Fruit Charcoal & Wood Vinegar

Fruit Charcoal The practice of making fruit charcoal in the village of Ban Bang Phlap started with a creative teacher called Muek, who began by selling charcoal she made from fallen twigs and branches from nearby orchards in a home-made charcoal kiln. One day, some people in the community suggested that she try using fallen fruit from the orchards to make charcoal. Through trial and error, Muek worked out how to transform pomelos into charcoal—a difficult task because of the high water content of the fruit. Then she applied that knowledge to making charcoal from other local fruit. Fruit charcoal can be burned like normal charcoal, or used as a decorative room or fridge deodorant. Muek also makes wood vinegar using her charcoal kiln.

Wood Vinegar Wood vinegar is a by-product of charcoal production. It is an acid with a strong smoky smell. Wood vinegar is an effective, environmentally-friendly insecticide and insect repellent used in organic agriculture to prevent crop damage from insect pests. In addition to its agricultural uses, it can be used as an organic bathroom cleaner and deodorizer.

How to make it : One way to make wood vinegar is to use two 200-litre steel drums laid next to each other on their sides. One drum will be the charcoal kiln: make a hole in one end for adding wood to the kiln, making sure that the hole can be closed to restrict the amount of air coming in once the wood has started burning. Drill a smaller hole near the top to fit a pipe to take away the smoke. This pipe leads to a similar hole in the second drum, which should be partly open so that the smoke can exit. Rest a pan of water on top of the second drum to keep the drum cool. The cool roof of the drum causes the smoke to condense and drip down the sides of the drum to be collected at the bottom. This condensed liquid is wood vinegar.