That barrel on wheels is really an awesome idea. Those things come in different sizes too. Even to pull it up near the door to access as needed is boss. Sca
Earlier this Spring i used black locust chunks to make charcoal for the grill as we didnt have lump charcoal. I start the firepit to get the charcoals going.
Nah I just keep everything. There are more shorts than uglies....I've become a bit of a 'wood snob'....... but our stove takes 24" logs, we have primarily 16"&18", so the shorts fill the voids. But we also have a friend whose stove only takes 12"-14", so instead of leaving those short pieces behind, we keep them for him as well. All the logs from this springs score, were pre cut to 6 & 8 feet....lotsa shorts. Sca
The front of the shed is 7' tall, the back, 6'. And I stood on some of the stuff in there to reach up. A different friend (WWII vet) never has enough kindling, and we ran out this spring as well. NOT running out again! Sca
And that's an important thing to remember - don't forget to hoard kindling too!!! I'm guessing you burn the chunks down but not ALL the way down and then you wet it to stop the burning process and what you're left with is charcoal? Just a guess.
Id take small nuggets and hatchet them smaller. Put in the charcoal basket over the fire, let them burn until no flame. Put in grill just like you would a charcoal briquette. Black locust holds a coal longer than any other hardwood around here. It takes a lot longer than starting normal charcoal and i was experimenting. Plus i seem to have a boatload of BL shorts. We've cooked over embers when camping. Her favorite way being a former girlscout leader for many years.
Cool! I’ve got a bunch of scrub oak shorties that I’m gonna try that with. Scrub oak is about as hard as concrete. Should work, I’d think?
Being i hoard mostly random length logs, i end up with a lot of shorts/cookies some 2" and under. Those are what i used. I have used splitter shards too. Pic from a camping trip a couple years ago. Like LordOfTheFlies said you could wet them after the flame goes out, dry and use when needed. Ive seen lump charcoal sold that way.
Love your idea Cash Larue . I’d love to have 2 or 3 of those, but I’ve never seen them for free, or even for sake for that matter.
They are a nice little insurance policy. When the snow gets really deep, I always have 3 full bins of dry uglies. That’s a solid week’s worth of heat for me if I’m snowed in.
Dang, that chicken looks good! I love wood and charcoal fired food My family has a cabin on 65 acres about 2 hours from me. It has an old brick, wood fired grill. My grandpa built it. I’ll snap a few pics next time I’m there. You’ll dig it.
I have a wooden shipping crate in my attached garage which holds about a weeks worth that is my Blizzard/SHTF insurance policy. It is filled with shorts, uglies, and some nice pieces.
Thats a good idea to have a shtf/blizzard insurance policy... Just gotta order up a few blizzards....we don't get those here. Sca
Actual charcoal is made by burning wood in an oxygen deprived fire, I know some outdoor grill guys that do what Brad's talking about, they have a fire going & shovel coals into their grills to cook. Two of them do it for an actual business in the summer. They'll load 2-3 scoop shovels in at a time.
Here's my first attempt at storing shorties. It's been there about a year. Hardware cloth, with plastic coated wire, wove at the overlap. Not the best. Trying to figure out how to get some out. I think a ratchet strap, or two will be used to allow acces. I'd like to not cut an access hole. I'll see how it goes.
