How to Make Charcoal Briquettes

Charcoal is a gray-black light porous substance, that is composed primarily of carbon, along with some volatile chemicals and ash. Among the most significant uses of charcoal is that it is an important cooking fuel, was a component of gunpowder, and was used to power steam engine trains.

What are Charcoal Briquettes
Charcoal briquettes are uniform chunks of charcoal, that are most often used in barbecue grills. The primary components of charcoal briquettes are char (traditional charcoal) and coal, such as sub-bituminous lignite or anthracite. The best raw materials used to make traditional charcoal are from different types of wood such as beech, birch, hard maple, hickory, and oak trees. Apart from these, a binding agent such as starch made from corn, milo, or wheat, an accelerant (such as nitrate), and an ash-whitening agent (such as lime) are also required.

We all love a charcoal fired grill to barbecue our meats to perfection. If you like using the perfectly shaped briquettes while grilling, but find them a tad expensive, here is a do-it-yourself option.

How to Make Charcoal Briquettes: Steps

1. The first thing you need to do is collect some hardwood pieces. The kind of wood you are looking for should be dry and ideally seasoned for three months or more. As you need small cubes, if the size of the pieces you have are large, then split them into strips and then reduce them into small chunks. However, if you find it difficult to reduce them to briquette sized pieces, don't worry.
2. Now find a metal bucket or barrel with a lid. Ideally, get hold of an old one as it is going to get ruined. If the bucket/barrel has any rubber gaskets, take them out or else they will melt. Next, make a few holes in the base of the bucket, using a drill. Each hole needs to have a diameter of about 1.5 inches, and they should be closer to the center. Place about three bricks on the ground and balance the bucket on them. The objective is to give the bucket some elevation, and you could use any other blocks to get it off the ground.
3. Find some old newspaper, crumple a few sheets into balls and toss them into the bucket. Add sufficient kindling and light it. Once the paper takes light and you achieve a full fire, add some of the larger pieces of hardwood. After they catch fire, and you have a strong fire going, add the rest of the hardwood. Your objective is for it to char, so pack it in, and let the fire consume it.
4. Keep an eye on the appearance of the smoke. When it turns from yellow-white to a much reduced wispy blue, it is time to cut off the oxygen supply, in order to achieve charring. You can do this by covering the container with its lid, removing it from the platform it is on, and placing it directly on the ground. For good measure, place a weight on the top of the lid to pack it tightly, and gather some dirt around the base.
5. All you need to do now is give it time. Allow it to sit for about 24 hours, by which time it should be cool to the touch. Take off the lid, take out the charcoal chunks from the bucket and store them in a dry container. They could be used for your next barbecue. Keep the charcoal dust from the bottom of the container, and crush the smaller pieces of charcoal into dust, to make the briquettes.
6. Having gone through all the preliminaries, it is finally time to form the briquettes. You need a thick paste made from cornstarch and water. Mix the two and stir over heat till you achieve the right consistency. Add in as much of the charcoal dust to the paste as possible. Put this gooey paste into Styrofoam egg cartons and allow it to dry. They should be ready for use in about a weeks time, and are almost totally smokeless, and as good as any commercially made briquettes.

Charcoal briquettes are great to use as they provide a hot, long-lasting, virtually smokeless fire. Use this method on how to make charcoal briquettes, and produce your own homemade ones. However, if this proves to cumbersome, you can always fall back on the commercially produced ones.