Replace Charcoal Briquettes

There is something wonderful about the smell of a charcoal fired grill during the Summer months. 

The smell of roasting meat just makes you want to stop and taste. 

Doesn't it?

Would you cook out more if you had a greener and cheaper way to do it?

I have been thinking about making my own charcoal instead of using commercially prepared ones with the potential of harmful additives.

With a little planning ahead, 

you can have your own reserve of charcoal ready for some tasty grilling.

Gather some

hardwood pieces. 

We have plenty that comes from our own trees and brush, but you can find wood on the side of the road or Craigslist.

If they are too long, 

cut them into smaller chunks and/or split them. 

***If you really want them to look like the briquettes you will need to chunk them into really small pieces, but that is not necessary.*** 

The wood should be dry and preferably seasoned for three months or longer.

Please, DO NOT use wood that has been treated with chemicals (e.g. deck boards and possibly pallet wood as well) to cook food for you and your family.

We stack the wood on racks made from a broken metal dog crate and leftover wood pieces, to keep the wood off the ground.

You could use concrete blocks.

Now it's time to char the wood.

For this process we use our firepit.

Get a newspaper 

(or grocery store weekly ads which are free. I usually pick up 10-20 the last day of the week, before they change them out with the new ones) 

or cardboard. 

Toss in the mix a bunch of small dry brush and light it. 

Allow it to come to a full flame and add some bigger sticks of wood. 

Once the fire is going well, 

start adding your chunks of wood for charcoal. 

Let it burn hot until the wood starts looking black.

 

Once the wood looks like coal, I pull it on the side, put the lid on the firepit and let it sit until the next day. Once it's cooled off. 

This action of depriving the wood of oxygen, will stop the burn and cause the charring.

Open the lid and carefully pick out your charcoal chunks and store in a dry container for your next barbecue. 

Be careful not to breathe in the charcoal dust

 (or any kind of dust for that matter). 

This charcoal will burn hot and will last much longer with very little smoke or ash, preserving the taste of your meat.

We also use a chimney instead of lighter fluid.

So, would you cook out more if you had 

a greener and cheaper way to do it?

Stay Frugal,

Daniela

how to start a fire without lighter fluid:

(source here)

Start with crumpled up newspaper (make sure you crumple up each individual sheet) and/or tinder which is very small sticks/twigs, pine needles, wood shavings, dryed moss and things like that. Then move to kindling which is twigs and sticks. After that add your fuel which is logs (make sure they are split) or large sticks.

Tips for building: build your campfire as a "teepee" or "log cabin". With the teepee put the logs and sticks leaning against each other like a teepee. With a log cabin make sure there is a hole in the middle for the smoke to come out. Make sure to leave enough space for air to get in in either style or the fire will not start as well. I prefer crumpled up newspaper because it burns quickly and you have a lot of it.

Tips for starting: use matches or a lighter, whichever you prefer. You may need to blow on the fire soon after you start it. Blow hard enough to keep it going but don't put it out. Light the newspaper or tinder in different places.