so i just learned that people make charcoal by putting wood in some container with little oxygen and build a fire around it. but why not just burn the wood directly, and take the leftovers?
im guessing some of the wood burns away if you aren’t using a container, so it’s less efficient, but if you’re in a forest with limitless wood it doesn’t really seem to be worth the effort when you can easily just create a bigger fire. another reason i can guess is that the charcoal you get from using a container is higher quality. if that is the case, why does it produce higher quality charcoal, and what does it mean for charcoal to be higher quality?
In: Chemistry
Yes you can do this. For example if you watch the primitive technology YouTube channel it prepares charcoal by starting a fire until it gets hot enough to make charcoal and then smothering it with water.
Heating in a sealed container is more efficient with regards to wood but the other reason is that you don’t have to keep a eye on the fire to tell when you have to quench it. Just light your fire and then go on and do other tasks.
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