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Making Charcoal

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vtsteam:
A 55 gallon drum with an open end on bottom and a hole cut in the top. Also a circle of 1/8" sheet a few inches larger than the drum hole to form a lid.

The drum is supported on 3 firebricks. Sand is placed around the base and kindling and old brands are placed in the bottom of the barrel.

vtsteam:
A post is set vertically in the middle of the barrel to act as a chimney form when packing the wood in. After loading wood, the post is removed leaving a center space, as seen here.

vtsteam:
The kindling is lit. The fire builds quickly -- a little smoke at first, but it soon settles into a clear clean burn (unlike many other charcoal methods I've seen). When the fire burns down some I place the lid partially over the top hole. I regulate the opening so the fire is just short of smoking. At this point I may also put some large pieces of aluminum over the exhaust if I want to crack it up easily after heating it so the aluminum will fit more easily into a crucible.

vtsteam:
I also regulate the fire by adding more sand around the bottom of the barrel.

Eventually when the wood has burned down to about 1/3 its original volume, I cover it completely with the lid. I pull the firebricks out from under the barrel while supporting it with a shovel in one hand to keep it from tipping over.

Then I put sand on top of the crack in the lid to seal it. Sand around the bottom is piled to seal that, as well

vtsteam:
The whole process takes maybe an hour.

Then it's time to let the barrel cool. That may take 4 more hours. It should be absolutely cool to the touch. If not, it may be that air is still being allowed in through a leak. You must seal the leak and make sure the fire is completely out with all embers dead before opening it up. So check after a coaling a few times and wait for cool!

The result, charcoal!

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