char:charcoal_making

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char:charcoal_making [2025/12/03 16:46] – created - external edit 127.0.0.1char:charcoal_making [2025/12/17 11:11] (current) – asimong
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-Starting to stack wood in the kiln, with kindling in the middle. +_Starting to stack wood in the kiln, with kindling in the middle._
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-[Coppicing](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/categories/woodland) was the usual way to provide wood for producing charcoal in a perpetually recurring cycle - but alas, as with most resources, it was over-exploited and resulted in massive deforestation in Europe and North America.+[Coppicing](/wodl/woodland_management) was the usual way to provide wood for producing charcoal in a perpetually recurring cycle - but alas, as with most resources, it was over-exploited and resulted in massive deforestation in Europe and North America.
  
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-Three kilns during a burn.+_Three kilns during a burn._
  
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-Charcoal has traditionally been used for [blacksmiths'](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/categories/blacksmithing) forges; for drawing; as an ingredient in gunpowder; as a [soil](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/categories/soil) additive; for filtration; and for cooking. Nowadays most charcoal is used for barbecues. Charcoal briquettes are made by compressing charcoal made from sawdust etc, along with dust and a binder; lump charcoal is just the raw product from burning hardwoods.+Charcoal has traditionally been used for [blacksmiths'](/blck/blacksmithing) forges; for drawing; as an ingredient in gunpowder; as a [soil](/soil/soil) additive; for filtration; and for cooking. Nowadays most charcoal is used for barbecues. Charcoal briquettes are made by compressing charcoal made from sawdust etc, along with dust and a binder; lump charcoal is just the raw product from burning hardwoods.
  
 ## What are the benefits of charcoal making? ## What are the benefits of charcoal making?
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-Lifting the lid after the burn.+_Lifting the lid after the burn._
  
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-- Provides a market for poor-quality wood, although there's much more of a market now for firewood, due to the recent increase in the use of [wood stoves](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/categories/wood-stoves)+- Provides a market for poor-quality wood, although there's much more of a market now for firewood, due to the recent increase in the use of [wood stoves](/wdst/wood_stoves)
  
 - Buying locally-produced charcoal reduces the transport involved with imported charcoal, provides local employment and supports the local economy - Buying locally-produced charcoal reduces the transport involved with imported charcoal, provides local employment and supports the local economy
  
-- Helps manage [woodlands](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/categories/woodland); woods need to be thinned to produce a wide range of products, including timber, firewood and charcoal+- Helps manage [woodlands](/wodl/woodland_management); woods need to be thinned to produce a wide range of products, including timber, firewood and charcoal
  
 - Locally-produced charcoal is a renewable, sustainable resource because the carbon released on burning is balanced by the carbon taken up by growing trees, and so cooking over charcoal saves on non-renewable fossil fuels - Locally-produced charcoal is a renewable, sustainable resource because the carbon released on burning is balanced by the carbon taken up by growing trees, and so cooking over charcoal saves on non-renewable fossil fuels
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-{{url>https://www.youtube.com/embed/IL8e0YYb0OA?ecver=1 560,315}}+{{url>https://www.youtube.com/embed/IL8e0YYb0OA 560,315}}
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 _Great video showing the charcoal-making process by our friends Pete & Anna at the Bulworthy Project._ _Great video showing the charcoal-making process by our friends Pete & Anna at the Bulworthy Project._
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-Freshly-made charcoal.+_Freshly-made charcoal._
  
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-Lifting the charcoal out of the kiln with a fork.+_Lifting the charcoal out of the kiln with a fork._
  
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-Start by attending a [course](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/categories/charcoal-making/directory/courses) to see how it's done and to have a go. [Here's more detailed information](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/infoarticle/charcoal-burning-the-basics-of-a-burn/) about the burn itself.+Start by attending a [course](/char/charcoal_making) to see how it's done and to have a go. [Here's more detailed information](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/infoarticle/charcoal-burning-the-basics-of-a-burn/) about the burn itself.
  
