Thailand - Charcoal making

[David48atTD]

Where's there's Smoke there's probably a Thai making charcoal ...

At the Farm in Central Thailand where we live when we are in Thailand there are 2 Charcoal makers close by ... sometimes to close by when the wind direction is wrong!

The closest one is quite friendly and I've gotten to know the Family over the many years I've lived at the Farm.

Thus the lady had no problems sharing the process of making charcoal.

Usually they buy the shit wood, often wooden pallets, sometimes wood offcuts which occur as part of a manufacturing process, even tree stumps are used.

The burning/smoking process removes the moisture and produces the charcoal.

No enterprise is complete without meeting (some of) the crew ...


Neighbour Nong



Neighbour's Brother-in-Law

The B-I-L is apparently challenged intellectually (from birth, not job related) and it would take a strong man to overcome that working environment.

Making charcoal with this method is apparently quite a good earner for the Thais ... but with questionable environmental issues.

The economics of the business in a later post.










The joy of having a Charcoal maker right next door ...



Heaps more stuff to post, just takes a while to gather this together.


There are many different methods to make charcoal and please add any images/media you have.

[TheDukeofNewcastle]

I have seen the ancient turf covered kilns in use at an industrial museum in Yorkshire, and more modern versions made of cast iron sheet in a subsistence smallholding. It was sustainable when coppicing and pollarding was popular.

Man’s use of charcoal extends back as far as human history itself. It was first used more than 30,000 years ago to make some of the earliest cave paintings. Much later, charcoal played an important role in what might be considered mankind’s first technology, the smelting and working of metals. In more recent times, charcoal has remained a technologically important material, primarily as a result of its adsorptive properties. The use of activated charcoal in gas masks during World War I saved many thousands of lives, and today charcoal is used on an enormous scale for the purification of air and water. From a scientific perspective, charcoal is also of great interest since we are beginning to achieve a detailed picture of its atomic structure for the first time. In this article I want to look at charcoal from the point of view of art, technology and science.

Historically, production of wood charcoal in districts where there is an abundance of wood dates back to a very ancient period, and generally consists of piling billets of wood on their ends so as to form a conical pile, openings being left at the bottom to admit air, with a central shaft to serve as a flue. The whole pile is covered with turf or moistened clay. The firing is begun at the bottom of the flue, and gradually spreads outwards and upwards. The success of the operation depends upon the rate of the combustion. Under average conditions, 100 parts of wood yield about 60 parts byvolume, or 25 parts by weight, of charcoal; small-scale production on the spot often yields only about 50%, large-scale was efficient to about 90% even by the seventeenth century. The operation is so delicate that it was generally left to colliers (professional charcoal burners).

https://charcoalkiln.wordpress.com/2...aking-history/

[Pragmatic]

I must admit I've never seen charcoal done that way in the above pics. They only use the hand made dome clay ovens around here. Every other person does it and none is done on a commercial basis.

[TheDukeofNewcastle]

I must admit I've never seen charcoal done that way in the above pics. They only use the hand made dome clay ovens around here. Every other person does it and none is done on a commercial basis.

The depiction in the op does seem a bit primitive. No control of temperature without some kind of cover. Too hot or too quick a burn and you end up with ash.
Maybe the op pics just show the reveal shots?

[crackerjack101]

Looks to me as if they'd covered and controlled the fire with those sheets of corrugated steel.
Must have used something or they'd have no charcoal.

[diverken]

My mother in law just uses earth and rice husks to control the fire to make her charcoal.I have seen those clay domed charcoal overns when traveling around Thailand.

[jamescollister]

We make our own from the fallen branches of the rubber trees, using a steel drum [oil type].

Get about 2 bags per rai, saves money over time.

[David48atTD]

The fire from a distance


Up close with the smoke signals


The idea of the tin over the wood/material is to suppress the flame and reflect/retain the heat for removing the moisture.
They can burn 24/7 ... regardless of rain, hail or shine.

[David48atTD]

They do grade the charcoal though.
They first run it over a coarse sieve with the smaller particles falling through and these simply get collected and (around these parts) placed into an old (20kg) fish food bag and are then sold on as seconds at a cheaper price.
The larger pieces are broken up.
The rest then get moved as shown in the video into the big pile which cools and is then bagged for sale.

Hot and dirty work ...

[David48atTD]

As mentioned in the OP, a little on the economics of the operation.
Though these prices are a few years old, from when I did the research and interviews.


The sawmill off cuts of green wood with a high moisture content take the longest to turn into charcoal and are bought at B0.65 a Kilo ... yes ... less then a Baht a kilo ...


Green Wood

The better quality stuff is bought by the truck (Ute) load (no specific weight could be ascertained) for B 2,500.


I've seen photos of the kilns used to make charcoal, but a couple of things, maybe they are used because it's for domestic consumption only.
Plus they use only small pieces of wood.


These guys are larger, commercial operations, making large quantities and using large/long pieces of wood which wouldn't fit into a domestic kiln.

[David48atTD]

I must admit I've never seen charcoal done that way in the above pics. They only use the hand made dome clay ovens around here. Every other person does it and none is done on a commercial basis.

The depiction in the op does seem a bit primitive. No control of temperature without some kind of cover. Too hot or too quick a burn and you end up with ash.
Maybe the op pics just show the reveal shots?

Duke, you are spot on.

Firstly a shallow pit about 3m x 3m is dug, the wood piled in and covered with sheets of corrugated iron. Also some small air vents are allowed to form within the wood and iron sheet stack.

They then proceed to 'cool' the stack with water hose.

'How' they know the right temperature within the stack to produce charcoal, I have no idea ... I assume it's just a 'feel' thing.


I'll look through the photos and see if I have one of what I've described above.
Failing that I'll grab a few more photos next time we are there.


