ckreef Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 OK not exactly smoking wood but thought this was the most appropriate forum. Decided to give this a try. Besides the Backyard Bistro needs its own house brand lump. Here is my charcoal retort. I still need to drill holes in the bottom of the 55 gallon and in the bottom of the stove pipe reducer. Will do a couple burns to clean up the barrels then lump here we come. Will this be easier? Nope. Will this be cheaper? I doubt it. Will this be as good or better? Maybe. Will I learn something and have fun playing with fire? Absolutely!!! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 ckreef, sign me up for a pallet please This is going to be fun to watch Thanks for posting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Yup this should be fun. As always full pictures as the fun progresses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Ckreef - I've never seen homemade lump before. This is going to be quite interesting to watch. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Having made charcoal in 55 gal drums before will you help me understand what's the reason for the tall chimney? I believe it will create a lot of unwanted vacuum.. once the wood is heated it will start off gassing and will blow gas under pressure. At this point you cut off the fresh air to keep it from burning. You only want to loose the gas/vapor..Destructive distillation explains it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Having made charcoal in 55 gal drums before will you help me understand what's the reason for the tall chimney? I believe it will create a lot of unwanted vacuum.. once the wood is heated it will start off gassing and will blow gas under pressure. At this point you cut off the fresh air to keep it from burning. You only want to loose the gas/vapor..Destructive distillation explains it. The exact reason for 6' compared to say 2' I don't really know other than in the directions I'm following. I agree the height difference between the bottom of the 55 gallon barrel and the top of the stack will create a lot of vacuum. This is a two chamber retort as opposed to just a single chamber 55 gallon barrel. The actual wood to be turned into charcoal is loaded into the smaller barrel. That smaller barrel is then installed into the 55 gallon barrel upside down. Your heating wood is then loaded on top and around the smaller barrel and set on fire. Close it up and let it cook (off gas) the charcoal wood inside the inner barrel. You never have to snuff the oxygen off to the 55 gallon barrel since there will quickly be an oxygen free environment inside the smaller barrel where your actual charcoal is being produced. Not sure if I explained that really well. The actual configuration of this 2 chamber retort will be more clear once I start taking pictures of it in use (hopefully). I'm just now learning about this 2 chamber system. Just following directions is somewhat of a poor excuse but I'm learning as I go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Sounds a lot like how we do the dutch oven smoking pot. The 55 gal drum is the "KK" in this setup and the smaller barrel is the dutch oven. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Sounds a lot like how we do the dutch oven smoking pot. The 55 gal drum is the "KK" in this setup and the smaller barrel is the dutch oven. Yes, basically. I guess my explanation wasn't too bad. The off gases escape down and out the little barrel. They go up the big barel stoking the fire getting it even hoter to help cook the charcoal even more. As long as oxygen doesn't go in the little barel you should end up with charcoal. A few people on the Guru are using this setup with success. They had posted a link to instructions on how to build and use this two chamber retort. I'm just following the instructions. Should be an interesting experiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 That makes sense.. I understand now.. That tall chimney will really get things going for you.. How/where does the small drum vent it's gas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 That makes sense.. I understand now.. That tall chimney will really get things going for you.. How/where does the small drum vent it's gas? The small drum will be upside down with no lid so the gas should get forced out at the crack at the bottom. I asked the same question, figuring it needed a few small holes down there. Supposedly just sitting in there has enough play to vent the gases and not allow any oxygen into the small barrel. The biggest issue with this design is getting the loaded small barrel upside down inside the big barrel. I've seen pictures how they do it, will know how big of a pain in the butt it is once I try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Sounds like the easiest way to do it would be to punch some small holes in the lid of the smaller barrel and once loaded, clamp it shut. Would make flipping it over a lot easier. Try using 3 - 4 C-Clamps as it looks like there's enough rim on the barrel in the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 ckreef - this is going to be very interesting! Looking forward to further posts ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Lots of fun to be had at the Reefs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Sounds like the easiest way to do it would be to punch some small holes in the lid of the smaller barrel and once loaded, clamp it shut. Would make flipping it over a lot easier. Try using 3 - 4 C-Clamps as it looks like there's enough rim on the barrel in the picture. A few people have tried that but got the holes wrong which allowed air into the small barrel. The end result was ash not charcoal. Will try it per the instructions first until I really know what I'm doing. After that I'll have a little clue on how to modify for easier use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFrogs91 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Cool experiment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 ckreef - when do you start making lump? This should be quite interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted April 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 ckreef - when do you start making lump? This should be quite interesting! Final stages of the build. 12 x 3/4" holes 3" from the bottom of the barrel. This is the oxygen supply for your fuel wood. Attachment of the stove pipe. 4 x 1/2" holes. This is to add oxygen to the chimney allowing a complete burn of all the gases before exiting the chimney. This is supposed to cut down on the amount of smoke produced in the process (sort of like EPA regulations crap - LOL) A quick disconnect latch for the band. Allows me to use the band to hold the lid on instead of putting rocks on the lid. I also removed the gasket from the lid lip, figuring it was going to burn up anyway. Should be able to give it a test burn this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 This sure is a fun watch, ckreef, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Please, do me a big favor and yell out real loud when you light it for the first time - "Hey Ya'll, watch this!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 I think we need an old time NASA countdown! He may just launch this bad boy! And I'd pay to see it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
