It’s time to gather around the fire again. Have you fallen into these common misunderstandings about using charcoal?

Winter is here. Nowadays, heating has been turned on in most parts of the north. Inviting three or five friends to have a meal around the stove has become a little happiness that many friends yearn for. But do you know the correct way to use charcoal?

In recent years, grilling, drinking, tea, and chatting around the fire have become the most romantic things to do in winter for many young artists, but they have also become the scene of many people's accidents, and even their lives have been lost if they are not careful. So, what is the fuel used in the fire? How can there be safety hazards?

Winter hot pot around the stove (Photo source: screenshot of a short video)

01 Charcoal is the main fuel of the fire pit

What many people don’t know is that the artistic “small stove” is not burning smoky coal, but another fuel with a long history - charcoal. As a porous solid product formed by incomplete combustion of wood or pyrolysis under air-tight conditions , charcoal has always been a high-end fuel used by the court and the people because of its cleanliness , high calorific value, high combustion efficiency and long burning time . A typical example is the copper pot hot pot in old Beijing, which uses charcoal.

Copper pot hot pot (the picture is a copyrighted picture, and reprinting may cause copyright disputes)

In the late Qing Dynasty, the palace still used charcoal for heating, and a special firewood-saving department was set up to manage the supply and distribution of firewood in the palace. In the once popular TV series "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace", the various heating materials used by the concubines (black charcoal, silver charcoal, red basket charcoal) were essentially charcoal, but the wood used to make charcoal and the burning method were different. The heating tools described in "A Dream of Red Mansions" such as "hand warmer", "hand warmer", "holding warmer", "sleeve warmer", etc. were also filled with charcoal.

Charcoal heating (Photo source: TV series screenshot)

Even in modern times, when electricity is highly developed, charcoal is still the most suitable fuel for grilling and boiling tea around the stove. This is because, although the calorific value of charcoal is slightly lower than that of coal, its combustion efficiency is higher , less ash is produced during the combustion process, and it can release energy more fully. It also burns slowly and is suitable for long-term burning. Especially in the process of heating food, the combustion process of charcoal is slower than that of gas and induction cookers, which allows the ingredients to be heated evenly during the baking process, avoiding the situation where the outside is burnt and the inside is raw, making the ingredients taste better. When charcoal burns, it also releases plant aroma , which combines with the aroma of the ingredients to form a unique smoky flavor, adding flavor to the food and making the food more delicious. Of course, the health issues of barbecued food have always been criticized, so it is recommended that everyone eat in moderation.

Zibo barbecue is popular all over the Internet (Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)

02 Several Misunderstandings about Using Charcoal

In the cold winter, with heavy snow outside, family and friends sit together indoors, chatting around the fire, drinking and boiling tea, or sitting around a steaming copper pot and eating a plate of Inner Mongolian mutton. The winter atmosphere is instantly full! However, this is also the peak period of carbon monoxide poisoning across the country. Using charcoal for heating, boiling tea around the fire, hot pot and barbecue in a closed room, which seems to be ordinary, is actually full of dangers and inadvertently becomes a life-threatening invisible killer. Many people may have several misunderstandings when using charcoal while enjoying the food and atmosphere, which may cause some safety hazards.

Myth 1: Charcoal is safer than coal . Many people subconsciously believe that carbon monoxide poisoning is a "patent" of coal, and that using charcoal is safe. In fact, any fuel containing carbon, whether coal or charcoal, as well as environmentally friendly charcoal and smokeless charcoal, will produce carbon monoxide if it is not fully burned. Therefore, using charcoal is only cleaner and produces less smoke than coal, but it does not mean that it is not dangerous. Charcoal is not absolutely safe !

Myth 2: If there is no soot, it's fine . Many people think that carbon monoxide is produced when charcoal is not burned completely. If I let it burn completely, it will be fine, right? But in fact, the naked eye cannot tell whether the combustion is complete or not. Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, and non-irritating. It will be produced whether there is soot or not. Carbon monoxide is difficult to detect. In many cases, it poisons people invisibly. Often, before you realize it, you have already passed out from poisoning.

Myth 3: A larger space will be fine . This is also a misconception! In fact, as long as the space is relatively closed, if the ventilation is poor, there is a risk of poisoning. Especially in many areas in northern China, in order to keep warm, the windows are tightly closed in winter. Some families even use plastic sheets to seal the outside, which is airtight and easily leads to poor indoor ventilation. At this time, if carbon-containing materials are burned indoors, carbon monoxide poisoning is very likely to occur.

Burning charcoal (the picture is a copyrighted image, and reprinting may cause copyright disputes)

03 How to use charcoal correctly

So how do you use charcoal correctly?

First, open the vents and make sure the vents in the house and the barbecue are open to increase the contact area and circulation of the charcoal with the air.

Secondly, the conical stacked charcoal structure makes full use of the principle that the heated air moves from bottom to top due to buoyancy, so that the heat at the tip of the charcoal is concentrated, which helps the charcoal to ignite quickly and burn efficiently.

Third, use the combustion-supporting charcoal to ignite the fire . Use a charcoal clamp to hold an appropriate amount of combustion-supporting charcoal. After the combustion-supporting charcoal burns, place it into the center gap of the charcoal pile as the initial fire source.

Fourth, increase the combustion space . After the combustion-supporting charcoal starts to burn in the charcoal pile, add some more charcoal on top to ensure sufficient combustion space.

Fifth, wait for 10-25 minutes . When the entire charcoal pile continues to burn for 10-25 minutes and a layer of ash appears on the surface of the charcoal, it means that the charcoal has been completely ignited and has reached a stable burning state suitable for heating food. But no matter where you grill, remember to ventilate! Keep it ventilated! Keep it ventilated!

Author: Liu Hanbin, PhD in Geology, Senior Engineer

Reviewer: Zhang Ying, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor, School of Safety Science and Emergency Management, Wuhan University of Technology

Produced by: Science Popularization China