This is a very old traditional woodland craft that is STILL DONE in Britain & Europe today. It was a pleasure filming this for you guys and I hope you all enjoy it. Watch more videos like this in my Woodland Life playlist: kzfaq.info/sun/PLxnadpeGdTxCwRkZTLMhjbT_EAu6bAIZy

The old skills need to be kept alive. We may need them again someday.

That was one of the most entertaining and informative vids you've done. So many channels are not doing what you are. Just churning out camping with cooking and calling it bushcraft.

Mike , give your dad a hug for me. I lost my dad several years ago and I’d been living far away for many years before that and wasn’t able to spend a lot of time with him. Every video that you include him in I really enjoy. Thank you for sharing your relationship with your father with us.

The "old" ways are always interesting to learn about. Thanks for sharing.

I was recently wondering how the charcoal was made and here it is. Thank you

I do enjoy watching Ben doing his thing, spindles, tiles or charcoal he is so clear in his explanation, a master of the forest.

This has become a bit of a recent fascination of mine. The EXTREMELY old method involves essentially just making a pile of wood in this same shape and covering the pile on soil. Then you manage the oxygen by piling soil on the parts you don't want burning and vice versa. Apparently it could take as long as a week or more, done by two guys who take turns taking naps and dealing with any other responsibilities

This series is excellent and Ben is getting much more confident on camera too - great job

these are the guys you want on your team during the apocalypse...thanks for the video!

I learnt about charcoal burning from reading Swallows and Amazons (the Dutch translation) and the technique with the sand or soil hill which needed constant attention from the burners. Very interesting to see how it's done with a slightly more modern method which is still traditional.

i litterally can’t say how much ur channel is to everyone, every thing is perfect, i can’t say one thing to improve, 👍 keep it up

I have just caught up with woodland playlist. There is nothing I have found on KZfaq better than this channel, the peace and quiet with nature in your own woodland.

Another fascinating episode of 'traditional' work in the forest.

had a friend of mine who made his own charcoal in 55 gal barrels.. he kept the lids cuz they could be closed up and get a good seal around the rim. Used a couple of the holes in the botttom for air flow control and a stack in the back corner he'd load it up with black spruce (which grow in super dense copses but they're never much bigger around than your arm; find stands of them all over Central Alaskan valley usually in low lying areas, so cutting was done in the winter when the ground was frozen and they could be skidded out easily) he'd load the barrel up, really jam it full of half-splits , light the lower front of it, close the lid and leave the bung open. let it get going until the back of the drum got hot, watching the smoke. When it goes "gray", close it, and let it smoulder closed up like that for the rest of the afternoon. close up completely in the evening, The next morning it's ready to unload. If he was careful about the timing he'd get about half a barrel of charcoal he could feed to his wood stove, burned cleaner than raw wood (spruce has lots of pitch in it) He'd even drain off the turpentine and sold it to another friend who used it for an ingredient in a homemade skin balm that worked wonders on husky feet that had developed cracks from mushing.

Mike this was awesome, very interesting on how that is made. Thank you my friend

It's always interesting to me when you're not controlling the camera to see the difference in the editing and style. Great video, really interesting and good for people to see

Thank you Mike and Ben. Its great to see traditional practices being continued and taught, never knew about the stool 😂. Thanks guys, see you soon Mike at the WIU festival. 👍🏻🔥

Definitely gonna try this sometime, brilliant video 👍

What an amazing lesson on how charcoal is made! TY for sharing this video.

Certainly makes you appreciate the work that goes into this traditional method. Stop buying charcoal at the rip off garages guys. Support local charcoal makers. Nice video Mike 📹👍🏻

charcoal making by the Bun-master! (no Bun intended).

Used to make it in Hodgemoor Woods in Buckinghamshire when I was a kid. There's a woodland full of resources!! 👍🏾

I was a charcoal burner for Singelton open-air museum. I had 3 kilns about 3m round the museum bought the timber in I would burn about 26 tonnes a week. I’m not saying your way is wrong because as long as you get good hard charcoal then that’s fine, but he is over complicating the job. 🤣🤣nice to see my trade still being done as us old woodsmen die jobs like that die with us keep up the good work. The best wood for charcoal is Hornbeam.

Oh I wanted to see how Ben cleaned the kiln especially the chimneys. And yet another great video

Excellant video !! TYVM for showing this and bringing this out , it was very imformative and what a great use for what most people would either just burn or thru in a chipper here in the states .

Well done, very interesting process! Thanks for the demo, it was amazing! Now let's cook something up with the charcoal... Thanks again and Keep'em coming!!

Yay! thanks for doing this one, been patiently waiting for this there are so many of these woodland crafts to explore, thanks again

Have a nice day 😊

Very informative thanks will give it ago next year when I've got a hall of wood on a smaller scale.. Keep up the great content.

Amazing video with all the info one needs! Thanks guys!

i love all the traditional crafts you two show us and always great and interesting topics keep up the great work

Ben's one of the coolest dudes I've seen. Legend.

Reciba un abrazo y un saludo respectuoso fesde Rep. Dominicana por lo didáctico y bien explicado de su vídeo y el gran interes que usted muestra para que sus lectores. Rs usted un Gran ser Humano.Grscias y Fios lo Bendiga a ustedy a toda su familia

As always another great video, thanks Mike.

Great video. Making charcoal and biochar for growing produce are two fascinating elements of potential woodland production.

