Burning Charcoal in the Solo Titan
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 เม.ย. 2017
- In this video I continue to look for an alternative fuel to use in my Solo Titan and Lixada wood gas stoves. In some places like national parks it is illegal to use materials from the forest for making fires. Some times it makes sense to carry fuel with you for your small wood burning stove.
Hello Mark,
I am about to give some information about the principal of a gasifier stove and the properties of charcoal a bit. The design of solo stove or similar types of stoves is to pull down the gas from the woods in the burn chamber through the bottom holes and mix up with oxygen from the outer holes of the stoves, and going up through the inside space, escaping the gas + oxygen from the top holes of the burn chamber to re-ignite and give the hot flame. Using wood is efficient because wood contains gasses whereas the charcoal has only the energy left because it prepares by the process of pyrolysis. In this process all the gasses were extracted from the wood and left the carbon and energy to form the charcoal.
Now if you use charcoal in a gasifier stove, it draws cool air oxygen into the burn chamber to burn the charcoal and pull down all the heat from the bottom holes of that chamber, mixing with cool air and pushing up that cool air into the burn chamber again to cycle the burning process. As charcoal doesn't have that flammable gasses which the wood have, it doesn't re-ignite. The gasifier stove itself a system of pyrolysis to convert wood to charcoal. So if your give charcoal it will simply turn the charcoal into ashes. In Your Process you can make slow cooking or baking in a gasifier stove. but to get high intense heat from charcoal you need a single wall top load stove with bottom ventilation system to draw the oxygen and through the heat to the top. I hope this will give sense into this test. Thank You
Great information. Certainly more than I had know initially. I will be pinning this comment to the top of this video for other people to see. Thanks for commenting
Hello,
I am glad, you pin my information.
I found this video extremely perfect text of this two biomass properties (wood and charcoal). You just made if perfect (ma be without knowing it). Your video is highly inviting to me because of the detail test and the honesty of the commentary you have done. Keep doing more and more test like this even if you knowing this. This will help many others to grow their knowledge by seeing a hands hold visual test. I love your camping trip. And I would like to see more test video on stoves with different types of cooking in different climates and weather conditions. There is very few proper information about the detail of biomass stove applications. Mostly they are just ADVERTISEMENT. Thank You again.
When I use my charcoal starter tower I find I can produce a very hi hi heat by overloading it and shaking the white ash of the coals ! I can flash sear stakes and bring a pot of chili to a boil in less than six minutes. I usually load up the grill then re set up the starter tower for using pans or pots to fry or boil while I grill
It chars grilled corn on the cob very quickly.
Shila Dutta my understanding is that the warm products of combustion rises. I am unable to understand your comment that “ wood gas is pulled down”. My understanding is that the upwards movement of the combustion draws in air to warm in the outer jacket and that warmed air enables more combustion of the smoke at the top of the fuel, ie secondary burning.
I was just going to say that it needs more air....then it would burn both quicker and hotter, (like a turbo).
Keeping it simple , it's very complicated already.
I have the solo stove campfire model and have been successful using charcoal in it, but I also add sticks and debris to keep the flame going. Doing this I have been able to cook, hotdogs, hamburgers, and even chicken breast. Thanks for the video!
Yes, charcoal will burn in the Solo, just not at the intensity it will in stoves with more primary airflow. Actually, that can be a good thing if you are looking for a low cooking heat. Thanks for commenting
So glad I found your channel. You have answered all my questions a year be for I needed to ask them.
Thanks for your efforts.
Glad to be of service. Thank you for commenting and subscribing
THANK YOU for this! I just purchased a Titan and was seriously wondering about charcoal as an alternative fuel source in a pinch, or even as a desirable option. Your test makes me think that coal might be desirable when a “low & slow” cooking process would be beneficial (one thing I’m thinking of in this regard would be some [but not all] dishes I would prepare in my small cast iron fry pan, in addition to some baking applications). The helpful comment you pinned that explains the science of coal versus wood in a gasifier stove seems to confirm my conclusion. I really appreciate your informative, direct & accessible presentation style, as well as your apparent love for both the outdoors AND clear-headed research & experimentation. Thanks so much for sharing!💐 P.S. I’m a new subscriber, and surprised you don’t have FAR more subs- you deserve them!!!
