Charcoal?

[Breaking Babylon]

Today Father Mark gave me a box of incense, but he didn't have any charcoal. I have no idea what kind of charcoal is needed, so could you guys point out a place to find some?

[Jacob4707]

It's special incense charcoal. It comes in rolls of ten, and each piece is round and thick like a big checker piece. Do not use charcoal that's used for barbecues. You can usually find it in stores that sell incense, or Catholic or Orthodox gift/book stores. You can of course order it online.

http://www.bytheplanet.com/Incense/incensecharcoal.htm?&URL=www.theincensecompany.com

It's called self-lighting, but you need to light it on the edges with a lighter or match, and once it starts burning, the sparks will sizzle through the whole piece of charcoal. After that happens, if need be blow on it a little to make sure it's glowing, and then wait until it has all turned white before putting your incense pieces on it. If you put incense on it while part of it is still black, it could cause it to go out prematurely.

[gzt]

Not all charcoal for incense is self-lighting, but it is all different from the charcoal you use for grilling. If you tried to use that indoors, you would have carbon monoxide poisoning.

[DonVA]

Today Father Mark gave me a box of incense, but he didn't have any charcoal. I have no idea what kind of charcoal is needed, so could you guys point out a place to find some?
Blake: I got the stuff in this link:

http://www.light-n-life.com/shopping/order_product.asp?ProductNum=CHAR050

AND I got a few of them. Warning, when they start to sizzle and ignite, make sure you're prepared for the amount of smoke it creates! Sometimes I start the censer on the back porch, then bring it in to load the incense. They're right, if you add incense prematurely, the charcoal will not last long. Someone else had suggested filling the censer (I have one of the brass hand-held ones with a wooden handle) halfway with salt. This was an awesome suggestion, as enough air now hits the charcoal to keep it burning.

Did Father give you frankencense?

[Akathist]

I can't find a link to it, but I use a burner that does not require charcoal. It is a small voltive style glass piece that hold oil and has a white top where a wick comes out. Then above that is a tripod with a slightly rounded shape lies on top. The heat of the oil lamp is enough to burn the incense.

This is better for me as I have ashtma and the charcoal does smoke.

[prodromos]

You could also use charcoal powder (not the really finely ground dry lubricant) which does not produce any smoke. We used to get ours from a monastery in Greece but I'm looking into making my own now that we are in Australia.

Charcoal sticks from an art suppliers would probably be good to crush into powder in a mortar and pestle. A teaspoon of charcoal powder is plenty and lights easily enough, but it takes a little while for the ignition to spread through the whole mass of powder, unlike the quick lighting brickets.

John

[Oblio]

Charcoal sticks !

Thanks John :) I've been trying to use regular briquettes and not only are they difficult to powder with a mortar & pestle but it is very difficult to light, unlike the bag I bought from that monastery, and I cannot find anywhere to purchase it here in the states. I've wondered if the monks added something to help it burn, perhaps it is simply because then home ground is not fine enough.

[eoe]

The prices that some places charge for a roll of SL charcoal is scandalous. CLICK HERE. (http://www.monasteryproducts.org/product_info.php?cPath=10&products_id=923&osCsid=4fa2f9d7ef64adf3c214c5c03620dd49)
175 of the small pcs for $10.75 vs $2.52 for 10.

[prodromos]

Charcoal sticks !

Thanks John :) I've been trying to use regular briquettes and not only are they difficult to powder with a mortar & pestle but it is very difficult to light, unlike the bag I bought from that monastery, and I cannot find anywhere to purchase it here in the states. I've wondered if the monks added something to help it burn, perhaps it is simply because then home ground is not fine enough.
At the monestary the charcoal is made from vine cuttings which would be of a finer texture than wood charcoal for BBQs.

My mum used to make her own charcoal sticks from willow branches. She would cut them to the length she wanted, put them into a metal tin with a tight fitting lid and a hole punched in the top, then throw the tin into a nice big fire and wait until no more gas came out the hole. My guess is that anything similiar to vines or willow branches would do the trick. I still haven't tried making my own as we still have a little bit of charcoal powder from the monastery left, but I guess I'm going to have to sooner or later as it won't last much longer :)

John

[Oblio]

Thanks, sounds pretty simple to do. I found a website some time ago on making charcoal but it addressed making cords at a time. Seems it was one mans obsession, and if you wanted to make kilos of the stuff it was a nice site.

[Oblio]

It seems reading on wiki there is a lot of adjuncts mixed in with BBQ charcoal, binders and such which may account for the ignition problems.

/me is off to look for tins and vines :)

[Michael the Iconographer]

LOL, my brain is in creative mode and when seeing the title of this thread I was honestly thinking you were asking about charcoal and charcoal pencils used in drawing.

[DonVA]

Nope. We're just burnin' stuff up!

[Greg the byzantine]

Actually about the little brickets. If you have a little greek food store located near you, they usually have them believe it or not. You just have to look carefully, because they look really a lot like Candy all rolled up in foil. Plus you can pick up a tray of baklava while you are at it. :cool:

[Michael the Iconographer]

Nope. We're just burnin' stuff up!
Have I ever told you how much incense I burn while writing icons?

[MariaRegina]

I can't find a link to it, but I use a burner that does not require incense. It is a small voltive style glass piece that hold oil and has a white top where a wick comes out. Then above that is a tripod with a slightly rounded shape lies on top. The heat of the oil lamp is enough to burn the incense.

This is better for me as I have ashtma and the charcoal does smoke.

Please let me know if you find out where to order an incense burner like the one you have.

I cannot burn incense either because of the smoke.
It might cause asthma too. So, I have never burned incense in my home.

[DonVA]

Have I ever told you how much incense I burn while writing icons?
I'll bet it's a miracle in itself that you can see through the smoke to complete the task!

[Michael the Iconographer]

I'll bet it's a miracle in itself that you can see through the smoke to complete the task!
I actually one time smoked myself out of the room from incense!