Has anyone used charcoal in their WFO?

[mikku]

There were a couple of boxes of charcoal at a new remodeling jobsite that were intended to be trashed...so I took them home instead.
On Sunday while firing the oven to make a pizza, I threw a few chunks of charcoal into the oven. wow! did things heat up quickly.
Oven cleared much quicker...
I think I'm keeping the charcoal for a quick heat boost when needed.

[Gulf]

Mikku,

It works great for me. I use lump charcoal quite often. Some of it is saved from previous firings and some is store bought when I can find a good sale. I like to start it in a chimney starter to to get a quick and hot coal bed started for a new fire. Also, if I need an extra few degrees when the oven is on the decline, I'll fire a chimney full or two and throw it in there to bring the oven up to temp. It is quick and easy way to get another 50 to 100 degree recharge for a roast. Charcoal burns clean, so it does not soot the oven back up. I wouldn't hesitate to use charcoal briquettes either, if I had some around. I just don't ever buy any. I'm not sure what kind of charcoal that you brought home, but either kind is a bargain when you can get it for free .

[UtahBeehiver]

Mikku,

Glad to see you are still around. Interesting little hint from you and Gulf about recharging the oven with charcoal. Gotta keep that back in the gray matter.

Mikku, Heading to Nikko around Thanksgiving time for a long weekend, with just a quick stay in Toyko in the Asakusa area. Last time I was in this area there were some pretty fantastic Japanese (Damascus type) knife shops and I did not buy myself one then and kicked myself in the butt for not doing so. But this time no question, one is coming home with me. If we had more time I would pop by and see your oven. My SM tomatoes did okay, still some end blossom rot on about 25%. I just need to build up my soil.

[SableSprings]

As Gulf noted above, the charcoal lumps are great for recharging the oven temps. Of note, several of our Aussie members have recommended using charcoal briquettes (they call them heat beads) for the early oven curing days. The heat beads (I love that name!) give a constant & predictable heat for much longer than going by the "several sticks of kindling and some newspaper" method. I also remember it noted that using a ring of heat beads will give you a nice slow, even burn when you need it for doing "long & low meats"...like pulled pork & other BBQ styles. They just set the beads up touching each other and lit off one end...as each bead burns across itself, it ignites the next one resulting in the nice, slow, even heat addition to the oven chamber. I suspect that you can do the same with the charcoal lumps, just try to pick out pieces that are roughly the same size.

[Gulf]

Mike,

That is called "the snake method" or "charcoal snake". kbartman did a great post on it here. This is his pic that I stole. He has several other pics on the link and a great description of the cook.

Edit: Placing the @ sign in front of a user's name in the body of a post is supposed to send a message to that user, notifying them that his/her name was mentioned. Just trying to see if it works .

[UtahBeehiver]

I just found a use of the leftover charcoal I bought for curing my oven a few years ago. I completely forgot about the "snake" process.

[david s]

FB used to say that burning charcoal in their ovens was a no no. In fact they said it would void warranty. I can't see why charcoal or brickettes would be more damaging than wood coals.

I don't know what their current policy is, maybe one of the mods can clarify.

[admin]

Forno Bravo has always strived to be a green company and wood fired purist.

With that said, Forno Bravo's stance on coal was more of a "purist" position to wood fired cooking, the environment. authentic Vera Pizza Napoletana, health and less about warranty.

1 - From a pure performance standpoint, using coal in your oven will not damage it or void the warranty.

2 - Our floors are NSF-4 rated and as such, must be clean and come in direct contact with food. Charcoal is more toxic than wood embers, hence our historical aversion to coal.

3 - Charcoal is a major contributor to carbon emissions and as such, is less environmentally friendly. One of the many reasons we disagree with banning wood in "smog areas," but allowing coal seems non-sensical to us.

4- Charcoal can have grease laden vapors, more so than wood which may cause local jurisdictions to require a Type 1 hood for venting instead of direct vent. If you use coal, you have to research more specific fire safety requirements than our install manual and intended use guidelines cover.

5 - Chcaroal has been linked to cancer in some studies, but the jury is out as always on these types of studies.

6 - Wood will typically burn hotter and last longer than most coals, burning off impurities and making clean up easier.

I enjoy a good BBQ just like wood fired, and it does save time. So, it is a matter of preference.

