Take charcoal for example. On the surface, it seems basic. Black, minimal and unassuming. Yet charcoal is history and evolution — all rolled into one. From metallurgical and industrial fuelling to filtration, pyrotechnics, cosmetics and of course the humble BBQ, these powerful pieces packed with potential are engrained into our daily lives. However, their story is mostly ignored or simply unknown.
Enter Big K to drop some charcoal knowledge on the masses. The first thing to note is that the process of making charcoal is ancient. Rewind about 30, years. Neanderthals roam the European continent. Yet far from their mainstream depiction as un-evolved and simplistic, they were highly sophisticated. So sophisticated in fact, that they created their own charcoal for heating and cooking purposes. Did they chisel invitations on slate and invite their neighbours for a spot of grilled mammoth?
The details are sketchy at best. The point is that charcoal has been around for a very long time. It has shaped our evolution, so its importance cannot be denied. We could delve into the details of how charcoal is made for days. We believe that making charcoal is an art form in itself. There are multiple stages and many factors that need to be mastered and controlled, such as the type of wood used, air regulation, temperature and burn time.
Quality charcoal is made up of mostly pure carbon A. Wood is cooked in a low oxygen environment for a period of time. Essentially this burns off volatile compounds including methane, water, hydrogen and tar. The burn is an integral part of the proceedings. So the kiln or multiple-hearth furnace are essential players in the charcoal game.
Moving into the commercial arena, a large concrete or steel kiln is used. For the charcoal geeks and stat lovers out there, these kilns are typically about three meters wide and over a meter high.
The dry wood is fragmented into small pieces and arranged in a stack, rising to the very top of the chamber. Once this is done the kiln is shut. Then a layer of insulation is added to further trap any escaping heat.
Now things spark into life. A fire is started in the burn chamber and soon steam is produced, rising up the chimney and out of the kiln. As previously mentioned, this fire creates heat, burning off water, impurities and other compounds, leaving mostly pure carbon behind. Generally, wood structures known as charcoal piles are used shown in Figure 3. Within these piles, the wood is heated in the absence of air oxygen that would otherwise allow the wood to ignite and burn away.
Since there isn't enough oxygen for this to occur, the wood is forced to decompose into a variety of substances—one of them being charcoal. Other substances besides charcoal are also created, one of them being ash. These products are known as by-products and can be collected for other uses. As the wood is heated, it absorbs heat and is dried, giving off moisture in the form of water vapour.
Once the wood is dry, it begins to decompose, giving off carbon monoxide , carbon dioxide , and other chemicals. When the temperature is raised even more, the wood structure begins to breakdown and charcoal begins to form. Heating beyond this point removes more tar and increases the carbon quantity of the charcoal, improving its quality. There are both health and environmental issues involved with the use of charcoal as a fuel.
The health issues that arise from using charcoal are the same problems that arise from the use of other solid fuels. These health issues, primarily due to the smoke that is produced when the charcoal is burned, [4] include an increased number of cases of pneumonia, stroke, heart disease, and lung cancer. One primary, concerning aspect of charcoal is that it is produced from forest resources—resulting in the extensive use of forest biomass which could represent a potential issue in regards to environmental harm.
Due to the large amount of charcoal that is needed—about tins the size of the containers in Figure 1—deforestation could be an issue if high demand is paired with poor forest management and regulations.
In addition to being a health and environmental risk, charcoal is also inefficient and dirty, creating a large amount of black soot. Access to non-solid fuels can minimize the amount of charcoal a family uses and thus decrease negative health side effects. Measured by the chimney-full, though, which is a more convenient measure unless you're busting out your scale each time you grill , hardwood lump burns faster than briquettes, since the irregular shape of the lump charcoal makes for less efficient packing in the chimney.
The nitty gritty of burn time and ash aside, though, hardwood lump's big difference is the real wood smoke. Pure charcoal, made almost entirely of carbon, won't smoke at all when lit--what makes smoke, and that smoky flavor, are the bits of real wood that remain in the mix. So while it might mean that your charcoal burns a little less efficiently, having a few pieces of not-totally-charcoalized wood in a bag of hardwood lump means that your meat is more likely to pick up a little smoke action, even without adding wood chips to the grill.
We spoke with Doug Hanthorn, the man behind The Naked Whiz's Lump Charcoal Database , a collection of a decade's worth of lump charcoal reviews, to find out what sets a great hardwood lump apart from the rest. He began reviewing charcoal soon after getting his first Big Green Egg which, as mentioned before, has to burn lump charcoal, since briquettes are too ashy in , and has since reviewed over 90 different brands.
In other words, he is a man who knows about hardwood lump charcoal. He rates the charcoal on ash production, burn time, maximum temperature, ease of lighting, ratio per bag of actual charcoal to junk pieces and dust, and the smell and smokiness of the burn. After doing as much precision testing as he has, he was a little loath to generalize you can check out the database here , but did come up with a few broad strokes: "I will say that American hardwood charcoal, not mesquite, but the oak, hickory, maple-blend type, all tends to be fairly good, overall.
As you can see on his site, the smokiness of the lump charcoal varies pretty widely, but if you err on the side of unsmokiness, you can always add in more wood chips to the mix.
Hanthorn likes to add applewood for lamb and apple or hickory for ribs and we have more suggestions for adding wood based on the recipe , but tends to go no-wood for chicken, since it picks up plenty of smoke from the charcoal itself. Wood and wood combined with fillers and pressed into briquettes isn't the only option out there.
Charred coconut shells, pressed into cubes or rods, can also work for grilling. But, Hanthorn warns, the lower-quality stuff can produce huge amounts of ash, and still cost more than your typical briquettes, so ask around. Hanthorn likes Charcos brand. To summarize: If you've got a Weber-style grill, and don't feel like you want a lot of smoke going on, charcoal briquettes are totally fine.
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