-Then [buy a kiln](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/categories/charcoal-making/directory/products-services), or if you only want a small one, you could convert a 45-gallon oil drum. There's an explanation of how to do this in _[Coppicing and Coppice Crafts](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/categories/charcoal-making/books)_ by Rebecca Oaks and Edward Mills. But you have to learn the art of charcoal making by actually doing it. Charcoal burning a scientific process, but there are so many variables, that it really does become an imprecise art.+Then [buy a kiln](/char/charcoal_making), or if you only want a small one, you could convert a 45-gallon oil drum. There's an explanation of how to do this in _[Coppicing and Coppice Crafts](/char/charcoal_making)_ by Rebecca Oaks and Edward Mills. But you have to learn the art of charcoal making by actually doing it. Charcoal burning a scientific process, but there are so many variables, that it really does become an imprecise art.
  
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 {{url>https://player.vimeo.com/video/218664167 640,360}} {{url>https://player.vimeo.com/video/218664167 640,360}}
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 - moisture content of the wood; - moisture content of the wood;
 - how wet the ground is and whether it's free-draining or not (clay soils can be problematic, as a huge amount of water is driven off during the burn, and it has to go somewhere); - how wet the ground is and whether it's free-draining or not (clay soils can be problematic, as a huge amount of water is driven off during the burn, and it has to go somewhere);
-- the wind can inject unwanted oxygen; you can put [hurdles](http://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/categories/hurdles) around the kiln, although this is more of a problem on open land than in enclosed woodland;+- the wind can inject unwanted oxygen; you can put [hurdles](/hrdl/hurdles) around the kiln, although this is more of a problem on open land than in enclosed woodland;
 - the time of year; - the time of year;
 - how much oxygen you let into the burn; - how much oxygen you let into the burn;
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-Biscuit tin of twigs for making artists' charcoal: before burn.+_Biscuit tin of twigs for making artists' charcoal: before burn._
  
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-Biscuit tin of twigs for making artists' charcoal: after burn.+_Biscuit tin of twigs for making artists' charcoal: after burn._
  
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-Bagging the finished charcoal.+_Bagging the finished charcoal._
  
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-Bag of Devon lump barbecue charcoal.+_Bag of Devon lump barbecue charcoal._
  
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 If you want a more sustainable product, look for lump charcoal, which is made from wood only. Briquettes can contain anything from limestone and borax to sodium nitrate and lighter fluid. If you want a more sustainable product, look for lump charcoal, which is made from wood only. Briquettes can contain anything from limestone and borax to sodium nitrate and lighter fluid.
- 
  
  
 ## Further resources ## Further resources
  
- +- [Basics of a burn](https://www.lowimpact.org/categories/land/charcoal-making/further-info/charcoal-burning-the-basics-of-a-burn/) 
-## Specialist(s) +- [Coppice Products](https://www.coppice-products.co.uk/product-type/charcoal-bio-char/) - listing of local UK charcoal producers 
- +- [How to make charcoal at home](https://prepperswill.com/how-to-make-charcoal-at-home/) 
-**Thanks to Maurice Pyle of [Woodsmith Experience](http://woodsmithexperience.co.uk/shop/category/charcoal-kilns-equipment) for information, and Maurice Pyle, [Ecclesall Woods Crafts](https://www.ecclesallwoodscraftcourses.co.uk/) & the [Bulworthy Project](https://bulworthy.uk/) for images.** +- [Charcoal production using a transportable metal kiln](https://www.lowimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/Charcoal_Production_Using_A_Transportable_Metal_Kiln_1980.pdf) 
- +- [Art, science & technology of charcoal production](https://www.lowimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/Charcoal_Review-iecr03.pdf) 
- +- [The story of charcoal](https://www.lowimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/Charcoal-Making.pdf) 
-![](https://lowimpactorg.onyx-sites.io/wp-content/uploads/pete-anna.jpg) +- [Charcoal burning in Anglo-Saxon England](https://www.regia.org/research/life/charcoal.htm)
- +
-Anna and Pete Grugeon are partners in [Bulworthy Project](http://bulworthyproject.org.uk/), the main income of which is from charcoal production. They have been teaching charcoal making since 2010 and have acted as consultants on sustainable charcoal production projects in the UK, Costa Rica and Nigeria. They're passionate about the role charcoal production can play in sustainable land management.+
  
  
 +## Specialist curators of this topic
  
-_Date on Lowimpact:2013-01-31_ 
  
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