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Step 3Make the charcoal
Seal up the lid and roll the drum onto the fire. You want the vent holes pointing down into the fire so that methane gases get flared off before they escape into the atmosphere, causing atmos damage.
The drum has to sit on the fire for several hours. First steam comes out for 2 to 4 hours, as the water boils off. Then, volatile gases (VOC's) such as methane and hydrogen start blazing out of the slots like blowtorches, for 1 to 2 hours. When the gases have all flared off, there will be little or no smoke. The carbon will start to burn, sucking oxygen into the barrel. That's when you want to stop the process by rolling the drum off the fire and covering the slots with sand to starve the oxygen. Water helps too, since you're happy with wet charcoal.
The drum has to sit on the fire for several hours. First steam comes out for 2 to 4 hours, as the water boils off. Then, volatile gases (VOC's) such as methane and hydrogen start blazing out of the slots like blowtorches, for 1 to 2 hours. When the gases have all flared off, there will be little or no smoke. The carbon will start to burn, sucking oxygen into the barrel. That's when you want to stop the process by rolling the drum off the fire and covering the slots with sand to starve the oxygen. Water helps too, since you're happy with wet charcoal.
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