Ryan Solin
TVWBB Member
Just had a great conversation with a client who worked for Kingsford for 20 or 30 years. The guy knows just about everything that goes into that stuff, both then and now.
Here's some interesting ingredients he told me of.
(percentages are approximate)
10% limestone, just for weight
3% sodium nitrate (to help it light quicker)
4% starch (to help bind everything together)
20% wood (yep, that's it)
65% lignite coal from Canada (huh?)
Yes, the numbers don't add up exactly to 100%. He was just going off the top of his head. Interesting stuff though.
Wondering what lignite coal is? So was I. Here's a definition I found on the net.
lignite or brown coal,carbonaceous fuel intermediate between coal and peat, brown or yellowish in color and woody in texture. It contains more moisture than coal and tends to dry and crumble when exposed to the air; the flame is long and smoky and the heating power low. It is found in the United States, Canada, Germany, and elsewhere chiefly in formations formed in the Tertiary period.
Apparently there's some nasty stuff that is putt off by burning lignite. He mentioned the most notable "big nasty" was phenol.
He also mention about some test they would run "back in the day". They would take a measured pound of charcoal and burn it down. They then weighed the ash that remained. If it was more than 5% of the preburned weight, it was considered to be inferior charcoal.
These days 20% is considered to be a good number.
Interesting stuff.
This is just a follow up post to some prior discussions and questions about Kingsford. Just thought people might be interested in hearing some info from someone who was on the inside for many years.
Also---He mentioned that the above ingredients were being used by all of the major charcoal manufacturers.
Here's some interesting ingredients he told me of.
(percentages are approximate)
10% limestone, just for weight
3% sodium nitrate (to help it light quicker)
4% starch (to help bind everything together)
20% wood (yep, that's it)
65% lignite coal from Canada (huh?)
Yes, the numbers don't add up exactly to 100%. He was just going off the top of his head. Interesting stuff though.
Wondering what lignite coal is? So was I. Here's a definition I found on the net.
lignite or brown coal,carbonaceous fuel intermediate between coal and peat, brown or yellowish in color and woody in texture. It contains more moisture than coal and tends to dry and crumble when exposed to the air; the flame is long and smoky and the heating power low. It is found in the United States, Canada, Germany, and elsewhere chiefly in formations formed in the Tertiary period.
Apparently there's some nasty stuff that is putt off by burning lignite. He mentioned the most notable "big nasty" was phenol.
He also mention about some test they would run "back in the day". They would take a measured pound of charcoal and burn it down. They then weighed the ash that remained. If it was more than 5% of the preburned weight, it was considered to be inferior charcoal.
These days 20% is considered to be a good number.
Interesting stuff.
This is just a follow up post to some prior discussions and questions about Kingsford. Just thought people might be interested in hearing some info from someone who was on the inside for many years.
Also---He mentioned that the above ingredients were being used by all of the major charcoal manufacturers.
