Most Westerners who travel in the Philippines tend to stick to the “touristy” areas. The big cities, such as Manila, or beach resorts in places like Cebu, or Palawan. Even Westerners who live there often prefer those types of places because of the western style amenities they offer. Marlyn and I tend to take a different approach. We favor the rural areas. Places like the rice farming community where she grew up, or the mountain grasslands where we are building our retirement home. There, we often encounter things many tourists may never see. On our last visit, I had the chance to see a fair sized charcoal making operation.
The kids, hanging out in the cow house loft.
A great number of people in the rural parts of the Philippines cook over open fires. For many, it’s the only method available to them. Often, even people who have a gas stove inside the house will opt to cook outside. Charcoal is the usual fuel for these cook fires. The charcoal used here is not the powdered and shaped briquettes, but the natural style, sometimes called “lump charcoal” in the USA.
It is made locally, the old fashioned way, often in small, backyard pits.
To make charcoal, wood, has to be burned in a low oxygen environment. This leaves a carbonized product, more easily flammable than the original fuel. The way this is done in the Philippines is to first, dig a pit. The wood is then layered in with tinder. In the Philippines, this is often rice straw. The stack is loosely covered with the dirt previously taken from the pit. Boards are wedged against the sides to hold the mound of dirt in place. A small opening is left near the bottom so the tinder can be lit. The dirt prevents the fire from getting enough oxygen to flare up and consume the wood. Instead, the wood smolders and reduces down to charcoal. As the pit burns, the small opening is kept clear to ensure there is enough oxygen in the pit to keep the fire from suffocating altogether.
An active charcoal pit
During our last visit, we had the opportunity to watch this process up close. We were camped on our property, getting to know the neighbors, and laying out where we wanted our house to be built. Our neighbor to the east has a very nice and well-built structure in a patch of preserved old growth forest. He has used it in the past for family gatherings and such. More recently, it has served as a cow house for his herd of brahma cattle.
In 2011, a powerful typhoon swept through the region. The area around the cow house was left in a tangled up mess. The creek had flooded and several large trees had been uprooted or blown down. The building itself was undamaged, but the cattle couldn’t get to it. The place quickly became overgrown and mosquito infested.
Late last year (2012), he contracted with some of the other neighbors to clean the place up. They attacked the tangle of downed trees with chainsaws and bolos. The large trunks were sawn into lumber. The limbs, root balls, and small trees were burned for charcoal. By the time we got there in December, the trunks had been sawn up and hauled away. The charcoal operation however, was in full swing.
This pit is cooling down. If you open it before it is cool, the charred wood will re-ignite, and you will lose the charcoal.
It takes two to three days, or more for all the wood to burn down to charcoal. To prevent the fire from going out, or the wood from burning up, the pit has to be watched constantly. The owner of the cow house came by when we first arrived. He let us know what was going on, and that the chainsaws, smoke, and all the people on his place were legitimate. The 24-hour nature of the project didn’t dawn on us until a few days later.
Each night, we sat by our campfire, watching the parade of stars in a dark sky, unpolluted by city lights. Each night, at about the same time, someone with a flashlight walked down the mountain on the dirt road leading past our place. People frequently walk up or down the mountain at night here. But this one was different. Instead of staying on the road toward the barangay proper, the person climbed through the fence, and cut across the corner of our property. Night after night, we watched the light bob past us and disappear into the forest to our east. Night after night, we speculated on who it might be and what they were doing. Then it dawned on us that the light was following the most direct route to the cow house and the active charcoal pits.
Finished charcoal, ready for bagging.
Near the end of our stay, I walked down to the cow house to have a look for myself. There, I found our nearest neighbor, Elizabeth tending the smoldering pits. Her youngest son, Joey and some other kids were with her. There were sleeping quarters set up in the loft. On the ground, there was the ever-present pot of pinakbet simmering away over a charcoal fire. The area was as clean and clear as when we first saw it years ago. The owner got his place cleaned up, and our other neighbors got some income from the sale of the charcoal. A win for all concerned.
