Every year I get 300-400 pounds of beef bones so I can make demiglace. Every month I make chicken bone broth. I can't throw out the bones because they attract coyotes and they're a problem. I absolutely hate throwing them out, but I can't ask my hubs to dig through our rocky soil to bury them deep every time I cook. Now I know a way to make them 'not food' so I can return them to the earth. This is truly wonderful. I'll just start building my hugelkulture mounts with bone charcoal at the bottom. Sincerely, thank you.

Lots of retort videos out there. This is short, concise, and full of useful info & tips.

I've watched dozens of videos on biochar production using all different methods but this one, yours, is the best and most useful by far. Thank you

That's an awesome set up you have there!! Between that kiln and chicken composting, I am here to stay and look forward to upcoming videos!

Good stuff! Thanks for the detailed and clear video on your biochar unit. Cheers.

I am old enough to have seen it done the old-fashioned way out in the open, I remember in Crete one summer back in the seventies, they would build a heap of wood twenty feet high and forty feet across. Set it alight and then cover it with dirt, the stink was unbelievable, they would do this up and down the valleys in mid-summer, unconcerned with starting a wildfire. Back then, everything was grazed back by goats and sheep, nearly always with a Shepard. If you haven't smelt burning dirt, it really is revolting, we used to do it in the rural science lab at school for a sterile growing medium. And the teachers would complain and ask us to get our teacher to stop doing it, they were frightened of him. So they asked the kids, I liked him and when I told him what they were saying, he said does it smell, he couldn't smell it because he was so used to it.

That's some good looking char! Great vid, thanks for putting it out there.

Awesome video, straight to the point with every necessary detail. Thank you!

By far the best comprehensive and informative videos on biochar. Thank you for explaining the process in detail

Thank you Eric. This is the best video I have seen about using a retort to make biochar.

Very neat! Finally an answer of what to do with all the leftover marrow bones!

Truly is a great video and description on the biochar barrel!!! Thank you so much!!!

Wonderful and helpful

I like the idea. Thinking about building a kiln out of cinder blocks and cooking the char inside a 45 gal drum that fits inside the cinder kiln.

Watching from the French carribeans. Wonderful explanations! Can't wait to build mine! ❤️

Thank you explaining the build and the materials that can be turned into biochar.

Great job explaining the process. Also those Milwaukee gloves are the best.

Great video. I do not have chickens yet, but a good deal of composting worms. I use about 10% biochar in my worm bedding. The very fine stuff is good grit. Can't wait to use it in the garden in the Spring.

Great explanation! Nice job

what a brilliant design using the wood gas to heat itself.

I’m sold! My buddy did this and gave me some for cooking very nice bio my first winter chickens not laying at all I tried everything except a light I don’t like to push them with supplemental light I added some of this biochar a couple days ago Free choice the next day their combs turned red and I just got an egg yesterday i don’t know if it was the biochar or not lol hopefully there will be more eggs this morning excellent video like always. Thank you.

Great video and useful information! Love the sound of the char!

Great video! I want to make some char for my farm. This is a great starting off point. Now I just have to see what I can scrounge to make one of those retorts! Thanks for posting!

This a really good job! Can you do another with a scaled down version? I (hopefully like others) would like to have a version for us without significant land/air. In other words, here on the Front Range of Colorado, we have air quality concerns. But, for instance, if I went camping at a designated burn site (e.g., BBQ grill @ a state/federal park), perhaps this can be put in the hands of the masses shrugging saying, "what can I do?". It just would be good to have a system for those of us that do not live in rural areas... and don't want to be forced to buy biochar, y'know?😅

Great content and presentation .... kind regards Australia .... !!!!

Fascinating!! Thank you for sharing this resourceful insight.

