Posted by Smoky on May 09, 1996 at 08:41:41:
In Reply to: Lump Charcoal - Home Made posted by Barbecue Doctor on May 07, 1996 at 09:46:08:
Doc,
If you have a decent barbecue grill, you have the makin's of a good
charcoal kiln. All you do is fill it up with white oak and a little
hickory, start a small fire and almost shut down the exhaust vent. You
have no doubt seen folks try to
control their temperature by shutting
down the exhaust rather than the air intake and, thereby, generating
monstrous amounts of soot (carbon) and creosote flavored meat. So,
stoke up the grill, close the lid and take a trip.
In an atmospher
e deprived of adequate oxygen to consume the lignins,
only the volatile gases are driven off and burned. Creosote, ie liquid
smoke, is a by-product.
Natural charcoal does burn more rapidly and, compared ounce for ounce,
with briquets deliver
s more heat. It burns more rapidly because it is
less dense and has hundreds of square inches of surface area per cubic
inch of volumn. This allows the oxygen intimate contact with carbon
and when carbon and oxygen have a little heat, they love
to combine
(combust). It does not burn longer, however, since this would defy a
couple laws of physics.
Also, briquets all use some sort of binding (gluing) agent which does
not deliver the same BTUs as charcoal. Kingsford uses real mineralcoal, which is that petroleum type smell you get; The last check that
I made, Royal Oak was using clay/limestone as a binder. Some use flour.
The best readily available briquet that I have ever tested is made by
Hickory Specialities in Brentw
ood,TN. One of their brands is "Old Hickory".
But - If you have the wood, why make charcoal? Charcoal was made to
reduce the transportation cost. (Mass & Volumn) My favorite fuel is
wood coals. All you do is make a separate fire to reduce the woo
d to
hot coals and add them to your grill as needed. Wood is cheaper, you
know what species went into the mix,and you can cook beans, make coffee
or heat water to scald the hog or run the still.
Good luck,
Smoky