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
Once you have burned wood, you cannot “reburn” it. It is ash, and there is nothing combustible left to relight.
Charcoal is wood that has been heated beyond the burning point in a low oxygen environment so that it “carbonizes”. It leaves you with something that still contains all the combustible stuff, but none of the stuff that makes that combustion less efficient.
As for “higher quality”, that has to do with the manner in which it is created. You will sometimes find bits of the charcoal you buy is not fully carbonized. The less of that in the bag you buy, the better it is. Also, bigger chunks are deemed by some to be “better”.
Latest Answers