Charcoal Faqs @ Custom Lump Charcoal

The Process
Natural Lump Charcoal comes from partially burning wood. It is also created by heating wood without oxygen. In doing so, this charred wood becomes carbon. During the process of making charcoal, volatile compounds in the wood (water, hydrogen, methane and tars) pass off as vapors into the air, and the carbon is converted into charcoal.

The Properties
Since Charcoal is pure wood carbon, it weights much less than its original state. It is also free of tars (which can contain carcinogenic compounds, like benzo-a-pyrene). Perhaps only traces of volatile components can be found in charcoal. Definitely not enough to alarm nutritionist nor scientist. Unlike Charcoal Briquettes, which holds different chemicals, natural charcoal is merely 100% carbon.

Types of Lump Charcoal
There are 2 types of charcoals: the first type comes from natural wood which has been cut and made into charcoal. This is as natural as you can get. The wood comes from trees, branches and scrap pieces from saw mills. The second type comes from using processed scrap wood and tuning it into charcoal. Processed scrap wood tend to burn faster since its density is lesser than natural.

What is charcoal?
In general, wood charcoal is a substance obtained by partial burning or destructive distillation of wood. It is largely pure carbon. Wood charcoal is prepared by heating wood in the absence of oxygen. In this process volatile compounds in the wood (e.g., water, hydrogen, methane and tars) pass off as vapors into the air, and the carbon is converted into charcoal. (Tar is a generic name for big, smoky, sticky molecules that form liquids when they're cool. The tars, in particular, can contain carcinogenic compounds, like benzo-A-pyrene.) With the volatile component driven off, you are left with wood charcoal that is about 20 to 25-percent of the original volume of the wood. It's chiefly carbon, with traces of volatile chemicals and ash. When it burns, it won't produce as much smoke as burning wood, and it will burn long, hot and steady. Charcoal, being almost pure carbon, yields a larger amount of heat in proportion to its volume than is obtained from a corresponding quantity of wood.

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