You can make that???

We have had our normal gas grill for years but, as we all know, flame is best when it comes to cooking. Now we have a Kamado Akorn grill so of course we need to get charcoal. Well, if you know and love Dan as we all do, he does not just buy charcoal – he makes it – Hardwood Lump Charcoal to be exact!

 And here is how he does it…

He cuts up some seasoned oak wood into roughly 4"x4" chunks and fills a 15 Gallon drum.  That drum is placed on an old grill grate setting on bricks inside a 55 Gallon drum. He builds a fire under the smaller drum which has 5 small holes in the bottom.  At first, lots of white smoke pours out of the smaller barrel as the moisture burns out.  When that slows, he covers the barrels (leaving the large one cracked) and continues burning until outgassing stops.  Apparently outgassing is the burning of volatile elements in the lump, leaving only pure carbon charcoal. I know, you were thinking it was something else…so was I.

You will eventually see small jets of flame coming from the holes drilled in the small drum. He then removes the small drum and sets it in sand to cut off the air.  That's it!  It works very well in the Kamado Grill! Big thanks to our friend Sue who helped us get the barrels. Thanks, Sue!