Quote: Originally posted by Bramston on 29/10/2021
Bronze and iron age metal workers used charcoal, the industrial revolution needed more fuel for it's blast furnaces than the woodlands could support so coal was used in the form of coke.
Driving the carbon monoxide from coal produced coke and the carbon monoxide was used as town gas, people used to commit suicide by sticking their heads in an unlit gas oven, The poet Silvia Plath (Not waving but Drowning) died in this way.
I'm not sure I'd want to cook over burning coke.
What was nutty slack ?
There is far more to town gas than carbon monoxide. Town gas was produced by heating coal in an enclosed, airtight, retort. The resulting gases were passed through several stages of filtration and purification to remove most of the tars and other chemicals. At the time the CO could not be economically removed so was left. Nutty slack was a mixture of coal dust and small"nuts" of coal.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: BBQ fuel- why not coal?