Pete McKee grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. After a 20 year career in the US Army, he worked as a museum professional, and in the transportation industry. Marlyn, his wife of 29 years, was raised on a rice farm in Nueva Vizcaya. She has worked in Europe and the US in hotel and restaurant management, and as an IT professional. Their dream of retiring to a small farm in the mountains is coming true in the foothills of the Cordillera Mountains of central Luzon.
About Pete McKee
I watched them making Charcoal in the province on Negros Oriental Island not far from my house.
Lots of charcoal making down here too, Lance. It’s kind of interesting to see.
Pete — Interesting article. There are also some places in the Philippines that use dried cattle and pig manure to make charcoal. I don’t know the exact procedure, but it is somewhat similar in that it involves a long, slow burning process. Somehow it is pressed into cakes or brickettes during the process It is also done in earthen pits covered by tree leaves or fronds. My friends that use it say it heats as well as wood-based charcoal, but (as you can imagine) it does have a different odor when burning. It is less expensive also. The one area that I know about is on small islands off the coast near Bolinao, Pangasinan. Using the manure for charcoal also provides a way to get rid of the manure.
Steve,
I’ve heard of using dried manure as fuel, but not making charcoal of it. I learned something new! Dried buffalo and cow manure was used extensively where wood was scarce on the Great Plains of the American West. Manure from any large herbivore should work, since it is essentially “processed” vegetable fiber.
Take care,
Pete
As a 5th grader at Palauig Elementary School way back when, a requirement for passing the Agriculture class was to collect a cartful of dried carabao manure from the harvested rice fields for use as fertilizer for the vegetable gardens. I didn’t know carabao manures were used to make charcoal.
Some remote areas also use cattle and pig manure to make charcoal, and also use an earthen pit to make it. But I don’t know the exact process. I have friends in Bolinao, Pangasinan that use it and they say it heats as well as wood-based charcoal, but does have a “different” burning smell. It is made on the small islands off the coast near there.
That’s kind of fascinating, Stephen M Gray! I never heard of that before, and not sure I would want my food being cooked over manure! ha ha… my favorite charcoal is charcoal made out of coconut shells.
Nice informative article Pete. People who “live off the land” in ways similar to this are probably a dying breed in the mountains of America. It is refreshing to see that such native talent is still alive and well in the Provinces of the Philippines. Good luck with your future there in the Philippines — maybe we will be neighbors some day. I, too, have a soft spot for all things natural and wild and I allow myself to go back in my mind to the simpler days when I was growing up on a small farm in Tennessee.
Thanks RichBO,
I think you’re right on the dying breed part. It is not only alive & well in the provinces, this resourcefulness is pretty much the way of life on the mountain. But, I am grateful that my pension allows me to participate, but not depend on subsistence farming.
Take care,
Pete
Yea I agree Bob. I think they tend to use that charcoal when they are cooking in pot, not open BBQ. Probably for good reason. They said it does have a different odor when burning, as you can imagine.
But you know it does have the side benefit of providing a way to get rid of the dung.
Ha ha.. yes, I would imagine that it has a different odor!
I feel the same as you do Bob i went to Samar and my wife to be took me to the Island where she lived and even with no electric i still had a good time meeting i think almost all of the 500 Filpinos that lived on her Island just went to bed at dark. LOL
Hi Pete – This is strictly conjecture on my part, but based on my personal observation, the concern over fuel cost however negligible and the fact that food definitely tastes much better when cooked in open fire, the “uling” is the preferred choice of fuel in many households in my barrio Salaza (Palauig, Zambales).
Now, the “pinakbet” you mentioned, while so-so as served at the Manila Oriental in Springfield, Virginia – you take that same “pinakbet”, or any food for that matter, and cook it in a clay pot, not just any clay pot, mind you, but a clay pot hand-made by artisans in Ilocandia, and cook it in an open fire up there in the Cordilleras, the cooked food served on banana leaves and eaten with your bare hands suddenly becomes the embodiment of the Philippines. LOL
Hello John,
I definately see plenty of people cooking over charcoal when we’re there. I do see everything from hand made clay cookstoves to rocks and hollow blocks supporting the pot. I do see more cast aluminum than clay cookpots. We got to see one of those big kilns at a pottery in Ilocos Norte once. Marlyn remembers the big clay storage pots her grandparents used. We hope to use plenty of Native materials in our home.