Thank you

I want to point out the main thing left in those bones (other than carbon and other trace minerals like magesium, sodium and potassium, even flouride) is calcium phosphate, one of the many food sources for microbes and fungus, seeing your other videos, i would like to let you know that innoculation of the biochar can be much more effecient and stronger. Long story short, what i would do is start with calcium carbonate from your egg shells, disolve them in vinegar, add to it magnesium carbonate commonly found from gym chalk. Allow them to offgas co2 and produce calcium and magnesium acetate (another microbe food source) with this mixture add gypsum and epsomsalt again which is just cal and mag sulphates (another microbe food source) to this mix add some regular protein powder and blood meal (every amino acid your microbes and fungus will ever need along with fatty acids), now with all of this mixed up in appropriate amounts innoculate it with worm juice, compost juice, whatever microbes you got naturally, and still then add to it a commercial soil innoculant (preferably with added fulvic and humic acids, look in those cannibus isles for this one, now throw in a compost tea bubbler and heres another secret sauze is while bubbling add a dash of h2o2, Not to much, for the enzymatic synthesis of peracetic acid which is needed for the chelation of silica to then be enzymatically turned into silicic acid. Now the key point here is to then dump your char on top... do not try to force it down allow the proliferation of your artificial soil ecosystem to colonize the char and not only carry chelated ions into it but allow the char to ionically retain all the complex compounds these buggies are all producing. Now we have a real biochar in an effecient way and timescale loaded with everything you could possibly want in such a biomix. The char is simply the medium or carrier, it just happens to be absorbant, negatively charged (when empty) and a carbon source, otherwise we would simply use vermiculite or perlight or some other medium. The key here is filling it with active colonies of microbes that already have chelated ions with them, cant go wrong with mag and cal. Plenty of nitrogen from all the acetate, amino acids and the rest. Everything is all there au natural

Just discovered your channel and I'm impressed. I use the trench method as I don't have barrels or the tools to hook up the chimney. I do love how it sounds like glass once it's done.

I have 2 questions, First is where to find a 30 gallon barrel? Second would a 20 gallon work better as far as getting wood between the 2 barrels?

Thanks for this amazing video!!

Nicely explained how to make biochar. Do you have videos, or could you make one, where you explain the next step, how to use the biochar? Thanks, greetings from Spain

Awesome demonstration! I imagine this gets mixed in with your planting beds?

This is very interesting, thanks for sharing it with us.

Simple. Thanks for sharing

Good man. Thank you for the video. Be safe and nice hat.

precisely the information id hope to find. thank you

Outstanding idea 👍

Essentially nature’s nanotechnology structure. Very cool!

That's great you showed the gas burning, I hadn't seen that before. Something I'm concerned about is when the gas ignites, there's a potential for a fireball or sudden volatile ignition inside the inner barrel. Have you ever had a sudden backfire sort of fireball when the gas ignites? -Ken

ahh, my comment is your videos rock. Short, to the point, and factual...

Great video. Thanks

Thank you for this great video! Have you ever tried this with wood chips? If you had a less complete burn with the material packed too tight I imagine the lack of air gaps in the chip would be a problem? Thanks again

I think I just found a new channel to support! Lets check out your other content!

Brilliant!

Very cool! I need to make some biochar for my worm bin! I have access to free wood scraps but they are fiber board or lightly laminated - would that be ok to use, or should I avoid that?

We did our first batch based on your video and it turned out great! Some of the wood didn't char all the way and I am going to add a few more holes. We also used some small logs. How do you crush it or do you crush it before adding to compost pile?

I live on a wooded lot and I'm hoping I could make some with burn piles, but I like your method more. Also relieved that the pieces you are using are all exactly the same size, I thought that might be an issue.

Nice video, I’ll be making it. One thing,The 30 gallon barrel looks to be shorter than usual? Thanks!

I've been looking for a 30gal drum with a proper lid for nearly 2 years. I've only ever found oil drums with 3-inch holes for lids. Any idea where to get one without buying a new one for $100's?

I've done a version of this a few years ago with a 15 gal drum inside a 55. Since then I've been trying to track down a 30 gal drum and it's been difficult. Anyone know where to source these? Great video!

How does the gas get out of those holes in the bottom? I would have thought it would just get trapped in the gap between the 30 gallon and 55 gallon drum?

Hello, thank you very much for your nice video, do you think it is possible that only bones could be used instead of wood and some bones? Best Wishes, dami.

Great video.

I don't see the feed stock all along the side. Did I miss something. Its looks very interesting. This is the first time to hear about this.

Curious how many burns you get out of a pair of barrels? Thanks. Great vid

Got it! 👍

I finally got the 55 gallon drum and the lid doesn't quite fit so isn't super secure. It fits over top but doesn't sort of lock on. Is that going to be a problem? I see you have a stick holding up the lid anyway. At what point, do you remove it?

