When having a barbecue I have come across. Pieces of what I think is wood charcoal that will not burn. They sort of flake and oxidide a very little bit. These pieces have growthrings andusual fibre charcoal structure. To get them to burn after 2 hours in a barbecue, I transferred them to a brasier and got them hot enough to do this to nails easily just using pliers to twist them.
what is this charcoal stuff please
- Thread starter petrochemicals
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Surely it can not be Asbestos?
Did it come from a pack of bought charcoal?
If yes, check where the charcoal is made. The furnaces used in modern charcoal making are lined with a fire proof layer.
Used to be Asbestos, today they use a similar looking thing.
Did it come from a pack of bought charcoal?
If yes, check where the charcoal is made. The furnaces used in modern charcoal making are lined with a fire proof layer.
Used to be Asbestos, today they use a similar looking thing.
Yep purchaced charcoal, and it does sound ceramic, but as this photo shows its got tree rings andlooks like charcoal. It even glowed red.
I think this is Robson Valley's area.
How very strange!
Asbestos glows red when heated. But it is white/light grey.
Silica?
How very strange!
Asbestos glows red when heated. But it is white/light grey.
Silica?
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Well dont let on too much to robson. Carbon has the highest temperature of solid form of any element, so if we have a form that lasts in oxygen it could be a new thermal lining material!
Where did you get the charcoal ?
Y'see charcoal that's adulterated with alum is used as a water filter, but, charcoal that's saturated with alum won't burn.....well not easily.
Alum is used in a spray for theatrical costumes, curtains, etc., that fireproofs them.
Might have nothing at all to do with your charcoal, but both those statements are true. People who do their own activated charcoal thing don't always use fines, they often use 'natural' type chunky pieces. Just fill a length of drainpipe and let the water slowly percolate down through it.
I have friends who have lengths of the pipe fastened onto the kitchen cupboard beside their sinks. That said though, they don't do the alum thing, but the water treatment folks do. They use the alum to flocculate the peat and clay particles before it hits the fine screens so it doesn't clog them up. I don't know what they do with the used charcoal though. I did hear that it was being dumped in wetland ditch fills though where they were trying to re-establish peat bogs and stop the over drainage. They don't want to add fertiliser, just organic debris kind of thing.
So, where did you get the charcoal ? and did it burn with a funny colour when you finally got it to go ?
Y'see charcoal that's adulterated with alum is used as a water filter, but, charcoal that's saturated with alum won't burn.....well not easily.
Alum is used in a spray for theatrical costumes, curtains, etc., that fireproofs them.
Might have nothing at all to do with your charcoal, but both those statements are true. People who do their own activated charcoal thing don't always use fines, they often use 'natural' type chunky pieces. Just fill a length of drainpipe and let the water slowly percolate down through it.
I have friends who have lengths of the pipe fastened onto the kitchen cupboard beside their sinks. That said though, they don't do the alum thing, but the water treatment folks do. They use the alum to flocculate the peat and clay particles before it hits the fine screens so it doesn't clog them up. I don't know what they do with the used charcoal though. I did hear that it was being dumped in wetland ditch fills though where they were trying to re-establish peat bogs and stop the over drainage. They don't want to add fertiliser, just organic debris kind of thing.
So, where did you get the charcoal ? and did it burn with a funny colour when you finally got it to go ?
I got it out of a big bag of shop purchaced lumpwood. It must be something like alum infusion, it's got the growth rings but sounds ceramic, my guess was some sort of mineral transferance, so rather than carbonizing it like normal it's some sort of pottery now . It's undoubtibly from oversees as uk stuff seems to be briquette form, probably not very enviroment frendly, done on the ground in a felled rain forest, probably from the bottom of the heap.
I never did get it to burn after hours of barbecue and then into a brazier.
I never did get it to burn after hours of barbecue and then into a brazier.
Y'just never can tell these days 
I know we struggled to get a bag to light a couple of years ago, and ended up just binning it in the end. It looked fine, it just would not burn, and I wasn't for pouring fuel over it to get it going. Hydrocarbons are not something I want in my dinner or atmosphere I breath if I can avoid them.
There are a lot of small charcoal makers in the UK, but their's isn't cheap, and not often found in the supermarkets or garage forecourts. Unfortunately.
