What is Charcoal?
Charcoal, the kind used for grilling, is scrap wood or sawdust partially burned in very hot ovens until it becomes what’s called wood char. That is, wood that’s cooked thoroughly but not to the point of disintegration. If you’ve ever made a fire, you’ve probably seen wood reach this state before it turned to ash. Henry Ford pioneered the mass production of charcoal when he built a chemical plant to reclaim scrap wood created through the production of his Model Ts. Originally called Ford Charcoal, the product was sold exclusively in Ford’s auto dealerships. Later, the facility was renamed for E.G. Kingsford, a relative of Ford’s and the man credited with the formula and process. The product was also renamed, as Kingsford Charcoal, one of the best-selling brands on the market today. To make charcoal, wood or wood scraps are put in either a kiln or dryers to suck out moisture so they’ll bake efficiently, then are typically cooked in cast iron retort ovens. These are cylindrically shaped f
Traveling in developing nations, I’ve often wondered why people cook over charcoal. It seems so labor-intensive to stack up wood in huge, dirt ovens and bake it slowly down to little black lumps. Why not just burn the wood? Over many weeks, I made many calls, inquiring about the energy that’s burned away (wasted!) in the baking process and what benefits you get in return. Charcoal-briquet manufacturers in the United States couldn’t furnish experts. The Department of Energy suggested I talk with someone in “fossil fuels.” “Charcoal is not a fossil fuel,” I sighed. “Oh, that’s a fossil fuel,” said the spokesman at the Environmental Protection Agency. “Charcoal is just old dinosaurs.” “Charcoal,” I mumbled, “is made from trees.” Eventually, I stumbled across the Combustion Institute.
