 75% oak trees. Raw material isn't a problem there.

[Scalliwag]

how long you let it burn there scalli?

It depends on the type of wood, how much wood and how hot you get it. You're cooking the wood with as little oxygen present as possible. Go about 30 minutes and check it.

[MechAnt]

The Scalliwag strikes again. I knew his 335 year old butt would come up with something like this


I really wanna try this but I'm an urban guy

[Scalliwag]

The Scalliwag strikes again. I knew his 335 year old butt would come up with something like this


I really wanna try this but I'm an urban guy

Don't ya have any parks with trees nearby?

[inino]

the denser the wood the better. there are some good soft woods, but very few.

[Scalliwag]

the denser the wood the better. there are some good soft woods, but very few.

Nine out of ten women agree soft wood is not something a guy wants to be known for Edited January 28, 2009 by Scalliwag

[indian_villager]

Thats great if you want to make a large batch. If you just want to make a few pieces for trial.
Take an altoids tin and poke three little holes in the top with a nail. Then load in your selected hardwood and close it. If you have one of those BBQs with the little side burner chuck the can on the side burner. Let it stay there until smoke stops coming out of the holes(this will take a while and the smoke is flammable so don't be surprised if you see fire shooting out of the holes). Let it sit on the stove for about 5 more mins and then quickly bury the can in some dirt for about 10 mins and then pull em out and light em up.

Oh how the pyro days are coming back to me.

[Scalliwag]

Thats great if you want to make a large batch. If you just want to make a few pieces for trial.
Take an altoids tin and poke three little holes in the top with a nail. Then load in your selected hardwood and close it. If you have one of those BBQs with the little side burner chuck the can on the side burner. Let it stay there until smoke stops coming out of the holes(this will take a while and the smoke is flammable so don't be surprised if you see fire shooting out of the holes). Let it sit on the stove for about 5 more mins and then quickly bury the can in some dirt for about 10 mins and then pull em out and light em up.

Oh how the pyro days are coming back to me.

kewl idea bro!!!

[inino]

what do you reccomend as the heat source on the bottom?

[Scalliwag]

for mine you need a lot of heat. IV says for the Altoids version you can throw it on a side burner on a grill. If you were grilling on a charcoal grill you could probably throw the altoid can directly on the coals I'd bet.

[indian_villager]

You could use a small pile of those kinsfrord briquettes to heat the cooker for your good coals......using coal to make coal....hahaha.

[Scalliwag]

You could use a small pile of those kinsfrord briquettes to heat the cooker for your good coals......using coal to make coal....hahaha.

It's kind of like building machinist mill with another mill, except when you're done the first one is a pile of ash < that's kinda a big "except" factor aye? oops, I mean ARRRRRRRR!!!!

[inino]

well i do have shit loads of kingsoford briquette, and with winter here i dont bbq much, so im gonna give it a try. how long would you say the process roughly takes for a 5 gallon bucket full of wood?