Oops...read your second commenting first. I am glad you found the video helpful. I would be interested in hearing how you make out with the Titan. Thank you for subscribing and commenting
I like your style. short, sweet, info packed.
Thank you very much
I love your scientific approach. Great video and great info in the comments.
Thank you very much. My astrophysicist son would probably laugh at calling my method scientific but I hope if does provides useful information. I learned a lot from doing the tests. Thanks for commenting
Didn't expect that. Great videos Mark, keep up the awesome work!.
Yeah, I was kind of disappointed myself... will try something else. Thanks for commenting
I like the test you do. It’s a really big help.
I appreciate it thanks
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for commenting
I actually expected this. Thank you for the video, Mark
I think I did as well but I needed to test it to make sure. Thanks for commenting
I use 25 degrees per charcoal briquet as a guide. By that measure, you were at about 225 degrees in your burn. I have a Solo Campfire that I stack charcoal around the inside, approx 25 briquets, and about 6 oz of pellets in the center. I can boil 48 oz of water, cook dinner and boil more water on a single charge. It lasts more than two hours of useable energy.
Interesting. I had not calculated out the heat of the briquettes as you have. It seems charcoal works well in the Campfire. Thanks for commenting
Oh man Mark I love your videos great work, thanks for the knowledge !
Glad you like them! Thanks for commenting
Mark Young just doing my part in supporting 🇨🇦
Fantastic video, I'm late to the party I know. This 4th of July I'm going to par boil a slab of ribs, then slow roast them on the grill in a cast iron skillet. I've made some mods to my gassifier stove to use as the heat source. We'll see how it works. Thanks for all the info!
Sounds tasty. I am interested in what you are going to do to mod the stove. Thanks for commenting
looking forward to the combo test video. I may have to try it myself with my solo stove. Although I have the smaller version so the briquets may not work out as well but I'll try anyway. I use my stove in my garage a lot if I don't feel like having an actual fire or it's to cold or windy just sit right near the open garage door. I also park my suv infront of where I'm sitting so my neighboors don't think I'm crazy
Ill be trying the combo test in a few days. Would be interested in hearing how you make out with the smaller Solo stove. Thanks for commenting
I know this an old video but the wood pellets is a game changer for me. Thanks 😊
I am still testing and using wood pellets in my stoves. Thanks for commenting
Good comparison... waiting for ur vid combining wood pellets n charcoal! Love ur vids by the way!
will definitely try that out. Thanks for commenting
I've had great results with this stove and charcoal when lit from BELOW - they glow red hot and are perfect for grilling
I'd like to see you do a video burning charcoal that way
I think you'll be a convert!
I might give it another try then. Thanks for commenting
good test! for those makeup pads, I tend to leave a spot with no wax so that you can fluff up to get going. Last time I used charcoal on a wood stove, 9-12 briquettes was awesome for heat for an hour. I think more shelter from wind would help a lot.
Thanks Jim...I have come to the conclusion that charcoal just won't work well in a wood gas stove... The wood gasses are all ready burnt off in the making of the charcoal...nothing to gasify... But charcoal in some my other stoves? Amazing...Thanks for commenting
Windscreen lessens the draft which lessens your heat temperatures.i use 3 briquettes in it after building a good bed of coals from small twigs n sticks.mainly it prolongs your burning time !🔥🔥👍
Good point about the windscreen. Charcoal does burn in these stoves but can't gassify. Thanks for commenting
Hi Mark,
I got a great grilling temperature from the briquettes in a Solo Titan by just adding 3 once the fire was going well on hardwood sticks. I added another 2 briquettes with a few bits of wood after 10 minutes and there was around 20 minutes of grilling temperature from the Solo. All I had in the stove at that point was 5 glowing red briquettes. Cheers, Michael
Hi Michael... Good idea. I can see how that would work. Wonder if it would work with wood pellets then add the charcoal?...Thanks for commenting
Hey Mark, by coincidence I tried that last night though using small pieces of block charcoal rather than briquettes. The charcoal needs a little less heat to get going but lasts a long time in the Solo. I had 2cm or so of the wood pellets in the bottom of the stove to get things moving. Thanks for the inspiration to experiment with this cooking method. Cheers, Michael
Also good to know...save me the time of doing the test :)....thanks again
Cool video, thanks you answered some questions I had.
