Learn How is Coconut Charcoal Made and Why Use The

As you know, coconut is useful in many ways, including the waste. If you don’t believe it, here’s how is coconut charcoal made. Then, you will get proof of how useful coconut is.

2 Ways in Making Coconut Charcoal

When talking about the best charcoal briquettes, there are two ways that coconut charcoal is made. The first is the traditional way, and the second one is by turning them into briquettes. Here are the details:

1. The Traditional Way

The first method in making coconut charcoal is using the traditional way. This method was used for centuries to turn unused coconut shells into charcoal. To get this kind of coconut charcoal, here’s what you have to do:

• Collect the coconut shells, the older the better.
• Dry the shells under the blazing sun until they are fully dry. Usually, people dry the shell for a week or two, depending on the weather.
• Once the shells are completely dry, burn them with fire. In this step, you can either burn them in the open air or use a charcoal drum or stove.
• Let the fire die off naturally. Don’t spray it with water.

Now you get coconut charcoal in the traditional way. Make sure to wait till they cool before collecting them. When you’re using this method, you will get the classic coconut charcoal form. Most of them even might still take the shell form.

2. Turn to Briquettes

Aside from burning the coconut shell to make charcoal, you can also make briquettes. For this purpose, here are what you have to do:

• Collect coconut shells and clean them from its fiber.
• Store the shells in a dry and warm place for at least 6 months. This to make sure that they are dry enough.
• Put the shells in a charcoal drum or stove and gradually reduce the air intake. Also, make sure to keep the temperature between 500 to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Let this process be 3 to 5 hours long. Then, you will know it’s done when you can pierce the shell without breaking it.
• Remove the now carbonized charcoal from the stove and cool them.
• Crush the charcoal into powder.
• Add water and binder such as corn starch or cassava starch to the powder. The ration should be 20-25% water and 3-5% binder compared to the powder amount.
• Use a briquetting machine or manually form the mixture by hand.
• Dry the briquettes under the sun or use a charcoal drier.

Compared with traditional charcoal, briquettes are more easy to pack and store. Not to mention, it is also space saving because you can store it vertically.

Why Coconut Charcoal?

So, you might be wondering, why should you put effort into making coconut charcoal. The process is troublesome and time consuming. But by making coconut shells into charcoal, you can solve multiple problems at once.

First, you can help in reducing the waste of coconut shells. Then, by turning them into charcoal, you also give an energy alternative aside from fossil fuel. Furthermore, using coconut charcoal has more fragrance than others. Also, if you use it for cooking, you will get some additional unique flavor.

That’s how is coconut charcoal made and why you should do that. Moreover, if you are living in a tropical country with abundant coconut shells to find.