For instance,
https://www.growninbritain.org/news-events/buy-assured-british-charcoal/
M
I know we struggled to get a bag to light a couple of years ago, and ended up just binning it in the end. It looked fine, it just would not burn, and I wasn't for pouring fuel over it to get it going. Hydrocarbons are not something I want in my dinner or atmosphere I breath if I can avoid them.
There are a lot of small charcoal makers in the UK, but their's isn't cheap, and not often found in the supermarkets or garage forecourts. Unfortunately.
For instance,
https://www.growninbritain.org/news-events/buy-assured-british-charcoal/
M
Thank you. I didn't agree and looked it up, expecting Tungsten to win. You win. I love learning new things.
Looks to me like big chunks of expanded mica (mineral) that have slagged off the kiln walls.
It does not burn. Slabs of it were used as windows in wood stoves.
It does not burn. Slabs of it were used as windows in wood stoves.
Being as its lumps with rings, rather than sheets with lamella, i would say wood rather than mineral. I've had charcoal that doesn't burn for whatever reason. It could be some additive as toddy suggests, but i've seen it with natural handmade charcoal. I had a batch of sweet chestnut charcoal a few years back that just wouldn't burn! If it had applied air (ie bellows) then it kinda would, but otherwise it just sat there not burning in the forge. I had some more sweet chestnut from the same collier but made a few hundred miles apart and it was fine and burnt like any other charcoal. I guess there must've been something in the soils where the first lot grew?
I purchaced some sainsburys lumpwood with tye forestry commision mark on so i imagine its sustainable. https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/g...tant-lighting-charcoal-6kg-121048641-p-44With the way it burns thougt i should also think its cheap made from soft wood, goes white and extinguishes itself, cooking is possible but its not like the other stuff made out of rainforest !Y'just never can tell these days
I know we struggled to get a bag to light a couple of years ago, and ended up just binning it in the end. It looked fine, it just would not burn, and I wasn't for pouring fuel over it to get it going. Hydrocarbons are not something I want in my dinner or atmosphere I breath if I can avoid them.
There are a lot of small charcoal makers in the UK, but their's isn't cheap, and not often found in the supermarkets or garage forecourts. Unfortunately.
For instance,
https://www.growninbritain.org/news-events/buy-assured-british-charcoal/
M
Write to Sainsbury's. Seriously, they'll pay heed if folks complain....or at least complain to Tye forestry commission and tell them about it.
Not all charcoal is equal, maybe it's time we were discriminating. We know which firewoods burn best, the same is true of charcoal.
Why pay a premium for substandard materials ?
M
Not all charcoal is equal, maybe it's time we were discriminating. We know which firewoods burn best, the same is true of charcoal.
Why pay a premium for substandard materials ?
M
Firewood and charcoals are not the same thing. Partially pyrolyzed, I would select a charcoal based upon why I wanted a fire in the first place.
Really stinky woods can really ruin food. Behind glass for heat, conifer (oven-dried) mass is tops.
From what you describe, you are really getting upscrewed and the best of your charcoal is off to the Ritz.
When I expect smokewood for serious BBQ, I can pick from much the same selection that you can in the UK.
For my tribe, any fruit wood, apple in particular, is the best. You haven't got mesquite and hickory, don't be concerned.
Saturday night was wild sockeye with apple wood smoke. Sunday was pork side ribs for 3 hours with apple, again.
When I expect clean heat for simple tasks like grilling steaks, lump mesquite is #1.
It adds no particular flavors and anything like creosote and my tribe will run for the hills.
Really stinky woods can really ruin food. Behind glass for heat, conifer (oven-dried) mass is tops.
From what you describe, you are really getting upscrewed and the best of your charcoal is off to the Ritz.
When I expect smokewood for serious BBQ, I can pick from much the same selection that you can in the UK.
For my tribe, any fruit wood, apple in particular, is the best. You haven't got mesquite and hickory, don't be concerned.
Saturday night was wild sockeye with apple wood smoke. Sunday was pork side ribs for 3 hours with apple, again.
When I expect clean heat for simple tasks like grilling steaks, lump mesquite is #1.
It adds no particular flavors and anything like creosote and my tribe will run for the hills.
