Here is a broad summary of the Sustainable Forestry Project to date.
Advantages of this charcoal: SCZ now has the results for two more types of charcoal, from Pecan thinnings and from Salt Cedar. These results also compare favorably with the four commercial brands of wood charcoal. Here is the updated charcoal comparison chart. This quote from Joey Sam of Picuris Pueblo gives a good picture of our charcoal from the cook's viewpoint. "I have cooked bison meat, salmon and bison kabobs on the charcoal. It burns hot so I usually let them burn down a little before cooking. It's a good product." In July 2005, Sustainable Communities/ZERI-NM sent samples of our natural wood charcoal for testing by Huffman Laboratories, Inc. in Golden, Colorado. The samples were made from juniper, piñon, SDT ponderosa, Ocate ponderosa, and Encino oak. These samples compared favorably with four commercial brands of wood charcoal for BTUs per pound, the amount of fixed carbon, and the amount of remaining ash. One of the commercial brands was made from mesquite, another from oak. The third was from old hardwood floors, and furniture. The fourth was made from wood chips and turned into briquettes. See the charcoal test results charts for more details. To demonstrate the use of wood preservation ovens and charcoal pits,
They built an oven, moved it to the selected location, constructed a charcoal pit, filled the pit with wood for charcoal and the oven with wood to be preserved, and started making charcoal and preserving wood.
The charcoal pit was filled with wood from the small diameter trees being thinned for fire safety. Most of this wood is unused for other purposes and would go into land fills and be wasted. The wood was covered with smaller green branches and finally sealed with dirt to keep out oxygen. This necessary step insures that the wood will turn to charcoal when burned. The oven was connected by flexible hose and fume hood to the charcoal pit.
The pit was ignited and the smoke flowed into the oven. Tubing filled with circulating water condensed the smoke and gasses to keep them in the oven. The oven must be kept closed for 20 days until the fumes have permeated the wood and the process is complete. After burning for two days, the charcoal pits were allowed to cool for 24 hrs. and then opened to recover the charcoal.
Part way through this process, a section of the charcoal pit collapsed allowing fumes to escape and requiring rebuilding. This problem was caused by wood shrinkage. In June SCZ built and tested a commercial 3 cord size metal charcoal oven. In July we built a 1 cord metal charcoal oven. Although they are more expensive than an earthen oven, they are easier to stack and more efficient. ![]() Shown above are: Left to right in front are: Antonio explained that wood preservation with fumes from a charcoal oven is not limited to a small oven. Longer lengths of wood and different types of wood of different diameters can be preserved by adjusting the size of the preservation oven, the size of the charcoal ovens, and the amount of time allowed for preservation. This process can replace the dangerous arsenic treatment previously used and now barred by the EPA. SCZ intends to demonstrate that natural repellents, in the fumes and pyrolytic gasses from charcoal, infuse and preserve wood for construction of all types. According to ZERI International tests, wood and bamboo, preserved in this manner, are undamaged by insects or weather for 50 years or longer, depending on the climate. In New Mexico's dry climate, it will likely be longer. Our testing should give us the answer.
(At left) Antonio, Luis and Luther fill the 1,400 lb., 3 cord charcoal oven SCZ tested in June 2004. It is filled with small diameter juniper, pinõn and ponderosa. Since the different types of wood are in separate sections, we will be able to measure which makes the best charcoal.
(At right)The charcoal oven is covered and connected to the wood preservation oven in the same way the charcoal pits were in our first trial. A great deal of time was spent on cleaning the wood preservation oven damaged by overheated gases from the collapsed charcoal pits. Governor Manuel Archuleta of Picuris Pueblo came to observe this sustainable forestry project and its value-added potential. He saw the new oven and its connections as well as a piece of charcoal made in the first trial.
(Photo at left shows Luis Torres, Antonio Giraldo, Governor Archuleta, Luther Martinez, Lynda Taylor, Gilbert Vigil and, in front, Waylon Martinez, Chris Simbolo, Dale Snake and Cordell Arellano.)
In July 2004 SCZ tested the 1 cord charcoal oven, photo at right (by Robert Haspel). Because it is easier to move from one location to another, it will be more useful for different areas where small-diameter trees will be thinned for fire prevention and the resulting timber and brush would be considered "waste". Go to the charcoal photos page for more photos and recent information about the taller preservation oven built in September 2004.
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