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bulworthy project

Joined: 27 Jun 2011
Posts: 188
Location: Rackenford, Devon

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 11 5:01 pm Post subject:
Don't know any charcoal makers in Surrey and we don't have any outlets there, but if you want to drop in and pick some up, that's cool. You might even get a free cup of tea.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 11 3:54 pm Post subject:
I was hoping to visit when we get some time so I'll buy some bags then. Out of curiosity, what sort of hardwoods do you use to make your charcoal?

bulworthy project

Joined: 27 Jun 2011
Posts: 188
Location: Rackenford, Devon

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 11 5:16 pm Post subject:

We try to get a good mix in each batch. At the moment there is lots of oak (good but has a tendancy to blow apart in the kiln)
and hornbeam (very attractive dense charcoal),
but also birch(Lights easily, burns hot) ,
ash (good charcaol, less dense but burns hot),
hawthorn(great dense charcoal),
sycamore (another dense charcoal),
beech (lovely tarry smell when in kiln, great charcoal),
At times we use
alder (very attractive charcoal, lights quickly and burns hot),
goat willow (Lights quickly),
wild cherry (very attractive wood that makes an ok charcoal, not much ends up in the kiln),
blackthorn (Good, hot charcoal)
and hazel (good, dense charcoal that burns hot).

Other types of willow than goat willow tend to spark lots and we've been told that sweet chestnut is no good.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 11 5:56 pm Post subject:
Thanks for the details, I ask as I've got a few acres of goat willow and old hazel that I plan to cut and regenerate, a few acres of alder that might get thinned and the long term plan is to make my own charcoal one day.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 11 8:20 am Post subject:

Well I picked up a bag of UK charcoal from a service station I was visiting. The bag is stamped with a "The Coppice Association" mark but I cannot find any details about them and there's no producer details on the bag, which is a shame. Anyone know anything about them?

The charcoal is very good and a little lasts a long time. It's also ideal as it literally only takes a couple of minutes before I can cook over it.

Hopefully when I need some more I can pick it up from Bulworthy next time.

bulworthy project

Joined: 27 Jun 2011
Posts: 188
Location: Rackenford, Devon

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 11 8:51 am Post subject:

The Coppice Association no longer exists, but the bags are still for sale. This is useful for small scale charcoal producers who do not want to invest in the 5000 bags that you need to buy to get your own design printed. (You can get 2500 printed at a time, but the process used cannot be relied on to get the print in the right place).
The trouble is that unless the producer puts their name on the bag, it could be made by anyone, so you buy a good bag of charcoal one time and then another bag of poor quality charcoal in the same bag.
It is a shame that whoever made your bag of charcoal did not put their name on it as they make good charcoal and it would be good for people to know who they are.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15996

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 11 9:05 am Post subject:

Thanks for the plug TG.

If you want charcoal in Surrey, try Surrey and Sussex Coppice Craftsmens Group. https://coppicegroup.wordpress.com/

Some of them might sell through larger shops, but most of their charcoal producers will sell through local shops and garden centres.

The Coppice Association is sadly defunct, but there are moves afoot to try to launch a National Coppice Federation. As coppice workers tend to be rather independantly minded, this is taking some time.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 11 11:17 am Post subject:
Tried some of bulworthy project's charcoal yesterday. Excellent quality, thoroughly recommended.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 11 11:43 am Post subject:
Can you make charcoal out of rhodedendron and if not, why not? It seems to me to be a pretty big problem in a lot of places, and this may help towards a solution.

bulworthy project

Joined: 27 Jun 2011
Posts: 188
Location: Rackenford, Devon

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 11 5:37 pm Post subject:
I have never heard of anyone making charcoal out of rhododendron and don't know what the end result would be like, but the smoke is toxic and monitoring the kiln would require serious breathing apparatus.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 11 5:44 pm Post subject:

bulworthy project wrote:

I have never heard of anyone making charcoal out of rhododendron and don't know what the end result would be like, but the smoke is toxic and monitoring the kiln would require serious breathing apparatus.

All smoke is toxic. It is the biggest killer in domestic fires.

oldish chris

Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 4148
Location: Comfortably Wet Southport

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 11 6:45 pm Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

bulworthy project wrote:

All smoke is toxic. It is the biggest killer in domestic fires.

As my old grandma used to say "you can't do right for doing wrong". The problem with charcoal production is the smoke produced. Soot is a major contributor to global warming: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110831205919.htm

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 11 7:31 pm Post subject:
Easy enough: just put a condenser on the chimney.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 11 7:32 pm Post subject:
Easy enough: just put a condenser on the chimney.

bulworthy project

Joined: 27 Jun 2011
Posts: 188
Location: Rackenford, Devon

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 11 10:24 am Post subject:

oldish chris wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

bulworthy project wrote:

All smoke is toxic. It is the biggest killer in domestic fires.

The vast majority of the clouds of smoke produced when making charcoal is steam that is driven off the wood before carbonisation. Although there are some particulates and volotile chemicals released much of the particulate contents of the smoke condenses on the side of the kiln during the burn and solidifies. However even a small amount of rhodedendron smoke is highly toxic.

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