Glad you enjoyed..Thanks for commenting
interesting test...thank you for trying this out.
Most welcome. Thanks for commenting
Great demo Mark. Would love to see the wood pellet/charcoal mixture test, thanks for sharing! P.S. Only watching youtube because I can't be out in the woods! LOL
I will do that video shortly...after I get back from the woods.;)
Great video, I was really impressed with the wood pellet test, but yes, too much heat for grilling, wonder what would happen with a grate grill on top to diffuse the heat? I would love love love to see a pellet charcoal combination test, please do. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Felicia... A cast iron fry pan would certainly work...thanks for commenting
Thanks for the test
glad you enjoyed..
When I use my Bushbuddy gasifier wood stove and want to use the charcoal heat after all the woodgas has been burnt off, I take off the pot stand and lay a couple of metal skewers across the top of the burn chamber. These act as spacers to allow some air flow to the charcoal but let me put a pot or item for grilling closer to the heat.
Perhaps that would help your experiment. I have not tried burning charcoal in my stove yet, thank you for the video, it was very interesting.
Interesting suggestion. I will give it a try. Thanks for commenting
Yet another good video. Well done.
That said I will urge you to revisit your own video where you cooked using a charcoal chimney starter!
Did you light that from the top? NO! You did not!
I submit that charcoal is a bit different than either wood pellets and/or twigs and sticks.
Try loading the stove with tender/fire-starter on the bottom then stacking the charcoal on top of it. When it comes time to light it simply pick up the little stove and light it through the vents in the bottom of the burning chamber.
Nevertheless, you deserve kudos for the initial idea. I can hardly wait to try it with my Ohuhu stove.
Hi Walter. I would be interested to hear how you make out using charcoal in your wood gas stove. I have learned from people much more knowledgeable than me that the reason charcoal does not gassify is because all the volitles are already burnt off. Basically, there is nothing left to gassify. If you get a different result please let me know. Thanks for commenting
Thank you for your reply, Mark.
For reasons of my own health issues I have not been able to “get out” much lately.
Yet, my prognosis is good. I look forward to making more videos of my own soon.
Until such time I will leave you with this:
Pay no attention to those that INSIST That these type stoves MUST be 'top lit'!
Certainly this works but it is not---in my humble opinion---the most efficient way.
Notice the bottom portion of the inner stove makes up the lower part of the 'firebox'.
The draft created by the design of the stove brings in air to the INNER WALLS of the UPPER portion of the firebox. This air is then SUPER HEATED and when escaping through the uppermost vents slightly above the firebox it creates a phenomenon very similar to what firefighters know as “Flashover” .
Flashover by definition is “the sudden involvement of a room or an area in flames from floor to ceiling caused by thermal radiation feedback.”1 Thermal radiation feedback is the energy of the fire being radiated back to the contents of the room from the walls, floor, and ceiling.
In the past, when I used my wood gas stove I ignored those that INSISTED the stove should be lit from the top.
I was lucky to find a video that went against what so many others were saying. Each time I lit my stove I did it from the bottom. With great success.
I have yet to burn wood pellets or charcoal but thanks to your impetus I look forward to posting videos of my own tests.
Meanwhile, thanks for giving us all food for thought. As well as inviting us to share our our own thoughts, ideas, and comments. It is greatly appreciated.
Is it possible that blocking the bottom air circulation is reason for not generating more heat to boil your water?