Home made pinakbet as the embodiment of the Philippines. I like that!
Take care,
Pete
Here in Region 11 I have seen charcoal made from coconut husks. So much smoke!! Many use just plain wood.
Gary,
I’ve heard of coconut husks being used, both for charcoal and as is, for fuel. Up in the hills, wood charcoal seems to be prevalent. I do occasionally see plain wood being used, usually geen, and very smokey!
Down in rice country, where Marlyn grew up, wood can be scarce. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they were making charcoal of coconut husks there.
Take care,
Pete
the smoke is unhealthy to breathe,are you going to live close to it and how will you be with breathing it in your home?
Hello Scott,
Thanks for your concern. Where we will be living, however, is in the wide open countryside. These particular pits are temporary. Once the area around the cow house is cleared of down wood, the owner will resume his use of it. There is another fellow down in the valley who gets a steady income from making charcoal. His pit is outside the barangay proper, where carabao and goats graze. I do recall a poster here in LiP mentioning his relatives making charcoal in the middle of a crowded family compound. You are correct that constantly breathing smoke of any kind is unhealthy. Health oriented NGO’s are very concerned about the health effects of smoke in many 3rd world countries. I recently saw an article about a small wood stove that burns twigs. The stove is designed to burn efficiently without smoke. It also has an attachment that converts heat into enough electricity to charge a cell phone or a small LED light. If I remember correctly, it is being distributed primarily in Africa now.
Take care,
Pete
Here’s a link to that cook stove. The company is called biolite.
http://www.biolitestove.com/homestove/overview/
Take care,
Pete
Hello Pete,
I like this article, it’s a good one! It’s because this reminds me that as a small kid growing up in Aklan I actually knew how to make this charcoal which we call “uling” in our dialect. Young kids learned it from the old folks, i’ts a passed-down-to-the-next-generation-kind-of thing. In our barrio or baranggay, to make “uling”, I remember we dig a medium-sized hole and we used the coconut shells and would stack them one by one until you get enough in a hole and then lit it with fire and then covered the hole with sort of wet material and then someone has to keep watch of it until it’s finally done. That is all I could remember now. I forgot how the rest of the procedure went, it’s been so long. Of course, I remember the whitish-smoke coming out of the hole. And the smoky smell of it whiling away about and drinking young coconut water, in summer! And by the way, the charcoal or “uling” we made were used to put inside of our “plancha” for ironing clothes. “Plancha” is iron, and I believe it was made of type of cast-iron. Thank you for your article.
Hello Aklan Heat,
I’m glad you like the article. Yes, there were usually kids around this pit, I didn’t get to watch the process start to finish. But, there was a carabao sled full if rice straw ready to start the next batch. There was also a bamboo gutter catching water from the tin roof, and channeling it into a barrel.
I guess a lot of those coconut husks piled up behind the Buko stands gets turned into charcoal.
The iron my grandmother used in Virginia, was a solid piece of iron with a handle. It had to be set on the top of the woodstove to be heated. When I first saw those hollow irons, I thought they were just decorations. Then Marlyn told me how they were used.
Take care,
Pete
Hi Pete,
The first two times i was there in the RP out in the provinces they used the coconut type looked like smoldered glass and burned great! They always cooked outside on a homemade grill type thing. Reading this story of yours reminds me of those days and makes me want to go back as soon as possible. Hopefully soon with my new wife and daughter haven’t been out to where her parents live Bislig City in the provinces area even though i have already met her parents in Davao City the last time I was there but we will for sure make it out that way when we do go back! Again great story and good luck living there in the RP.
Thanks Todd. Glad you liked it. I guess I’m opposite of a lot of folks. I like being out in the provinces, and get bored silly in town. Hope you get back soon, and get to see the countryside.
Take care,
Pete
hey pete.i woder who has the pattent on the thermalelectric generator in the stove?thats amazing.
Scott,
I suppose the Biolite company holds the patent. They seem to have a pretty good program. They sell a small “backpacker” type to the general public, and use the profits from that to get the home stove out to needy people.
Take care,
Pete
HEHE ,that type of barbacue could cure overcrowding around buffet table.
