BBQ Briquettes and local producers

Angelina-M

Hi all, hope Bank Holiday is going well.

Ok I know its nearly autumn but i've just bought myself a BBQ! I started looking around for briquettes and found out that most are imported from abroad, often using wood from forests that are not being replaced. It seems large areas of forests are being lost every year for our BBQ's.

So anyway, I don't like the thought of that and of course i'm a money saver so I wondered if anyone had any ideas on what I could use as replacements?

I'm going to look around the supermarkets for local charcoal which is usually expensive but I imagine they will be selling it off cheap at this time of year. Apparently its usually double the price of imported stuff... which is hard to believe since imported comes half way around the world!!

So what do you ethically minded money savers do to fuel your barbies? Are there any local charcoal producers in Leicestershire? I've heard its not hard to make your own, you just need an oil drum.

greenbee

I have always managed to source locally produced charcoal wherever I have lived. There are plenty of people making it. You can quite often find it at farmers' markets or local non-chain garden centres. Google is probably the best place to start your search.

Angelina-M

Thank you Greenbee.

I did google but not really finding much in this area. I like a challenge.. may have a go making my own!

heretolearn_2

have you tried your local wooded country parks? They often produce logs and charcoal for sale.

splodger_seedswapper

i belong to a couple of forums where members amongst other things produce charcoal - would you like me to ask if there is someone near to you who makes it?

pm my nearest town and i will ask my woodland friends if any are near you

greenbee

Angelina-M wrote: »

Thank you Greenbee.

I did google but not really finding much in this area. I like a challenge.. may have a go making my own!

As a child we never used charcoal for bbqs. My parents kept the kids occupied by sending us out ton collect enough twigs to cook lunch with!

Angelina-M

greenbee wrote: »

As a child we never used charcoal for bbqs. My parents kept the kids occupied by sending us out ton collect enough twigs to cook lunch with!

Well this is the thing, I have a big tree that was cut down last year and I was hoping to cut it up for firewood. I just need to know more about it before poisoning myself cooking with it!

Angelina-M

Brill, thank you.

Had a few friends round last night and I got my bbq going and did pizza. Honestly it was amazing, never done them in a barbie before. Just need to find a way to bring the barbie indoors so I can do them year round!

splodger_seedswapper

i have posted a few messages on other boards for you - but no replies as yet - i will let you know if i get any hits

Angelina-M

splodger_seedswapper wrote: »

i have posted a few messages on other boards for you - but no replies as yet - i will let you know if i get any hits

Thanks Splodger.

The more I read about 'normal' briquettes, the more I know I won't use them. The list of ingredients is rather scarey saying that we cook over them!

splodger_seedswapper

if you don't have any luck finding somebody local to you - you should just try and make your own

i have made it for myself - in my back garden, just by burning wood from pruning the trees in my garden (using an old oil drum) you don't get much charcoal by burning without the proper set-up - and it's not the greatest looking charcoal - but i can produce more than enough to keep my barbie going through the summer (whenever we get one - lol)