No problem, Thanks for elaborating on your initial comments and discussing the fascinating topic of charcoal making. All the best with your attempts and happy grilling!
Great video. It's not only more indepth but also looks simpler, and more efficient than anything else I've seen. Just a couple quick questions, if you would. When you put the buckets together do you use anything to seal them together. Also, what are you using to move around while its hot, and remove it when done?
Thanks for the questions. With one of the two buckets or pails shown in my video - I cut off the top part of it - below the protruding linear section about 4 or 5 inches down and then they fit together pretty good (I did not have a lid for this big bucket) - I think you don't actually want them sealed too tight or the gases do not escape very well, but tight enough so that the combustion of the contents is prevented. I handle the charcoal chamber with silicone gloves as well as two silicone square mats that you could put a hot bowl of food onto on your kitchen table. This gives enough insulation to handle it. I was transferring the charcoal chamber to another firepit bowl to avoid burning the grass before dumping the new charcoal into a barbecue to snuff (be careful!) I must do an updated video - because I had excellent success in the fall and winter of 2020 using a smaller pail (with a small hole in the lid) with cut up small pieces of wood inside - like 3 x 3 inch sections of branch - then I can put the smaller pail entirely into the firing chamber (the half 50 gallon drum) and put the lid of the 50 gallon barrel on top of it - with a hole in the 50 gallon drum lid in the middle about the diameter of a stovepipe). This also bakes the wood pretty good - I was getting 4 pounds in 1 hour with this method and then using 2 or 3 pails in one evening to generate about 12 pounds in 3 hours. This eliminated the need for a pipe through the middle of the charcoal chamber because the smaller barrel could be carbonized within an hour - and I believe cutting up the wood into small pieces also sped this process up. Also, using a smaller pail allows you to simply place the entire pail into a Weber Kettle bbq and close the vents when done - you do not have to dump the easily ignitable fuel into the bbq. Of course, ideally you could bury the entire charcoal chamber in dirt to snuff/cool it without disassembling it. I also buried the pails in snow banks in my back yard in the winter to cool them! A large farm property for this would be ideal - as well as allowing a person to fire multiple duplicates of this setup at once!
I had never heard of this. But according to wikipedia it takes 120 hours to make! LOL. This implies that the wood gases would be slowly driven off as if you were baking the wood like a cake - then raise the temperature to very hot to carbonize it. Interesting concept. The best I can do, of course, is to simply dry the wood in the sun - which I do regardless if I am using a retort or burning the wood down via my "charcoal on demand" method. I am now almost exclusively making charcoal via this "on demand" method - a far easier and faster way to make bbq charcoal.
I surmise the time required is directly related to the amount of wood to be charcoalized. Have you looked in to this type of charcoal sense learning of it? Thank you
@@paulmccarthy8658Generally speaking, time to make charcoal may not be dependent on the amount of wood you have but has to do with how fast the wood can be heated - similar to a roast on a spit. The thicker it is, the longer it takes - that's why I put a pipe through the barrel. From my analysis and for the purposes of what I need to do for making free bbq fuel this slow method of making binchotan charcoal is not efficient and it is most certainly not appropriate if speed is your goal. It appears that it may be a more pure form of charcoal that burns hotter - however from my research they are saying the yield is still only 1/10 of the original mass which is no different from what I am doing in this video. The charcoal I'm making in this video is also very pure and burns hotter than bought charcoal because it is more porous due to, most likely, a partial combustion of the end product charcoal (due to the impossibility of creating a truly sealed carbonization chamber) that creates porosity in the final product. Again I am curious as to your interest in this?
I am not sure the size of the buckets but you can use anything that can contain the wood to be carbonized. However if you use a bucket with too thick a wall of steel it will not be as efficient - produce more smoke or require a hotter fire. I recently tried using a propane tank as a bucket - the air is not heated as efficiently inside this. If your buckets have a thinner wall then they won't last as long either and require protection or rebuilds due to fire damage. You can also try using a thicker diameter pipe through the middle to increase surface area to heat the air inside the buckets. Thanks for watching!