So, what I have learned from my experience and from others more knowledgeable than I is that charcoal will work in a woodgas stove but not very efficiently. The reason is, woodgas stoves work on the principle of pyrolisis where volatile gasses are released from the wood and ignited. Charcoal has already had the volatile gasses burnt off in its making. Ultimately, yes you are correct. Better airflow from the bottom would help the charcoal burn hotter but woodgas stoves are not designed to work that way. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for commenting
Hi Mark, question for you, I have a Solo Stove Campfire & I'm wondering which charcoal be BEST ????
Lump or whole charcoal (Briquettes)
🤔🤔🤔🤔
I have used both and prefer the natural lump charcoal. I find it burns hotter and is not made with any binding agents that may affect food taste. Having said that, I can't say how well charcoal of any type will work in the Campfire as I don't own one. My experience is that it is not a good fuel for the two woodgas stoves I use. Hope this helps
Thank you ❤
You're welcome 😊
Charcoal and Wood pellets sounds good.
Thanks for commenting
good review,thanks....the other day when Wayne also said he did a video,he used hardwood charcoal in his Bush Box stove so i'm thinking that might work better in the Solo like the pellets you tried over the charcoal briquettes in this video....but the 40lb bag of pellets at $6 makes them a cheap fuel
You are the second person who suggested that hardwood charcoal and I can see how it may make a difference so, I guess I will have to get some and try that. I have a few more ideas I want to try as well. Thanks for commenting
cost wise i'm thinking the pellets are the way to go if your going to use a wood stove in the Nat. Parks
So far, I have to agree with you... I just wish I could grill over them...they burn so hot
Great presentation as usual. It's definitely a challenge to be a bush-crafter in parks that have serious restrictions on wood use! I wonder how this would work in an IKEA hobo stove?
Good question... I have an Ikea hobo stove and I may just try both charcoal and wood pellets to see how they work. Thanks for commenting
Paul Schortemeyer I use Wood pellets In the ikeahobostove quite often and They work just great and one the advantages it may have with the woodgas stove is that by having the pellets further away from the top of the stove you can grill on top. I have tried the charcoal briquet once last summer using a 2 stages fire by putting a grill In the middle of the stove with a small Wood fire In the bottom and briquets on top It works good but not as good as I was expecting probably I need to conduct more experiments 🤔. Hey Mark You are becoming the Hiram Cook expert of the sticks stoves 😉 I really enjoy you videos They are very instructives and very well made Keep on and let's see what a mix of Wood pellets and charcoal briquets can do.
Ciao from Québec ⚜
Laurent Gouzou AKA Lynx1963 too much draft. Charcoal gives out heat but less flame going upward. One can make fire on top of charcoal to get them glowing. Pine ones.
Paul Schortemeyer hummm that's an interesting idea to tryout 👍 And I have plenty of pine cones thanks my friend 👊
So perfect for dutch oven cooking
I guess it would be as the heat would not be intense. Thanks for commenting
I wonder if charcoal would work better in a wood gas stove if you could block the top vents, essentially converting it into a bbq charcoal chimney?
Maybe, but I am not sure the work is worth the result. Much easier to find an Ikea utensil strainer or an inexpensive charcoal chimney. If you try it let me know how it works for you. Thanks for commenting
Is it ok to use charcoal in these solostoves? I have a ranger and was gonna cook on it solo stove says no.. but i wasnt sure if there was a reason..?? Is it ok and wont ruin the solo stove? Thanks for any imput!🙂
I can't recommend that you go against what the company says. However, I have had no issues using charcoal in my Solo Titan other than it is not very effective. Hope this helps
Just throwing it out there but as an engineer I learned that heat rises and to get a better burn you may want to try as others have said and try burning from the bottom up instead of top down. As Shula stated the principles that work with wood may not work with coal.
Normally I always started my fires from the bottom up. However, I have had good experience starting traditional fires from the top as well. Wood gas stoves will work either way but seem to work better started on top (TLUD top load up draft). In this case the issue is that there are no wood gas for the stove to gassify. Thanks for commenting
The combo sounds interesting. giv'er
will be doing so shortly
Charcoal do not produce that much heat in comparion with wood, but it still very good for grilling. Charcoal produce a constant heat for a long time. This is why it is so pleasant.
