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Charcoal
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Produced at Old Sleningford Farm using local wood
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Easy to light and quickly ready for cooking on.
£7 a bag, 3 bags £20.
Collection from the farm. Please contact us for bulk orders.
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The Charcoal Making Process
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The wood used is the thinnings from woodland within a 7 mile radius of the farm. It would usually be left to rot on the woodland floor but by turning it in to charcoal, it has a use. Hard woods are used such as oak, ash, hazel, cherry and sycamore in roughly the same lengths and diameter. The cut lengths are dried for a year in purpose built crates before burning.
At the moment, we use a ring kiln, which isn't very efficient and is highly polluting. Keith has all the materials to build a retort burner, which will be much more clean burning and efficient. This will hopefully be operational for the 2012 season.
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The kiln is made up of two rings of steel and a conical lid, which all fit on top of each other. Four smoke holes in the lid and four chimneys are used to control where and how much air is let in and out of the kiln. The wood is stacked in the kiln carefully to ensure as much wood as possible is used whilst still allowing air to move around the logs.
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The kiln is loaded with wood and small fires are lit in the base of the stack. Once the fire takes hold, it is carefully monitored to make sure it is burning evenly, with the chimneys being moved around to help draw the air through. It will burn for 16 to 24 hours, depending on the weather conditions and the wood.
Once the wood has charcoalised, the kiln is clamped down by sealing off all the air. This stops the wood from burning further and the kiln is left for two days to cool down.
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The charcoalised wood is riddled to ensure the dust and small pieces are removed and it is then bagged up ready for selling.
Unlike some charcoal which can come from ancient mangroves and rain forest, ours is a sustainable product that is easy to use. It lights without having to use fire lighters, it burns evenly and is ready to cook on in just 15 minutes.
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