Tuesday, November 19, 2024

charcoal - way easier to make than it looks


 This is willow charcoal I made.  The willow trees need coppicing (chopping down) each winter and I took some sticks and pealed the bark off them.

This is an old tin something, maybe chocolates?  With a nail, puncture the hole in it.  fill it as tight as possible with sticks (green is fine, dry is better) and wrap some stiff wire around it to make sure it stays closed.  Toss it in the woodstove at the end of the day.  It's ready by morning.

Considering, with shipping and stuff, it's about a dollar a stick to buy this kind of willow charcoal, I expected it to be more difficult to make.

2 comments:

Josiane said...
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Josiane said...

I had recently come across instructions on how to make charcoal, and while it seemed relatively simple, your method sounds even simpler — provided that one has access to a wood stove! I don't have a wood stove myself, but my parents do; it would be fun to give that a try when I go visit them, and then to get to draw with homemade charcoal sticks. Thank you for sharing!