I know charcoal has been an important element in humanity's technological progress for thousands of years, but I never really thought about how they made it back in primitive times.  Oddly enough, the process pretty much is still the same, except for some improvements in the kiln and bags to put it in when finished. 

This was interesting to say the least, but just as important, it makes me appreciate charcoal even more.  

Thanks.

Spring "It Takes A Lot To Make A Lump" Chicken 
Spring Texas USA

Spring Chicken said:

I know charcoal has been an important element in humanity's technological progress for thousands of years, but I never really thought about how they made it back in primitive times.  Oddly enough, the process pretty much is still the same, except for some improvements in the kiln and bags to put it in when finished. 

Charcoal is the oldest manufactured product known to man.  It's not necessarily the oldest manufactured product known to man, it's just the oldest known because there's nothing you can do to destroy it besides burn it.  Archeologists have found charcoal fires and drawings in caves and were able to date them to 600,000 yrs ago--there's no other way they could have gotten there.

Also, the method in the video is still very much in use in indigenous cultures......South America and Africa mainly.  Since charcoal is 1/6th the weight of wood, it's easier to kiln on site where they drop the trees.  They'll make "beehive" kilns out of mud and rocks--very similar to the one in the video, just a lot bigger.  They'll slow burn it for days, then knock down the kiln and move on.

There used to be a Vanguard video on AmazonPrime called "The Charcoal People" that was about all this primitive industry still going on.  I don't see it there anymore, but you might be able to get it through the Vanguard channel on a Roku.

@Toddski they fill the bags with a little more lump than what you pay for, and then add the rocks to give people something to complain about. Because without the rocks to complain about you would be complaining about something else. 

Toddski said:

When do they add the rocks

Eggdicted_Dawgfan said:

@Toddski they fill the bags with a little more lump than what you pay for, and then add the rocks to give people something to complain about. Because without the rocks to complain about you would be complaining about something else. 

0.4#-0.6# overage in each bag to cover any rocks, banding, etc. that may end up in the bag.  A huge magnet grabs most of the banding, nails, barb wire, bullets, if they're loose--it can't get them if they were lodged into a tree decades ago.

When trees are felled and dragged out of the forest, rocks get wedged into them.  After the kiln, charcoal dust covered rock looks just like a piece of charcoal, so if every piece of lump needs to be hand inspected or x-ray'ed, we'll set the price at about $200-300/bag wholesale for a guaranteed rock-free 20# bag.  Only other option is to float the lump across a water bath so the rocks that are encased in a piece of lump sink......but then the other 99.9% is going absorb water.  So then you're paying for water rather than lump.  An occasional rock is still the best value if a manufacturer is giving you an overage (which some do not do.)

Just how domestic lump charcoal production works.....not much else you can do and still be able to sell the stuff.  The offshore stuff is a little different because they're clear cutting, handstacking the cord wood like you saw in the video, all on site.  Plus, their workers don't start at $13/hr.....they make about $13/week (or month??)

If anyone is REALLY bored, here's some light reading:

Simple technologies for charcoal making

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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 1987

Full book:
https://books.google.com/books?id=Ww-hfFDy1WYC&lpg=PA156&ots=kvou9S5_Od&dq=ISBN 92-5-101328-1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=ISBN 92-5-101328-1&f=false

Or by chapter if your internet is slow:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5328e/x5328e00.HTM