I love using charcoal. Thanks for commenting
What am I doing watching TH-cam??? I'm watching YOU, Mark! :-) Still praying for your recovery.
LOL...thanks and thank you for your prayers. They are appreciated
I enjoy your videos and have been catching up on the stove series. Looks like the VitaGrill did better with charcoal than this gasification stove. I'm considering buying a Vitagrill knockoff on Amazon that folds up. The wood pellets to charcoal comparison was good to know. I'd like to see the charcoal/wood pellets mix, I wonder what the perfect ratio would be. I haven't seen you test a Firebox Nano, I have a GAW for one right now that is ending in a couple days, get in on the chance. It's my favorite small stove and is very versatile. Keep the videos coming - Mark
I recall seeing the VitalGrill knock off but forget how much they cost.
The true VitalGrill is $80.00 CDN at Lee Valley. Would love to own and
test a Nano... will be checking out you channel..thanks for sharing
Take the wind screen down fuels burning give it more air and you'll get more heat I use lump charcoal in my solo stove campfire all the time it does just fine
Thanks for commenting
This test may not be a success for you, but it is for me. I have just purchased a Ohuhu stove for emergency cooking and plan to invest in some wood pellets, thanks to your suggestions. However, once I succeed in boiling water, I then want to cook rice, lentils, or other grains at a simmer until done which would probably be 30 to 60 minutes in duration. Do you think I could start with a small amount of wood pellets followed by briquets for a simmer? What are your thoughts as to the best way to do that? I love learning from you.
Yes, I would say pellets then charcoal will work well to create a simmer heat. Pellets are a great fuel for wood gas stoves. Let me know how it works out for you. Thanks for commenting
@@MarkYoungBushcraft Thanks so much for your reply. I shall play.
I think maybe whats happening there Mark, is the design of the stove is working against the way the briquettes work. Too much airflow at the top with no gases to ignite for secondary burn and boost in heat.
I would guess the real charcoal may be a bit better but suffer from the same issues overall.
Wood pellets work because they produce the volatile gases as does solid wood.
I would agree with you Randal. Not the right fuel for this stove. Thanks for commenting
What was the total burn time for the charcoal?
So, I stopped timing after 30 minutes because the heat output was of no real value. Ultimately, I determined that charcoal (briquette of lump) is not a good fuel for use in wood gas stoves. Because the wood gas is removed during the making of charcoal, their is nothing left to gasify in the stove. Thank you for commenting
I think you're on to something with the idea of a combination of charcoal and pellets. Charcoal would give you a slow even heat and pellets could be dropped in a small handful at a time to turn up the heat a bit. It could also work to start with a small load of pellets to get your boil going then simmer on the charcoal.
Sounds like ideas worth trying..Thanks for commenting
It might need a more larger space area to make it hot enough. I would guess a 12inches or larger diameter would do it.
A BBQ charcoal chimney works great as it much more airflow. Thanks for commenting
Being that there is a scientific debate in the comments between firewood and charcoal and I'm not a scientist, I did my own test and found that charcoal works nearly as well as firewood if you don't use a windbreaker around a gasifier stove because it feeds on the free flow of oxygen. I'm sure you don't have to be a scientist to figure that out 🧐
In my experience, charcoal is an excellent fuel, providing high amounts of clean heat. As you say,, with charcoal, it is all about airflow. As long as a stove provides good airflow it should allow the charcoal to burn well. Thanks for commenting
" . . . what are you doing watching TH-cam . . . ?" Boy, you're not a very good salesman, Mark. :-) Hey, great video, my friend. I've never thought of putting charcoal in a gasification stove, but enjoyed watch you do it and, like you, I was a little surprised by the results. And the answer to your rhetorical tongue-in-cheek question is . . . "I'm watching my favorite Nova Scotia man test stuff for me, cuz I'm too lazy to do it myself."