Hi, Interesting takeoff on observations of different methods of making charcoal. The center core of a retort is always the last to get to temperature and char, especially if small chunks or chips. I never would have thought simply running a pipe through the retort would make that big a difference. I've got to try this. What type wood have you been using in the retort? How many times do you have to refill your firebox during the 2 hour process and do you lift out the retort when doing this? Thanks, O.J. in Oregon
Thanks for your comment and questions. I am convinced that making charcoal is very similar to roasting a piece of meat - the thicker it is the longer it will take to come to temperature - so that is why I would love to make some kind of a segmented chamber that holds a lot of wood - or simply use multiple smaller pails I suppose. For the life of me, I cannot understand why retort designers don't think about the thickness of the wood chamber holding the hardwood! Since this video I have made about 80-90 pounds of lump in the fall and winter - when my neighbours are not around! I am looking for a larger pipe to go through the middle right now - maybe 3 to 4 inch thickness. The one I am using is 2 inches. I use whatever wood I can find. I was using maple, ash, some pear even, and hawthorn wood which is beautiful smelling. I found some scrap wood from somebody who was doing woodworking and he had all sorts of wood even almond wood! I even made multiple rounds of pine charcoal to bbq with - beautiful stuff! It was thoroughly carbonized and I believe quite safe. When I start the fire in the firepit I always place a large piece of wood horizontally flat at the far end of the fire pit and then in an angulated way place other pieces of wood against it so that the large piece of wood is under the retort chamber (or more correctly called the charcoal chamber, I suppose, as the whole thing is the retort). The charcoal chamber is leaning against the half 50 inch barrel as you see in the video so there is usually enough wood under this section. (The vent in the barrel is perpendicular to the horizontal piece of wood at the bottom of the campfire). Then I add wood on the sides of the charcoal chamber as it is firing. I will also observe under the charcoal chamber and add wood by simply rotating the charcoal chamber up a bit and then add the wood and lean the charcoal chamber back down again - lifting out too much of a nuisance. By adding the charcoal chamber into the firing chamber it actually increases draft to the fire so it may consume the wood faster than a regular campfire. Once I start the fire, I usually can complete the whole 2 hours with a whole regular square of pallet wood after starting the fire with some bigger pieces. However pallet wood is much more of a nuisance to the neighbours as it sparks more etc. If using split pieces you need about 10 or more reasonably sized pieces. One must also be careful to have the fire going enough near the time of the end so that when the fire stops coming out of the charcoal chamber, it is not because the charcoal chamber is not hot enough but rather that the carbonization is done. The other problem I have had is that I believe if you over fire the charcoal chamber the charcoal is actually losing density. So with experience one must learn when to pull it based upon the time of initial ignition of off-gases and multiple trials. I believe it is actually better to pull it when there is still some off gassing because it is only converting some of the remaining wood but the process of continuing to heat the charcoal chamber is causing the other already carbonized pieces to lose density. To solve this, sometimes I will actually rotate the charcoal chamber to move the wood pieces inside - a rotisserie charcoal chamber would be ideal - again similar to a piece of meat! And finally, if putting a pipe through, drill holes in the pipe and put a piece of wire through to prevent the pipe from coming out of the barrel or you will ignite your charcoal and lose all your effort. Also you must place the charcoal chamber (bottom part) on enough of a wood burning zone in the fire to cause the pipe to receive the heat. Have you been making your own charcoal? Please let me know how you make out if you are trying this! Thanks.
Yes the pipe goes through top and bottom. Make sure you secure the bottom with a piece of wire running through it so that it will not slide out during the process or air will rush in and consume the wood to be carbonized. See this video for different angles on the process: ruclips.net/video/z1NJa45puwE/видео.html
Hi, thanks for the question. I have never measured the starting weight of the wood, especially considering that I am usually using unseasoned wood. The volume of wood is perhaps a better indicator as you can see the size of the pails in my video. I believe that likely the weight of the wood to be carbonized is at least 50 pounds as a conversion factor of 5:1 is pretty good for my retort. Also, one must consider the weight of the firing wood which would be at least 20 pounds likely. This is the negative aspect of my retort, in that it takes a lot of firing fuel to convert the wood fully to charcoal - the heat of ignition of the off-gasses is not sufficient to make it self-sustaining at that point. For me, this doesn't matter, as all the wood I use is free.
