Using lump charcoal

[Matthew]

Lump charcoal is pretty easy to get so I was wondering if it would be usable. I know that the charcoal briquettes have stuff added to them so they burn slower. Is this the same deal with lump charcoal?

[Boophoenix]

A lot of people use lump and get good service from it. I'm of the opinion it's slightly over cooked, but that isn't a major problem till it's way over cooked. I've planned some tests when and if I ever get everything gather fo what I feel to be a proper test.

[OldMarine]

I tried the Cowboy brand lump charcoal that's made from hardwood flooring scraps. It made decent BP (about like commercial airfloat) but actually worked very well for sparks in a coarser mesh.

[Matthew]

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know.

[memo]

works great for pulvrone , that is what i use. cedar for fast bp. I buy the cheapest bag I can find.

 

memo

Edited January 7, 2017 by memo

[Boophoenix]

Mathew, my post was based on the assumption you were contemplating specific charcoals that suit or various needs. If not you'll need to research that a little and look for like a willow or alder charcoal from a lump producer for performance and as Patrick said many of the less desirable for good hot BP serve well for spark production.

[calebkessinger]

Good charcoal isn't terribly hard to come by or too expensive depending on where you are located.

[Mumbles]

Lump charcoal, like Cowboy brand or others, is usually mixed varieties of hardwoods. If you are willing to do a little work you can get some decent BP out of it. If you go through the bag, you'll probably notice the mixture of woods as some are lighter and relatively fragile, and some are denser and harder. If you go through and pick out the lighter pieces this stuff tends to make acceptable BP. I think the heavier stuff is mostly oak, though that's just an educated guess, which tends to not make the best BP.

[Arthur]

Charcoal is used as a fuel, but in different ways for which different charcoals are better. For fast powerful BP the classic charcoals are fine stick Willow, Alder and a few others. For spark effects Pine is popular.

 

The usual method of identifying timber for charcoal is "fast growing wood that grows near water, from the size of a man's finger to the size of his forearm"

 

BBQ briquettes are made from about 20% rock dust filler so make really bad powder.

Bagged BBQ lumps are made from recovered lumps of wood collected from timber works -so they can be any wood. However the softest lumps will usually produce OK powder -if they crumble by hand it's a good sign.

 

The ultimate available charcoals for fast powder in the UK come from a producer of fine artist's willow charcoal drawing sticks, their "broken sticks" and milled waste are fabulous but expensive.

 

I had some fine stick willow (less than 0.25" DIA) and some big log willow once and the fine stick willow led to much faster powder.

[Boophoenix]

That last sentence is interesting Author. I hope to embark on some testing to touch on that finding one day before long.

[OldMarine]

There's no "dead" heartwood in the smaller limbs and twigs. Everything I've read and personal (anecdotal) experience point to only the cambium, xylem and phloem portions of the tree to be good for charcoal. Though heartwood contains many of of the volatiles and sugars found in the living wood and I think these contribute greatly to charcoal performance in lift, burst and spark areas it's inaccessible due to the high temps required to char the harder wood. I live near a cedar mill that makes lumber from the heartwood and sells the outer cuttings as shavings and chips and have cooked both heartwood splints and those of the outer portions of the tree and the difference is very noticeable. The outer, lighter wood is much better for charcoal hands down IMHO.

[Boophoenix]

Cool Patrick, thanks for sharing that. I planned some tests for that specifically with cedar where you could easily separate the colors of the large parts. You've been reading some of the same info or following some of the conversations with Dave, lol.