Why do you want to make bio char? What are you using it for?

I realize that using green materials in the inner chamber will produce mixed results. Is this a viable (safe) way to dispose of yard waste that can’t be burned in the open? (Things like poison ivy) I’ve an infestation and I’d love a safe way to dispose of it. (Goats, sadly, are not an option for me.)

Hi, I am trying to do a similar set up to you, I was hoping you could answer my question. It's been quite hard for me to find a 30 gal here in Australia, and I have finally found one, except it is missing a lid. Do you think it would be possible to get a good burn with the open side of the inner barrel facing down, with steel mesh holding the wood in? or would that let too much oxygen in? I have seen another video where someone does that, kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ft91ddWTytzMYps.html at 2:40 Just wanting your opinion on that! Thanks, Thomas.

Great informative video. How necessary is the flue? Can use a 55 gal drum lid with a large hole cut out?

Do you think one can get charcoal from a store and put that into a closed container with the bottom holes and finish the biochar process on that? My understanding is that charcoal from a store is not complete biochar. It has impurities and water still in it. I got a 55 gallon drum and a lot of brush and tree clippings that I can use to cook the inner container.

good deign nice glassy sound

When you put feed stock around and on top of 30 gallon drum,its lost due to burning in order to make the bio char, what is the ratio of lost feed stock to make bio char.

how do you think the bones compare to the char made from lets say, wood chips?

Where can I source a used 30gallon metal drum? I got the 55 gallon but trying to find a used 30gallon is very difficult. Thanks.

Other than bones and coconut shells, what else did you use? Just new wood? Also, you didn't show the innoculation process.

For those of us who can't lift the 30 gallon full of feedstock to place in the middle of the 55gallon, can we place first place the empty 30 gallon inside the 55 gallon then refill the feedstock? Also, is it necessary to put feedstock around outside of 30 gallon after placed inside the 55 gallon. THANK YOU for very informative information. I am here because Tag recommended me.

Can the outer feed stock be treated wood?

Does the bone retain calcium after it burns? Love your hat! Great content.

Good stuff. How about green wood or does it need to be mostly dry wood

How do you find the 30 gal. barrels with removable lids? I have been told by several scores "Lots of luck"

Hi , great video - the 30 gal drum has holes in the bottom - do you need to set it on some kind of spacer to allow gas out?

How many burns until the retort is finished? Thanks and take care.

Here is a question How many burns do you get out of a drum before you have to replace it?

+1 sub 👍👍👍 can I please ask, I have a load of beef bones, basically an entire cow… so this method will burn the hard beef bones down to a brittle shape that I could pulverise for fertiliser? Thanks loads. How long will I need to burn the fire for… I was thinking of using coal to get it SUPER hot in temperature 👍👍👍

How many times do you put in fuel? or burned once Thank you for the answer.

Do you have to let the chicken manure, biochar mix rest for a year before adding it to your garden? Or can you use it sooner than a year?

Hi there, great video, so can u use treated woods to make biochar then or better not?

Silly question, at 6:05. Is that a eucalypt? Im from Australia and it's rare to see our flora. Thanks for the video, have enjoyed your channel

Would it help to prop up the small barrel onto something to help the gases to escape?

Doesn't the bone smell awful when being burnt?

Dig-in your method. That bone looks like it has alot of porosity.

💚👍

thanks for the video I have a small saw mill and raise chickens I no what to do with the waste

What do you think about making biochar from eggshells or thick plant stems?

Can you do this with wood chips??

Does the bone add anything unique at all?

Greetings from Somalia

WHY YOU NEED HOLES AT THE TOP OF THE OUTER BARREL.IS THE BOTTOM HOLES NOT ENOUGH

I've got a source for the 55 gal drum, but where did you get the 30 gal drum?

Where did you put the bones, in with the wood?

Is this top lift updraft?

What is feed stock?

Can i burn sea shelles ?

12-28

Those drums burn up pretty quickly, don't they?

I just saw this video. Why would you biochar bones? Why not wood and boil the bones to make bone meal? Bone meal is such a good fertilizer. Seems like wasting resources.

So what’s next?