LOL.... thanks for the laugh...just got in from another great day in the woods and your comment put a smile on my face. I have a couple of more ideas for the wood stoves I will be trying out...Thanks again for the comment
I imagine you would get more heat by removing the windshield, causing more air to be drawn over the coals. 👍
Good suggestion. Thanks for commenting
The lower temp may be good for frying some eggs.
For sure. Low and slow makes for a more delicate, less rubbery egg. Thanks for commenting
looks like the pellets are the answer. Could, probably, make perfect roasted marshmallows
The pellets burn real hot...have to hold the marshmallow about 3 feet above the stove
you actually might get more heat if you had a grate to put a little bit more distance between the coals and the pot. you're starving ("choking") the fire by throwing that pot directly on the burner, with barely any air hitting the cola from the top side (those small circles along the top rim of the stove are probably not getting enough air in the center. i'm betting you are losing a lot of heat that way. if you had a half inch grate or something to go between the burner and the pot, the water might come to a boil.
Your suggestion is reasonable; however, I have since learned a great deal about wood gas stoves and charcoal. The reason they do not work efficiently as a combination is because there no wood gasses to burn in the charcoal. They have already been removed in the charring process. The charcoal will not get any hotter than it does now. Still, it is a suggestion worth trying to see if there is a sweet spot for the heat. Thanks for commenting
it's a gasification stove, why would you use a wind screen? your fire would burn a lot hotter without it.
All wood stoves regardless of design benefit from the use of a windscreen if there is a crosswind. It dos not restrict air being drawn into the stove but prevents heat being lost at the gap between the stove and pot. It also prevents the pot from being cooled down by convection. Thanks for commenting
Fan it for more heat.
Could try that but it kind of defeats the purpose. Thanks for commenting
I have had good success with charcoal
Charcoal will burn for me in these stoves, just not at the heat I would expect. Thanks for commenting
i have had no issues with it for cooking or boiling water
perhaps your charcoal isn't that good
also tumble weeds, fat wood, or petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls are much more efficient fire starters.
Yes they would. Thanks for commenting
Maybe use hardwood charcoal.
I assume you mean chunk charcoal. Maybe. Thanks for commenting
Try grilling pellets PLEAẞE
I have a number of videos on using pellets in this stove. Thanks for commenting
Wood pellets and charcoal hydrate to see it
I do have a video using wood pellets and charcoal. Thanks for commenting
Grill me a burger 🍔 on some hickory grilling pellets
Thanks for commenting
Pine cones.
Can I assume you mean using pine cones as fuel? If so, I agree they do work well but for these tests I am looking for something that does not involve picking up materials from the ground as it is illegal in national parks. Thanks for commenting
Mark Young Did not know you had so strict rules. One can pick up fuel at one occasion and bring it along for to use later? One can use pine cones as firestarter/helper if dipped/dripped with stearine/wax/paraffin. Charcoal has already given up most woodgas but it can be stored a lifetime. For cooking with charcoal you need proximity or contact when in small scale. A small bowl with a grid on will probably suffice (a stainless vegetable steam inset perhaps).Wood briquettes, and starting the fire on top, is probably an ideal fuel then standing split sticks perhaps. I would pack the fuel chamber full then use quit a lot of finer material to light on top to get a good long burn, this adding one stick at a time as one sees in many videos is not really effective, first you build a load of fuel then ignite it well, that is what I do when I make fire in a , vafan heter det på engelska, tile- (kakelugn) do not remember the English word for it, fireplace and then it burns this load for a long rme.
Yes, in our national parks and provincial parks it is illegal to cut trees or even pick up dead wood. It is allowed in the wilderness areas and crown land where I spend most of my time practicing bushcraft skills. Pines cones really are a great fire starter as you say. I agree, charcoal burns much better in other types of stoves or bowls like the vegetable steamer. I have done that on a number of occasions. For this video I wanted to see how it would work in the wood gas stove. Thank you again for your helpful comments
Sir, Gasifier don't work with charcoal.
yes, that is correct. Thanks for commenting
Chacoal lighter fuel.
works