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All up in smoke!
Date: 23.06.2011
Type: Volunteering
Have you ever wondered what it takes to make the charcoal that we all use on our Summer BBQs – if we ever get the weather! It is quite a lengthy process – but using charcoal made from Welsh woodlands is the best way to ensure that your sausages and burgers receive the best grilling!
A few weeks ago Countryside staff and volunteers set about making charcoal in one of our woodland sites on the old Corwen to Cynwyd railway line
Here is how it went!
Monday
Day 1 - The Preparation
Two teams of volunteers and Denbighshire Countryside staff wielded axes to chop the gathered wood pile into logs for them to be stacked into the kiln. Meanwhile, a small group kindly tended to the barbeque and kettle providing much needed refreshments of bacon, burgers and tea or coffee!
Tuesday
Day 2 - The Lighting
After lighting the kiln at 10am there was not much to do apart from stand back, chat and wait for the much anticipated “whoosh” which is a magnificent eruption of flames letting us know it is time to seal up the kiln and allow the carbonisation process to begin! The kiln is sealed with sand and not disturbed for 36 hours!
The afternoon was spent enjoying another barbeque and on the riverside pulling up Himalayan balsam- an unwelcome invasive plant that is slowly taking over our water ways in the UK.
Thursday
Day 3 – The Grading
The kiln was opened at around 10:30 am and we where all greeted with the fantastic sight of charcoal. It is always a nervous moment because it is difficult to tell how successful the process has been until you open the kiln. The grading process simply involves collecting the charcoal from the kiln, putting it through a large sieve where the better quality product goes down the shoot, and pours into bags. The small, finer product falls through the holes and is collected for other uses. Most commonly it is used on people’s gardens, but in this case it was used to make yet another fantastic barbeque! Well it would have been rude to see those sausages go to waste!!
