braddsn Posted May 31, 2017 Posted May 31, 2017 Some of you already know this, but I run a sawmill as a hobby and side job. This is where I get my ERC and Poplar for pyro charcoal. I have tons of it, an endless supply. However, the wood that I use for charcoal is in the form of boards, that I cut into smaller pieces and cook. I have read (in FAST) and other places that you should be using limbs from the tree smaller than your wrist. Is there a big difference in using limbs, as opposed to using boards cut from the log (heartwood and sapwood)? Thanks!
Nessalco Posted May 31, 2017 Posted May 31, 2017 I believe it has to do with rate of growth and the resulting density of the wood - small branches are growing faster and tend to be less dense. FWIW, the ERC chips that folks use for TLUDs are a mix of branch and trunk wood, plus bark, and it works fine. KO
al93535 Posted May 31, 2017 Posted May 31, 2017 Making charcoal for what? Prime, break and stars? No, you will see zero difference. The only contributing factor is not under or over cooking the charcoal. Use up the free wood, it's perfect.
Sparx88 Posted May 31, 2017 Posted May 31, 2017 No, not enough difference to worry about. I get pretty much the same performance with a 6" log cut or a 2" branch even with paulownia.
lloyd Posted May 31, 2017 Posted May 31, 2017 My experience with black willow is about the same. It NEVER gets up to 6" trunks around here, but even the 4" trunks seem to make fine charcoal. Lloyd
braddsn Posted June 1, 2017 Author Posted June 1, 2017 Thanks fellas.... I will continue to use the lumber then! One of the reasons I asked is because I also have hundreds, maybe thousands of black willow trees growing around 2 lakes on my property, and it would be quick and easy to saw off some small limbs and cook them. But if there is not much of a difference, I will continue to use the leftover lumber. It's nice because I saw it up into 1" x 1" sticks, makes it easy to handle and cook that way.
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