Chcarcoal MSDS

http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9923389

Nice article on coal

http://grist.org/food/should-i-feel-...l-fired-pizza/

With all that said, if you use coal and your oven is damaged under our warranty for other reasons (cracked dome, etc) Forno Bravo will honor its warranty.

Tim

[Gulf]

David,

I agree with you on that. I have seen it posted several times myself. I had to look it up. It is funny that Forno Bravo would list " charcoal" in the same health warning as pressure treated lumber. But, under the Warranty they list " coal" , not charcoal. Like you said, " maybe one of the mods can clarify" .

Here is a pdf for the Primavera Assembley, Installation, and Operating Instructions. On page 2 under Warnings it says:

"Use firewood for burning only. DO NOT use charcoal, pressure treated lumber, chipped wood products, sappy wood such as pine, laminated wood or any material other than dry medium or hard firewood."

On page 3 under the Limited Warranty it reads:

"QUALIFICATIONS TO THE WARRANTY The complete Product Warranty outlined above does not apply under the following circumstances:................

(2)The Product has been subjected to non-standard use, including burning fuels with abnormal burning characteristics including, driftwood, coal, plywood and wood products using a binder that may burn at excessive temperatures and cause damage to the Product..............."

[admin]

David,

I agree with you on that. I have seen it posted several times myself. I had to look it up. It is funny that Forno Bravo would list " charcoal" in the same health warning as pressure treated lumber. But, under the Warranty they list " coal" , not charcoal. Like you said, " maybe one of the mods can clarify" .

Here is a pdf for the Primavera Assembley, Installation, and Operating Instructions. On page 2 under Warnings it says:

"Use firewood for burning only. DO NOT use charcoal, pressure treated lumber, chipped wood products, sappy wood such as pine, laminated wood or any material other than dry medium or hard firewood."

On page 3 under the Limited Warranty it reads:

"QUALIFICATIONS TO THE WARRANTY The complete Product Warranty outlined above does not apply under the following circumstances:................

(2)The Product has been subjected to non-standard use, including burning fuels with abnormal burning characteristics including, driftwood, coal, plywood and wood products using a binder that may burn at excessive temperatures and cause damage to the Product..............."

Gulf,

We are in the process of re-writing our manuals. I posted above directly to David. We will also be doing a re-write of our best woods to use and providing a lot more info shortly.

Our new manual won't mention generic terms but rather list heat rating, etc. That is more relevant to the discussion regarding performance and product.

Tim

[Gulf]

Thanks Tim,

I guess that answers the warranty issue about all three of the terms that are associated with word "coal" Even though, they are distinctly different .

[admin]

True, I was lazy and corrected to Charcoal. Have to be careful of context / accuracy.

[Dave T]

I was just referred to this thread from another similar thread I started. Above you talk about the health risks of burning coal and activated charcoal. I'm interested in using lump charcoal, which is neither of those. Is there anything wrong with using that at all?

[mikku]

Hello all! I was just using recycled charcoal. If I can figure out a way to add a photo of the charcoal, I will. There were 2 boxes of charcoal headed to the dumpster that I brought home instead.
Anything that burns clean and hot should work good in my oven--and save on burning some of the precious oak that I have been hoarding for the last two years. As Gulf mentioned, he uses it to boost his oven temperatures..IMHO if it originated as wood, why would you not use it in a WFO? Even normal brickette charcoal is a wood byproduct... what is the big deal?

[mikku]

Fired up the WFO on Sunday afternoon. Really the only time that there is enough time to start, tend the fire and bring it up to baking temperatures without having to play with the oven late into the evening.
Really only takes two loads of wood to get the oven hot, but hot enough for baking bread the following day requires at least 2 to 3 hours of firing. The charcoal added after the second load of wood seemed to hasten the clearing of the dome. I'm glad that this charcoal didn't go into the dumpster! Wood is good! Repeat that! Any form of wood is good! At least the wood without added adhesives or chemicals. I think this wood is pretty free of chemicals... No radiation either! Unless it sat too long outdoors! We are not so far from Fukushima Daichi Reactor Meltdown location!

[Dave T]

Agreed. All the stuff on FB saying not to use charcoal seems to come from ignorance. It seems that they were confused about the difference between charcoal and coal.

[Gulf]

And, there should be absolutely no issues with burning "lump charcoal". That is what in the pic is marketed as over here. Any wood burned in a wood fired oven turns in to a form of it, just before it is totally consumed.