Pete,
This a great. My wifes family makes and sales charcoal. They do it for many reasons costs of fuel is the main reason. You can get a large bag for 100 pesos that lasts about a month for a family with a dirty kitchen. They sell it to help support clothing for children. Recently CNN did a special on the charcoal slums in Manila it was very sad. For the people in the village it is a way of life. Being a sustainability expert in the US, I think people can learn a lot from the simple way of the people in the villages. It takes us back to our roots. We will be retiring in the villages for that main reason. I have bought bags of lump charcoal in the states to learn how to cook now prior to the move. It is very easy.
Glad you like it Dirk. I would say that the charcoal made from coconut husk, or even the cattle manure would be more sustainable than wood charcoal. Deforestation is a big problem. Then there are the health issues that Scott B raised. The smoke is a big issue in crowded conditions like the Manila slums. Still, good people are using these age old technologies to cook good food, and bring in some family income. As we say in the mountains of Virginia, “ain’t nothing ever simple”.
Take care,
Pete
Wonderful Article, as you I love the rural areas, we have a house in the province (Misamis Occidental) and even for me its still too close to neighbors and the city but its still pretty rural. I love the sound of the rooster in the morning, the clear starry sky free of molestation of the city lights, and the crisp and clean feel of the bay breeze. And even we are not currently there (waiting my retirement 3 yrs) it is article such as yours that transports me back in my mind to reminisce and reverie in the days still to come.
Hello Chris, seems I struck a nostalgic chord with this article. Plenty of outsiders seem to complain about the roosters, but I like ‘em. And I really love that dark sky. We watched the Leonids meteor shower while we were there. Spectacular!
Take care,
Pete
Now I’m real jealous.. lol
Hi Pete,
I am aware of how they make charcoal. Back in the day, I had a furniture factory here in Wisconsin; that is all gone now as I moved it all to China, but that is a different story. All the hardwood scraps went to a local plant that made natural charcoal, not the briquettes with all the binders. No better way to cook! Up here it is bratwurst on the wood grill, ok, some beer too.
John
Yes. It’s hard to beat a good meal cooked over a fire, outdoors. Sounds like you’re having a goog time “praticin’ up”.
Take care,
Pete
Pete,
Great article. Everything tastes good cooked on open fire. We won’t be living the rural life, but we do enjoy going out in the provinces and enjoying some of that lifestyle. Take care and stay safe
Hello PapaDuck,
Yes there’s something about food cooked on the fire. We’ll be doing a lot of our cooking in the dirty kitchen. Can’t imagine being cooped up in the house in this country.
Take care,
Pete
Nice article about something I have never thought about. On my visits, I have seen big piles of coconut shells, maybe they are for making charcoal.
Hi Bob,
Yes, lots of things go on behind the scenes as we travel around. Not sure what becomes of them, but there are huge piles of coconut husks and shells behind all the Buko stands that I pass.
Take care,
Pete
Pete, Bob – Another use of coconut husks other than for making charcoal is for use on polishing floors. Our helpers in Salaza use coconut husks as “lampaso” to polish the wooden floors, but the sheen and shine are best achieved by first rubbing candle wax on the floor before running the coconut husks on them. You can work up a pretty good sweat while doing the “lampaso”, and if you’re a fitness buff and a clean house nut, you’d be killing two birds with one stone doing the “lampaso”. LOL
Did I mention that polished coconut shells were also used as drinking cups at my grandmother’s house in the olden days? Pete, you mentioned in one of your comments about huge clay pots used for storage. Well, my grandmother had two of those large earthen jars that she kept in the dark corner of her kitchen. One was used for storing “bagoong” (fermented fish sauce), and the other was used for storing “tagapulot” (hardened sugar made from sugar cane juice). As a kid in Salaza, a favorite hangout of mine was in that darkened corner of my grandma’s kitchen and the “tagapulot” pot was my favorite candy jar.
John, you reminded me of a soldier I was stationed with who had also married a Filipina. He stepped onto her freshly waxed floor in his stocking feet, and nearly broke his neck. Kinda dangerous, but we all got a good laugh out of it.
I think we both appreciate the old ways.
Take care,
Pete