What method did you use to make your charcoal? What type of wood? We have mostly willow which isn’t good for charcoal but seasons quickly, last years harvest will likely be ready for the stove this winter, if it’s stays warm and dry here.
Discussion
It was a method that I'd not really come across before & a local Bitcoiner/permie showed me. It used cage made from corrugated iron to restrict oxygen & reflect heat which is doused with water when finished. It is incredibly efficient with your time & produces minimal smoke. Another Bitcoiner had suggested something similar a while back but for some reason I dismissed it.
The wood stock was mostly fallen branches & half rotted gum trees (eucalyptus) that I found when clearing. Really scrappy wood not useful for burning in the wood stove. The larger pieces of hardwood are probably what form this pile. I ran it all through a screen & barrowed the smaller stuff to my garden beds.
For me, it converts waste wood into a valuable soil amendment & cooking fuel. Win:win
The guy that showed me this method uses bamboo as feed stock. I'm sure willow will be fine but I've never burnt willow. This method seems to work best with smaller fast burning branches & sticks. Pyrolysis only occurs on the top layer of the burning wood (due to the o2 restriction), so you keep feeding the fire as it turns to charcoal.
A cage? Do you have a picture of the device? I’ve got corrugated iron sheets around. Most videos I’ve found use steel barrels but I haven’t seen it with corrugated iron.