Barbecue charcoal is a fuel made by high-temperature carbonization of wood or other biomass raw materials (such as fruit wood, straw, bamboo chips, rice husks, sawdust, etc.). It has the characteristics of high calorific value, long burning time, and stable temperature. It is mainly used for outdoor barbecue and home heating
How to make barbecue charcoal? This is an important question for many people who want to try to produce barbecue charcoal.
As a typical product combining traditional fuel with modern consumption, barbecue charcoal has broad market prospects under the dual promotion of environmental protection and technological upgrading. The global market size in 2023 is about 2.24 billion US dollars, and it is expected to reach 2.96 billion US dollars by 2030, with an annual compound growth rate of about 3.74%.
This article introduces in detail the types of barbecue charcoal, the raw materials for making barbecue charcoal, the production process of barbecue charcoal, and the charcoal equipment for making barbecue charcoal.
Types of barbecue charcoal
According to the different forms and raw materials of barbecue charcoal, it is mainly divided into the following categories:
Natural charcoal: using wood as raw material, it has a long burning time and currently still dominates the market.
Environmentally friendly charcoal: such as smokeless charcoal, bamboo charcoal, activated charcoal, etc., which produce less smoke when burning and are more in line with environmental protection needs, and their market share is increasing year by year.
New charcoal materials: including nano-carbon, biochar, etc., which have higher combustion efficiency and are still in the stage of technological development.
Raw materials for making barbecue charcoal
The raw materials for barbecue charcoal come from various sources, and different raw materials directly affect the performance, environmental protection and use of charcoal. The following are the main raw materials for making barbecue charcoal and their characteristics:
Hardwood: oak, oak, birch, jujube, lychee, longan and other hardwoods.
Wood is the most common raw material for producing barbecue charcoal. These woods can be used to produce natural charcoal. Charcoal has a long burning time (up to 2-3 hours), high calorific value (about 7000-8000 kcal/kg), and low ash content, which is suitable for long-term barbecue.
Nut shell fruit wood: apple wood, pear wood, cherry wood, bamboo, coconut shell, etc.
Fruit charcoal made from these raw materials releases fruity aroma when burning, is smokeless, has low ash content (about 1-3%), and has a calorific value close to hardwood (6500-8500 kcal/kg). It is mostly used for high-end environmentally friendly charcoal or special barbecue scenes.
Biomass agricultural waste: rice husks, corn cobs, peanut shells, straw, bagasse, wood chips, sawdust, waste wood, coffee grounds, palm shells, etc.
These raw materials are widely available, low cost, and low calorific value (about 4000-6000 kcal/kg). They are mainly used to produce machine-made charcoal and charcoal briquettes, which are suitable for the mid- and low-end markets.
BBQ charcoal production process
The production process of BBQ charcoal needs to be determined according to the specific raw materials. The following is a detailed analysis of the BBQ charcoal production process:
The production process of natural BBQ charcoal
There is only one process in the production of natural charcoal charcoal, that is, carbonization.
Traditional charcoal production process (earth kiln method)
Select hardwood (oak, fruit wood, etc.) or bamboo, cut into wood sections with a length of 30-50cm and a diameter of 5-15cm, and dry them naturally until the moisture content is ≤20%.
Stack the wood vertically in the earth kiln, cover the top with soil/refractory bricks to seal, leaving only the bottom air intake and the top smoke exhaust hole
Ignite the bottom fuel and carbonize the wood, which takes 20-30 hours.
Take out the charcoal blocks, remove the incompletely carbonized debris, and pack them by size.
Environmentally friendly charcoal production process
You can use a vertical carbonization furnace or a horizontal carbonization furnace to directly carbonize the raw materials. Compared with the earth kiln method, it is more efficient and has a higher carbonization rate.
Production process of barbecue charcoal blocks (mechanical charcoal)
Regarding the production process of charcoal briquettes, we need to introduce them separately according to different raw materials
The production process of charcoal briquettes for raw materials that can be directly carbonized, such as wood, coconut shells, etc., is as follows,
- Carbonize wood or coconut shells into charcoal
- Crush charcoal into charcoal powder
- Mix charcoal powder with water and binder
- Make charcoal briquettes
For raw materials that are not suitable for direct carbonization, such as wood chips, sawdust, etc., the production process of charcoal briquettes is as follows,
- Crush large-sized wood chips into sawdust (<5mm)
- Dry the sawdust to ensure that its moisture content is 8%-12%
- Convert sawdust into briquettes
- Carbonize wood chip briquettes into charcoal.