Most of us know how coconut shell waste is often turned into an appealing and artistic handicraft. It can become a useful souvenir, such as a placeholder for scented candles or bowls and spoons. Amazingly, there is also another use of this coconut shell waste, an even better and valuable use.
An Item Perfect For Shisha Companion
For a long time, coconut shells were discarded and treated as waste, when it has a much bigger capability. Once people are done with its juice and meat, the hollow and empty shell would be thrown away. The good thing is that now a lot of companies in Indonesia are beginning to see what a great raw material it is, and starting to use coconut shell waste as a material to produce charcoal and briquettes.
Coconut charcoal, which is mostly being exported by Indonesia, is now slowly turning popular around the world. This type of charcoal is considered to be natural, environmentally friendly, and it can even be used as a substitute for fuel such as kerosene, fuelwood, and more. As for now, it is mainly used for cooking, grilling, and boilers.
A lot of hookah smokers also prefer to use coconut shell briquettes, especially from Indonesia, since it is natural and odor-less. They impart barely any flavor on the bowl, burn consistently, which can give a cleaner and smoother smoking experience.
There are two “traditional” methods to produce this type of charcoal (drum method and pit method), however, some companies are also using carbonizing machines to carbonize dried mature coconut shells into charcoal. Once done with the carbonizing process, the shells are crushed into powder, mixed with a binding agent, molded, and dried before being turned into briquettes.
Why Use Indonesian Coconut Shell Briquettes?
As mentioned previously, these coconut briquettes from Indonesia are considered to be natural, eco-friendly, and can be an amazing substitute for fuel. It is important to understand how this type of briquettes are promoted to be safe.
One of the good things coconut shell briquettes can provide is its ability to last longer. Unlike regular briquettes or other types of fuel, coconut shell charcoal briquettes can be used for a long time as they do not run out quickly, unlike the regular charcoal.
Charcoal made from coconut shells have a high calorific value, which is the amount of energy produced as heat when a material undergoes complete combustion. This type of charcoal is able to burn consistently at 7,000 kilocalories. This is why the embers will continue to burn even without the need to pour gasoline or kerosene in large quantities.
Its ability to be hotter, burn slowly, and last longer comes from its compacted form. Coconut shell briquettes are made into compacted blocks, which is why it’s denser and more concentrated. Thanks to this, coconut shell briquettes can burn two times longer when compared to regular briquettes.
As it burns longer than the typical ordinary charcoal, coconut charcoal briquettes can be more efficient. It might cost slightly above regular charcoal, but when considering it can be used longer, there is no need to purchase it multiple times. Which is why it can be concluded that this type of briquette is more cost-efficient if calculated further.
Coconut shell briquettes are also considered to be safer than regular charcoal, as the combustion power of it is pretty slow. There will be no need to be concerned of the risk of getting burnt when moving burned charcoal around. Coconut shell briquettes have a low chance of harming us, because embers will not burst and will only appear on the surface of the briquettes.
Because of its sparkless and flameless nature, this type of briquette is perfect for a shishasession, cooking, and grilling. That is why they are also called coconut charcoal BBQ, as it is perfect to use during barbecue since it barely generates ash and will not taint food with weird chemical scent.
Coconut briquettes generally only generate around 5 – 10 % of ash content, which means it will not contaminate food with ash particles. This type of briquettes also produce little to no smoke, which is why barbecuing with this will not pollute the air. Despite being odorless, it does have a unique coconut oil taste to it, but this will only enhance the taste and aroma of food being grilled during barbecues.
Its ability to burn without producing much smoke also results in a healthier choice for burning. There will be no need to worry about health hazards as it will not suffocate the respiratory system with smoke and ash.
What’s even more amazing about this type of briquettes is the production process. Producing coconut shell briquettes does not require toxic and harmful chemicals. The binding agent used to give consistency to the crushed coconut shells consists of tapioca flour and water. As the process requires only natural products, it also uses coconut instead of wood, which enhances its eco-friendliness.
Regular briquettes contain other combustible materials such as sawdust or rice chaff, and they are usually bonded with harmful and toxic substances. This is why once burned; regular briquettes can give off a weird chemical scent. It also releases carbon dioxide into the air, which can be damaging to the atmosphere. Combined with the fact it burns fast, regular briquettes can only contribute more to damaging the environment.
Sustainability is also another great feature coming from coconut shell briquette. It comes from organic and renewable raw materials and renewable, which means it can be used as an alternative option for fuel. As it is a biomass material, the briquettes can be processed again-and again. That is why this product can be a source of sustainable energy.
Time to Switch to Coconut Shell Briquettes
Its ability to last longer, generating sustained heat, natural and odor-less make the Indonesian coconut shell briquettes to be favored by serious shisha smokers around the world. Coconut shell briquettes is also a better and safer option when cooking, grilling, or any other activities that involve burning. On top of that, it is highly eco-friendly because of its natural way of producing.
