FREE FUEL for the wood stove (plus biochar!)

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Details:
A reminder again that we aren't suggesting anyone do what we do... That said, here are more details on the process...
The key ingredient is a stainless steel container with a recessed fitting lid. It is critical that no seal or lock or weight is applied as that could be VERY dangerous. What we've worked with now for almost 4 years are "Hotel Pans" also called "Steam Table Pans". They are sturdy, reliable, have shown 0 wear after 1000+ burns each and have been wonderful. Feels like they could last a lifetime... The pans can be purchased with a lid that is flat and rests on top. So long as they are relatively flat in the stove they allow hot gasses out to be combusted but don't let Oxygen in so the material finishes to incredibly high quality charcoal.
We measured the inside of our wood stove and went with a container that took up roughly 50% of the interior. This gives room for wood and coals and adjustments in the stove. We purchased our hotel pan from a local kitchen supply company ( https://bwsupply.com/ ) and now work with 3 'retorts' that are roughly 6"x10"x13". What we have would be considered a 'half hotel pan' at 6" depth. Reasonable price and there are other options, like 4" or 8" depth for smaller/larger stove interiors. You need a lid for each one you buy. Our cost around $25 and the lid was around $5. The prices are very variable online so look around, and ideally find something local.
Other sources for these could be calls to local hotels or catering companies, maybe contact restaurants. Anyone have unused hotel pans they'd want to sell, or some that are dinged up or stained they've retired? Lastly, of course, you can search online for used or lower cost options from various vendors (other than Amazon :). restaurantsupply.com and webstaurantstore.com both have a wide range of options for low prices (we haven't purchased from them so we can't vouch for quality, but see many options when searching).
Starting with a very small load of offcuts, sawdust, etc in a container with a gentle fire is how we learned the feel of this. Eventually we evolved to having completely filled containers with high density hardwood offcuts filled with sawdust/woodchip in the spaces and get maximum yield this way, but this could be VERY dangerous if someone doesn't know what they are doing.
If any aspect of this seems dangerous or confusing or physically hard to do it should absolutely not be done!

Edible Acres is a full service permaculture nursery located in the Finger Lakes area of NY state. We grow all layers of perennial food forest systems and provide super hardy, edible, useful, medicinal, easy to propagate, perennial plants for sale locally or for shipping around the country…
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Happy growing!