Why am I cooking charcoal?

[Cartmann]

I have ERC and Paulownia that I purchased so I didn't have to

make any.

 

Yet here I am making a batch of willow charcoal.

It's DIFFERENT right?

 

Right???

 

 

 

cartmann

[royster]

In my short experience any willow wood charcoal is great for pyro.

[SharkWhisperer]

I have ERC and Paulownia that I purchased so I didn't have to

make any.

 

Yet here I am making a batch of willow charcoal.

It's DIFFERENT right?

 

Right???

 

 

 

cartmann

My homemade willow BP is as hot as any BP made with homemade ERC (or purchased ERC; paulownia to be tested still). Homemade alder BP is pretty hot, too.

 

There is a certain satisfaction that comes from making everything from start-to-finish. Now you just need to mine your own sulfur and make some KNO₃ from wood ash and you'll be a true DIYer!

 

You might find, though, that it's simply cheaper (timewise) and much cleaner, to purchase bulk hardwood airfloat charcoal instead of making/milling or grinding down from commercial lump bbq charcoal for stars, primes, gerbs and such where you don't necessarily want to "waste" your hot charcoal for generic purposes.

 

Plus, now you'll have 3 hot charcoals that you can directly compare and decide which suits you best.

[MadMat]

If you want the hottest possible BP that willow can make, let the wood get to a semi-rotted state before cooking it. When the bark starts to shed off very easily and the wood itself is beginning to soften slightly, it is time to cook it

[Uarbor]

Well I have found my new Forever retort. My first batch of Willow came out perfect

 

https://youtu.be/EP3oI2ahvZo

Edited June 26, 2021 by Uarbor

[Sideburns]

I have ERC and Paulownia that I purchased so I didn't have to

make any.

 

Yet here I am making a batch of willow charcoal.

It's DIFFERENT right?

 

Right???

 

 

 

cartmann

 

 

I hear ya..... You know you should be doing something else, but you find yourself trying and perfecting different kinds of charcoal. Each batch acts a little differently. Then sometime later you find that your retort(s) have temperature probes, dataloggers and computer controls, but only on the first two..... the third retort (2000 gallon stainless) is still not completed yet.... they get more complicated when they are the size of a dump truck...right?.... Lol.... Just me? oh, so your not working on 134a absorption tests and studying porosity with your new microscope tonight? Oh.

 

Seriously though, this biochar venture ive embarked on lends itself to pyrotech so well. Seems that biochar and fireworks need the same flavor of char. Fast growing species, many of wich would be worthless as firewood, with as much tiny empty pore space as possible.

[Arthur]

The best charcoal available in the UK once was the reject sticks from a fine arts charcoal factory. It was willow, debarked and cooked in an electric kiln to exact completion. The full sticks were boxed and sold for sketching (very expensively) the sticks that broke were scrapped, to us.