Charcoal types - different woods

Charcoal made from hard wood was good for fuel, from soft wood good to clarify liquids or make crayons or gunpowder. Blacksmiths used chestnut charcoal, holly with bark charcoal was "believed to render iron brittle." Charcoal powder was used as a poultice for ulcers or tooth-powder. Areca nut charcoal powder was "the most fashionable dentifrice."
Upcoming food history talks, below.


LARDNER'S PREPARED CHARCOAL. 1826
Chalk coloured grey with charcoal: used as a toothpowder.

Charcoal varies in its qualities, according to the wood from which it is prepared: that of the soft woods, as the willow, alder, &c. well burned, is best for crayons, for making gunpowder, and for clarifying liquids; that of the harder woods is used for fuel; or for a support for substances exposed to the flame of a blow-pipe: the charcoal of the chestnut is employed by the smiths in the south of Europe, on account of its slow consumption when not urged by the blast of the bellows; and of the fire deadening immediately upon the blast being stopped. The charcoal of the holly, if the bark be left on, is believed to render iron brittle, when worked by a fire made of it. Charcoal powder is used as a poultice to correct fetid ulcers, as well as a tooth-powder; that of the areca nut is the most fashionable dentifrice, but is no otherwise preferable to any other soft charcoal.

Scott, William.  The House Book.  London: 1826

Charcoal varies in its qualities, according to the wood from which it is prepared. That made from porous woods, such as the willow, alder, &c., is the best for clarifying liquids; animal charcoal, or bone black, is also equally good, on account of its light and porous nature; that made from hard woods is only fit for fuel, as it does not possess the clarifying and decolouring properties like that made from the more soft and porous woods. When newly prepared, or if it has been kept free from air, it has the property of absorbing all putrid gases; "it is also capable of destroying the smell and taste of a variety of animal and vegetable substances, especially of mucilages, oils, and of matter in which extractive abounds; and some articles are said to be even deprived of their characteristic odour, by remaining in contact with it, as valerian, galbanum, balsam of Peru, and musk. The use of charring the interior of water-casks, and of wrapping charcoal in cloths that have acquired a bad smell, depend upon this property. None of the fluid menstrua with which we are acquainted have any action whatever, as solvents, upon carbon."— Paris's Pharmacologia.

Parkinson, Eleanor. The Complete Confectioner, Pastry-cook, and Baker... Philadelphia: 1844

Image, 1763 - Charcoal making. Diderot. Agriculture et économie rustique – Charbon de bois.

Further reading -
Kemper, Jackson. "American Charcoal Making in the Era of the Cold-blast Furnace." National Park Service Popular Study Series. History No. 14. 1941 HERE

Rolando, Victor R. 200 Years of Soot and Sweat: The History and Archaeology of Vermont's Iron, Charcoal and Lime Industries. Vermont Archaeological Society, Manchester VT, 1992, 2007 Chapter 5 Historical Overview of Charcoal Making HERE

UPCOMING TALKS deleted


CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE

©2024 Patricia Bixler Reber
Researching Food History HOME