Correct, that's why I use pallet wood, which is not suitable for making charcoal. It is all over the place where I live. The direct method with no firing chamber creates FAR too much smoke and commotion for the neighbourhood but ANY retort utilizing the indirect method will require firing wood such as rocket stove builds or other chambers with the wood to be carbonized sealed in. I would love to hear how you make your charcoal! I always find it quite humorous when people make critical comments and then not support that with a suggestion of improvement or reference/video link to their superior method! Thanks for watching!
@@charcoalbbqkitchen both methods use a steel drum.. with simple twigs/ thin branches they have charcoal.. No wasted fuel wood.. It almost seems too simple but there's no need to reinvent the wheel.. Relating, your method is nothing new.. 'Best' and 'free' are innaccurate.. But it's for a bbq so maybe I am way off, it just seems like a lot of wood used to make a smaller volume of charcoal.. Especially when you learn about biochar, etc but it's off topic.. And what is pallet wood? Like for shipping stuff? Most people don't live near pallets
Hey man, sorry for the comment earlier.. I was in a really bad mood.. Thanks for improving upon designs and trying to make things better
No problem, Thanks for elaborating on your initial comments and discussing the fascinating topic of charcoal making. All the best with your attempts and happy grilling!
@@charcoalbbqkitchen Thanks man
Great video. It's not only more indepth but also looks simpler, and more efficient than anything else I've seen. Just a couple quick questions, if you would.
When you put the buckets together do you use anything to seal them together. Also, what are you using to move around while its hot, and remove it when done?
Thanks for the questions. With one of the two buckets or pails shown in my video - I cut off the top part of it - below the protruding linear section about 4 or 5 inches down and then they fit together pretty good (I did not have a lid for this big bucket) - I think you don't actually want them sealed too tight or the gases do not escape very well, but tight enough so that the combustion of the contents is prevented. I handle the charcoal chamber with silicone gloves as well as two silicone square mats that you could put a hot bowl of food onto on your kitchen table. This gives enough insulation to handle it. I was transferring the charcoal chamber to another firepit bowl to avoid burning the grass before dumping the new charcoal into a barbecue to snuff (be careful!) I must do an updated video - because I had excellent success in the fall and winter of 2020 using a smaller pail (with a small hole in the lid) with cut up small pieces of wood inside - like 3 x 3 inch sections of branch - then I can put the smaller pail entirely into the firing chamber (the half 50 gallon drum) and put the lid of the 50 gallon barrel on top of it - with a hole in the 50 gallon drum lid in the middle about the diameter of a stovepipe). This also bakes the wood pretty good - I was getting 4 pounds in 1 hour with this method and then using 2 or 3 pails in one evening to generate about 12 pounds in 3 hours. This eliminated the need for a pipe through the middle of the charcoal chamber because the smaller barrel could be carbonized within an hour - and I believe cutting up the wood into small pieces also sped this process up. Also, using a smaller pail allows you to simply place the entire pail into a Weber Kettle bbq and close the vents when done - you do not have to dump the easily ignitable fuel into the bbq. Of course, ideally you could bury the entire charcoal chamber in dirt to snuff/cool it without disassembling it. I also buried the pails in snow banks in my back yard in the winter to cool them! A large farm property for this would be ideal - as well as allowing a person to fire multiple duplicates of this setup at once!
Have you considered trying to make binchotan Japanese style charcoal?