I've done earthen kiln charcoal before. It was very interesting seeing a steel kiln being used. Thank you bring this to us.

I really want to thank you, I am a hobby blacksmith and charcoal is my bane it isn't worth buying and making it is a pain but now I have a better idea then burning in a hole in the ground

AWESOME! Always wanted to know the process of making charcoal. Thank You very much guys. Greetings from France ^_^

This bloke ben is a good chap thanks for showing this and sharing the knowledge!

What a great video - really interesting to see the process explained. Thanks to you and Ben!

Thanks Mike, really interesting vid, keep up the good work

A quick handy way to make charcoal is to wrap the pieces of wood in aluminium foil, sealing it well, and throw them onto an open fire. When the fire burns out you'll have lovely pieces of charcoal inside the foil.

You're my favourite KZfaqr of all time

LOVED learning about this!

I've seen another type of charcoal making where they also collect the tar. Basicly a raised closed kiln, with a drain or spout. Fire lit underneath. Due to heat and pressure the wood turns to charcoal and releases the tar ready to be collected.

Excellent setup. Thanks for sharing your experience in this old skill.

It's a lot quicker than I expected, even though the wood was really dry. Those one-legged stools were also used by Lime burners but they didn't sit too close because the fumes would knock them out and there are stories of the people left in charge of the kilns falling in and being burned to death.

AWESOME, can't wait to try one of these on my next trip to the woods, thanks guys, great video!

Amazing 🤩

Nicely done!

So cool! Thanks!

Another job well done

Awesome stuff!

Fascinating! Thank you very much, gentlemen!

Knowledgable bloke there. I agree that these are the skills we need to keep alive. Otherwise we are just consumers! I still enjoy the whole Jack Hargreaves ethos and this fits perfectly.

Perfect char, lads! Well done those men!

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for sharing this video. Most excellent!

For those blessed with fast growing and recovering trees, this is a great thing. If you run a forge, it's a great way to make fuel for an old school forge (if you can't get coal.)

Brilliant !!! Cheers from Ireland☘

Great video guys, great sound quality. That kiln is really nice. Thanks for sharing with us. Cheers from the U.S.!

THanks MIke! 😁👍

Thanks for sharing

I’ve had ago at making charcoal I put a steel bucket full of small sticks on a fire with a pice of steel on the top

Very relaxing video, thanks for sharing

This is new to me. GREAT VIDEO!!

Good stuff.

that was awesome very interesting. thanks for sharing

Great work lads, especially the guy who ran through it all.. As many have said we definitely need to keep these ideas and skills alive properly or when the skills are needed eventual, we'll be stuck reading from books

Wow really enjoyed this looks ace

Loved this! :)

Good to see this, so thank you Mike & Ben, seen film of the process a number of times but Ben added some interesting practical detail, also this was a really quick burn due to the small kiln, most I've seen seem to take 36-48 hours ! Always a bit of a lottery what you'll find on lifting the lid, but there was some great looking charcoal there, much nicer than the mass produced stuff.

Thank you for this✨💛

Awesome video. Very fascinating

awesome!

I want to bring a piece of pottery to that party!!! It looks like it definitely gets hot enough for stoneware!

Brilliant video and very interesting to see how charcoal can be made on a more modern process than a hole in the ground. 👍

I remember seeing a video about this by John Hargreaves, love the process

Excellente méthode.😊

Awesome Episode! Guess one could use a regular barrel as well to do this or even a big old cooking pot. Maybe that'd be a cool idea for a future episode?

I have an old Blacksmithing book that shows how to make charcoal using dirt. It's all the same principles as here, except instead of having a metal kiln, you pack the outside with dirt. I believe it's an 1830 volume. It has all kinds of interesting small details, like keeping your sawdust, to use a handful re-igniting fires. Btw, I love the sound of that dried hazel hitting together. That's the good stuff.

A modern take on things guys, well done. 40yrs in the business and there's some tricks I could show you 😛 larger burns are definitely easier to deal with.

An interesting watch.

Great work dude. 😃😃

I’ve never done a direct burn before. I’ve used a retort it comes out great

Great video, what I am totally missing is he indication when you have to stop the fire. You mentioned that the smoke will change. Seeing that would be nice to have a better understanding what you have to pay attention to.

I remember seeing a Japanese kiln where white charcoal was made. It ended up making a ceramic/metallic "ring" when struck.

I did this once back in the 90s when I was at agricultural college. That burner was larger and had 4 chimneys and because there were a lot of us involved we didn't need any one legged stools.

Really cool video! I enjoyed that a lot.

Extraordinary

That's interesting!

This will be very interesting to a friend of mine who hopes to do just this with the leftovers from a partial thinning of his beech woodland.

Cool .

If you had a copper tube or multiple tubes at the bottom of the kiln leading to a metal container, the resins will flow down into the container. Making an awesome pitch that has many uses. Drilling holes and attaching with hardware of course.

Really good video, it's about the same procedure as making chare clothe

I use a smoker to cook food on, it does a great job making charcoal as well.

The deforestation required to fuel anthracite blast furnaces is an interesting and awful historical application. I was hoping vents beneath a chamber like that would work, kudos to you for doing it. Coppicing. Excellent. Alder would be great in the American northwest.

Thanks

Great stuff guys I really like your method, well thought out, feel like we are mates, my great, great, great grandfather was from Great Brittan and I am still seeking how to make good quality lump charcoal.