Could it be poplar wood based? Poplar is grown commercially in the UK, and is known for not holding an ember, which is why it gets used for match sticks.
over the years I've used a lot of charcoal and I only buy it from the makers (or make it myself), so know what species are in it. The quality of the burn and the condition of the wood are far more important than the species in my experience. The softer woods generally burn faster than the harder woods.
That said, I have had some oddities that we couldn't find a reason for. One such oddity was with some sweet chestnut charcoal. I had some made in the Chew Valley (near Bristol) that showed all of the signs of very well made charcoal and was made by one of the best colliers that I have ever met, yet it would just sit there if it didn't have a stiff breeze. Even when used in the forge it would struggle to burn well and the following day after forging there would still be a pile of unburnt charcoal in the forge instead of the usual pile of fine ash. I bought some more sweet chestnut from a guy I know in Somerset and wasn't as well made or was of variable quality and it burnt fine, just like any of the other charcoals that I had used from that person. The only thing that we could think was the soil conditions that the trees were grown in.
Aside from that one occasion, I have never found domestically produced charcoal to fail. Is the sainsbury's stuff actually made from UK wood, or is it just marked as sustainable forest? All that means is that the rainforest is being raped and then replanted with palms or something else! So it could well be dodgy exotic wood.
That said, I have had some oddities that we couldn't find a reason for. One such oddity was with some sweet chestnut charcoal. I had some made in the Chew Valley (near Bristol) that showed all of the signs of very well made charcoal and was made by one of the best colliers that I have ever met, yet it would just sit there if it didn't have a stiff breeze. Even when used in the forge it would struggle to burn well and the following day after forging there would still be a pile of unburnt charcoal in the forge instead of the usual pile of fine ash. I bought some more sweet chestnut from a guy I know in Somerset and wasn't as well made or was of variable quality and it burnt fine, just like any of the other charcoals that I had used from that person. The only thing that we could think was the soil conditions that the trees were grown in.
Aside from that one occasion, I have never found domestically produced charcoal to fail. Is the sainsbury's stuff actually made from UK wood, or is it just marked as sustainable forest? All that means is that the rainforest is being raped and then replanted with palms or something else! So it could well be dodgy exotic wood.
Yep, it's sustainable marked actually. You have to stirr the ash off it otherwise you can't cook.
But is it native? Sustainable mark just mwans that they plant stuff to replace what they cut, whether here or nowhere land
It could be either way with ash build up, but i've seldom seen it with native charcoal. Does the charcoal feel very light or very heavy for its size? Does it feel soft or hard? If hard, is it glassy or dull if broken? If soft, is it powdery or flakey whem broken? When you look at the end grain, is it free of splits or really checked on the end? Different species and qualities of cinversion produce different effects that all play a part in how it burns
It could be either way with ash build up, but i've seldom seen it with native charcoal. Does the charcoal feel very light or very heavy for its size? Does it feel soft or hard? If hard, is it glassy or dull if broken? If soft, is it powdery or flakey whem broken? When you look at the end grain, is it free of splits or really checked on the end? Different species and qualities of cinversion produce different effects that all play a part in how it burns
It's charcoal from sustainable sources so probably abroad. The stuff that wouldn't burn feels dave like ceramic, it didn't burn whatsoever like firebricks,I would be very interested to know how they achieved it, linings for things with that temperature rating would be very valuable.
On another note another bag of charcoal, very slow burn, terrible for cooking with starts of cold and no chance after 30 minutes ideal by my recconing for forging with, air into it and a nice managable flame, complete opposite to the sainsburys stuff of a very fast hot burn. Tell the producers I would pay a premium for barbecue charcoal, medium burn, would be cheaper and therefore better for the food in the long run. Big too the current stuff.splitting restaurant grade charcoal, same supplier as last time different batch.
On another note another bag of charcoal, very slow burn, terrible for cooking with starts of cold and no chance after 30 minutes ideal by my recconing for forging with, air into it and a nice managable flame, complete opposite to the sainsburys stuff of a very fast hot burn. Tell the producers I would pay a premium for barbecue charcoal, medium burn, would be cheaper and therefore better for the food in the long run. Big too the current stuff.splitting restaurant grade charcoal, same supplier as last time different batch.
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