I had never heard of this. But according to wikipedia it takes 120 hours to make! LOL. This implies that the wood gases would be slowly driven off as if you were baking the wood like a cake - then raise the temperature to very hot to carbonize it. Interesting concept. The best I can do, of course, is to simply dry the wood in the sun - which I do regardless if I am using a retort or burning the wood down via my "charcoal on demand" method. I am now almost exclusively making charcoal via this "on demand" method - a far easier and faster way to make bbq charcoal.
I surmise the time required is directly related to the amount of wood to be charcoalized. Have you looked in to this type of charcoal sense learning of it? Thank you
@@paulmccarthy8658Generally speaking, time to make charcoal may not be dependent on the amount of wood you have but has to do with how fast the wood can be heated - similar to a roast on a spit. The thicker it is, the longer it takes - that's why I put a pipe through the barrel. From my analysis and for the purposes of what I need to do for making free bbq fuel this slow method of making binchotan charcoal is not efficient and it is most certainly not appropriate if speed is your goal. It appears that it may be a more pure form of charcoal that burns hotter - however from my research they are saying the yield is still only 1/10 of the original mass which is no different from what I am doing in this video. The charcoal I'm making in this video is also very pure and burns hotter than bought charcoal because it is more porous due to, most likely, a partial combustion of the end product charcoal (due to the impossibility of creating a truly sealed carbonization chamber) that creates porosity in the final product. Again I am curious as to your interest in this?
Also are you using two 5 gallon metal buckets with the 2" pipe going through both buckets as your retort?
I am not sure the size of the buckets but you can use anything that can contain the wood to be carbonized. However if you use a bucket with too thick a wall of steel it will not be as efficient - produce more smoke or require a hotter fire. I recently tried using a propane tank as a bucket - the air is not heated as efficiently inside this. If your buckets have a thinner wall then they won't last as long either and require protection or rebuilds due to fire damage. You can also try using a thicker diameter pipe through the middle to increase surface area to heat the air inside the buckets. Thanks for watching!
I have seen people use two propane tanks like you use the two buckets.
I am still experimenting.
Hi, Interesting takeoff on observations of different methods of making charcoal. The center core of a retort is always the last to get to temperature and char, especially if small chunks or chips. I never would have thought simply running a pipe through the retort would make that big a difference. I've got to try this. What type wood have you been using in the retort? How many times do you have to refill your firebox during the 2 hour process and do you lift out the retort when doing this? Thanks, O.J. in Oregon
Thanks for your comment and questions. I am convinced that making charcoal is very similar to roasting a piece of meat - the thicker it is the longer it will take to come to temperature - so that is why I would love to make some kind of a segmented chamber that holds a lot of wood - or simply use multiple smaller pails I suppose. For the life of me, I cannot understand why retort designers don't think about the thickness of the wood chamber holding the hardwood! Since this video I have made about 80-90 pounds of lump in the fall and winter - when my neighbours are not around! I am looking for a larger pipe to go through the middle right now - maybe 3 to 4 inch thickness. The one I am using is 2 inches. I use whatever wood I can find. I was using maple, ash, some pear even, and hawthorn wood which is beautiful smelling. I found some scrap wood from somebody who was doing woodworking and he had all sorts of wood even almond wood! I even made multiple rounds of pine charcoal to bbq with - beautiful stuff! It was thoroughly carbonized and I believe quite safe. When I start the fire in the firepit I always place a large piece of wood horizontally flat at the far end of the fire pit and then in an angulated way place other pieces of wood against it so that the large piece of wood is under the retort chamber (or more correctly called the charcoal chamber, I suppose, as the whole thing is the retort). The charcoal chamber is leaning against the half 50 inch barrel as you see in the video so there is usually enough wood under this section. (The vent in the barrel is perpendicular to the horizontal piece of wood at the bottom of the campfire). Then I add wood on the sides of the charcoal chamber as it is firing. I will also observe