EDIT:-


From the photo above, the pit is about a foot (30 cm) deep and quite large.

[crepitas]

Silly question maybe? Who buys the charcoal and for what. Are there so many people still cooking with charcoal?
Certainly we BBQ with charcoal but though we are in a rural area I think LPG is the most common regular cooking method apart from market/street vendors selling BBQ chicken etc...err maybe I just answered my own question?..55
BTW Wife only buys that which is made from hardwoods...says the softwood charcoal burns away too quick.

[fishlocker]

The old folks prefer the small clay charcoal "grills" so I've noticed wich I confirmed with gf as to why. Same reason most purists prefer the coals for cooking. The flavor of the smoking process especially when it's fish on the grill so I'm told. If a pan or Wok are used then the LP is used from what I have seen while touring. Plus the little grills and the coal are affordable to the average camper. Its a social event to get a little dinner from my limited experience.

Never saw pallets being used, only chunks of wood. I've been asked to buy a few sacks for mil while visiting. Not expensive from what I recall.

[TheDukeofNewcastle]

Thanks for they detailed explanation David. I guess it's a skill passed down and refined over generations.

[Pragmatic]

A normal/household charcoal oven. Big enough for a man to get inside. Inside the floor has been dug out so there is a step down on entry.








David48atTD, has yer missus got a red t-shirt displayed outside your house as per the pic below? Used to scare off the spirits from stealing male children.

[David48atTD]

^^^^ crepitas ... mate, not a 'silly question' at all.
At the Farm where we live (when in Thailand), they also use the LPG cylinder for most of the cooking but, sometimes it's just decided that we will cook outside and it's usually a ceramic pot with the charcoal and a small metal grill to cook on.

Sort like deciding, in the west, if you will use the frypan on the hotplate ... or BBQ outside.


Extended Family


NYE fry-up








^^^

<snip> Its a social event to get a little dinner from my limited experience.

fishlocker ... agreed ... 'Its a social event'


^^ Duke ... more then welcome ... have heaps more media to post, just have to spread it over a few posts, making it easier to digest.


^ Pragmatic ... great photos and a good contribution to the collective knowledge.
I've never seen one the same as you have posted.

I enjoyed reading that.

And NO ... no 'red t-shirt displayed outside your house'.
We live in Australia ATM ... back to Thailand later this year.

My partner doesn't go in for much of the Thai superstitions.
Some ... yes, but thankfully not everyday is a shitfight of logic vs Thai superstition ... honestly ... I doubt if I could deal with that.
The extended Family ... fine ... but not the mother of my children.



I'll post more when I can.

[crackerjack101]

Excellent stuff David. Thanks.

[Pragmatic]

And NO ... no 'red t-shirt displayed outside our house'.
My partner doesn't go in for much of the Thai superstitions.

Thankfully nether does my missus. But there again I don't know if she relies on others nearby to scare the spirits away as she does believe in ghosts.

[David48atTD]

Who would be a charcoal maker with these conditions?


The clip below is longer and, if you speak Thai, more of the process is explained.


From what I've seen, all the Charcoal is hand sorted and sized.

Watching her break the pieces, the quality seems good also.


A few more images from that day ...


Recovering the product.

Top right of the photo are some wooden pallets awaiting their burn.

Top left are some metal sheets used to cover the burn.

Right foreground are some of small fines which are apparently excellent as a clay soil improver.





Hard work makes a hard man.

[biff]

Hi..my MIL..makes it all the time..but uses tree stumps and other hardwood scraps..
The people in the village often will drop of some they have found..
Puts it in a heap , lights the fire, starts to cover it with sand.
Over 1 or 2 days its covered...lets it smoulder away...for a few days..
When ready , uncovers charcoal..cools it, bags it up..200 baht a bag..

A lot of people still use in a village, in claypot fire..hard for them to change, especially if old..
Great for cooking rice in a double boiler( pot inside another)..

[thaimeme]

Hi..my MIL..makes it all the time..but uses tree stumps and other hardwood scraps..
The people in the village often will drop of some they have found..
Puts it in a heap , lights the fire, starts to cover it with sand.
Over 1 or 2 days its covered...lets it smoulder away...for a few days..
When ready , uncovers charcoal..cools it, bags it up..200 baht a bag..

A lot of people still use in a village, in claypot fire..hard for them to change, especially if old..
Great for cooking rice in a double boiler( pot inside another)..

Sure....as there are a variety ways of preparations of creating charcoal.
Some techniques might be considered crude or less sophisticated than such proposed "proper" manners in which to secure the final quality product.

I've known numerous folks that make charcoal, be it for smallholding home use or large production - the manners and mechanics might differ, yet the product is almost always similar of grade.

For years, an alternative raw material and methodology has been in place to secure a more sustainable industry - economically speaking.

[Dillinger]

Hard work makes a hard man.

That neighbours brother in law looks a right shifty one




And those pallets in the background don't look very old

[Pragmatic]

And those pallets in the background don't look very old

I bet they fell off the back of a lorry.

[Topper]

I frigging love the stuff, it's the only thing I'll use in my barbeque.

10B a bag, get three bags and I can bbq all day long.

My last Thai gf only had the little clay pot bbq for cooking. Steam the rice, then cook the meat.

[David48atTD]

An update as we've had a 2nd charcoal maker on the scene.

A base of wooden pallets are laid.



I presume the gaps allow the oxygen to circulate within the charcoal heap.


After the platform is laid, the bulk of the timber is cast over and tin is used to form the sides.



Captured as a movie ...

The guy always a smile for me.




Above is one we prepared earlier.

Sunrises, in Winter, with all the water around usually are a bit special, though there's not much joy in a charcoal labourer's day.
.