The Energy Efficient BioChar Bakery Pit Oven

17 Minute Video above is the of test burn. Watch as smoke (mostly steam) pictured above quickly clears up)

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(Discussion, Comments, Shares, and your own trials of this pit method are much invited and welcomed.) A 1 minute video not included in the above video is below taken about 1 hour after lighting


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8 Minute Video below is the initial layout and explanation. And below that is the design sketch and discussion.

This is "The Experiment Burn" of a set up of an prototypic method to see if biochar can be made efficiently in a method that combines rocket stove concepts with a sort of wood-fired-oven that bakes yard waste in an integrated and efficient manner, perhaps similar to the methods used by the terra preta cultures along the Amazon.
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Below is how I set up the underground oven.

This method of making biochar is the most successful I have ever had in over a decade of making, thinking about, watching videos on, attending presentations and demonstrations on, all while making biochar at home in my wood stove and in my backyard. Pit Baking Biochar opens up a host of creative new ideas and concepts for adoption of systems, uses and adaptations for agricultural communities and 3rd world people's because the materials for making it are as local and cheap as a hole in the ground - (which, within a multitude of functions and designs) is basically what it is.

And, while it maximizes heat efficiencies in the the making of char, it delivers the remainder "waste" heat in a manner easily available and adaptable for domestic or farm or even urban and manufacturing uses. I believe when properly constructed, it is safer to work around than an open or above ground fire, or a barbeque (I dare add and emphasis the word "MUCH"). Because I believe this system is scalable, I believe also that pit baking biochar opens up a rainbow of options for both the backyard tinkerer and the civil engineer.


The folks in the Amazon were sequestering carbon into the soils for thousands of years. Biochar was an integral part of their daily cultural practice. As such, it is conservatively estimated that they transformed approximately 3% of the Amazon Rain Forests into rich soils supporting perennial food forests.

Old technology provides modern lessons to archaeology students
https://news.wisc.edu/old-technology-provides-modern-lessons-to-students-in-archaeology/

Mastering the Basics of Bonfire-firing Ceramics
https://drojkent.wordpress.com/2019/09/08/mastering-the-basics-of-bonfire-firing-ceramics/