under the charcoal chamber and add wood by simply rotating the charcoal chamber up a bit and then add the wood and lean the charcoal chamber back down again - lifting out too much of a nuisance. By adding the charcoal chamber into the firing chamber it actually increases draft to the fire so it may consume the wood faster than a regular campfire. Once I start the fire, I usually can complete the whole 2 hours with a whole regular square of pallet wood after starting the fire with some bigger pieces. However pallet wood is much more of a nuisance to the neighbours as it sparks more etc. If using split pieces you need about 10 or more reasonably sized pieces. One must also be careful to have the fire going enough near the time of the end so that when the fire stops coming out of the charcoal chamber, it is not because the charcoal chamber is not hot enough but rather that the carbonization is done. The other problem I have had is that I believe if you over fire the charcoal chamber the charcoal is actually losing density. So with experience one must learn when to pull it based upon the time of initial ignition of off-gases and multiple trials. I believe it is actually better to pull it when there is still some off gassing because it is only converting some of the remaining wood but the process of continuing to heat the charcoal chamber is causing the other already carbonized pieces to lose density. To solve this, sometimes I will actually rotate the charcoal chamber to move the wood pieces inside - a rotisserie charcoal chamber would be ideal - again similar to a piece of meat! And finally, if putting a pipe through, drill holes in the pipe and put a piece of wire through to prevent the pipe from coming out of the barrel or you will ignite your charcoal and lose all your effort. Also you must place the charcoal chamber (bottom part) on enough of a wood burning zone in the fire to cause the pipe to receive the heat. Have you been making your own charcoal? Please let me know how you make out if you are trying this! Thanks.
Does your center pipe extend through the top and bottom of your buckets?
Yes the pipe goes through top and bottom. Make sure you secure the bottom with a piece of wire running through it so that it will not slide out during the process or air will rush in and consume the wood to be carbonized. See this video for different angles on the process: ruclips.net/video/z1NJa45puwE/видео.html
Will definitely try this 👌👌👌
Great! It appears you are a Weber Gas Grill Fan! For me, it's charcoal all the way! Happy Grilling!
So 10pound out of how much wood sir?
Hi, thanks for the question. I have never measured the starting weight of the wood, especially considering that I am usually using unseasoned wood. The volume of wood is perhaps a better indicator as you can see the size of the pails in my video. I believe that likely the weight of the wood to be carbonized is at least 50 pounds as a conversion factor of 5:1 is pretty good for my retort. Also, one must consider the weight of the firing wood which would be at least 20 pounds likely. This is the negative aspect of my retort, in that it takes a lot of firing fuel to convert the wood fully to charcoal - the heat of ignition of the off-gasses is not sufficient to make it self-sustaining at that point. For me, this doesn't matter, as all the wood I use is free.
Thank you so much sir, I got it 👍🏻🙂
This method requires lots and lots of 'free' wood that is wasted as ash..
Correct, that's why I use pallet wood, which is not suitable for making charcoal. It is all over the place where I live. The direct method with no firing chamber creates FAR too much smoke and commotion for the neighbourhood but ANY retort utilizing the indirect method will require firing wood such as rocket stove builds or other chambers with the wood to be carbonized sealed in. I would love to hear how you make your charcoal! I always find it quite humorous when people make critical comments and then not support that with a suggestion of improvement or reference/video link to their superior method! Thanks for watching!
@@charcoalbbqkitchen ruclips.net/video/bk-4qlYz-20/видео.html
@@charcoalbbqkitchen ruclips.net/video/0_IdgPmnbRU/видео.html
@@charcoalbbqkitchen both methods use a steel drum.. with simple twigs/ thin branches they have charcoal.. No wasted fuel wood.. It almost seems too simple but there's no need to reinvent the wheel.. Relating, your method is nothing new.. 'Best' and 'free' are innaccurate.. But it's for a bbq so maybe I am way off, it just seems like a lot of wood used to make a smaller volume of charcoal.. Especially when you learn about biochar, etc but it's off topic.. And what is pallet wood? Like for shipping stuff? Most people don't live near pallets
@@charcoalbbqkitchen ruclips.net/video/JhH45NIoG74/видео.html
Wait no HERE it is, in this video.. Much more efficient