My title is Greg Ryabtsev, I’m a specialist in coconut charcoal manufacturing for hookah.

I’ve been working in Indonesia for 20+ years. Our charcoal manufacturing unit makes 10 tonnes of shisha charcoal per day. Greater than 80% of coconut charcoal for hookah we promote to wholesale within the USA, Australia and Turkey.

We’re proud to be a coconut charcoal provider for among the high manufacturers within the hookah enterprise like Naara for shisha in Australia and Platinum Plus in Saudi Arabia.

Now to the purpose. The primary motive why coconut charcoal for hookah smells when lit up.

In 90% of circumstances, the odour seems within the first minutes of heating coconut charcoal – it’s the odor of tapioca.

What’s tapioca? It’s a starch comprised of the roots of cassava. Sure, it’s the identical potato starch that everybody has of their kitchen. Solely in Indonesia, potatoes are scarce, however cassava is plentiful.

Why is tapioca added to hookah charcoal?

It’s added to maintain it from crumbling, cracking and splitting. If a dice of shisha coconut charcoal falls aside or cracks, one of many causes (and there are literally many causes) is tapioca.

With out tapioca, the charcoal will disintegrate.

And why would starch (learn tapioca) odor?

Motive One: The Tapioca Isn’t Baked Sufficient

For this, let’s have a look at the essential course of of creating hookah charcoal.

First, coconut shells are floor and roasted right into a tremendous powder, and only a smidge of tapioca, about 3 to six per cent, is tossed into the combo.

The combination is then run a number of instances by means of an extruder, the place the combination is heated and the tapioca is “cooked”. The result’s a kind of batter fabricated from coconut shells and tapioca.

So, when you don’t warmth the combination sufficient or compress it sufficient at this stage, the tapioca gained’t bake – it’s going to stay uncooked. That is the odor of uncooked burnt tapioca that we will odor when lighting a hookah charcoal

Motive Two: Tapioca Gone Bitter

After working it by means of the extruder, the combination ought to “relaxation”. Sure, like dough at your grandmother’s home. Herein lies one other hazard.

Relying on the kind of tapioca, the temperature it’s run by means of, the time to relaxation can be totally different. If the combination doesn’t relaxation sufficient, the charcoal will crack.

If the combination rests a number of hours longer – you should have a tapioca stench in your kitchen.

Motive Three: The “Bushy” Coconut

Earlier than carbonising the charcoal (roasting with out entry to oxygen), the coconut is cleaned of “hair”. If they’re cleaned poorly, and there’s no sorting of uncooked supplies on the manufacturing website, these hairs will give an odour plus smoke can be seen.

These are the three major and commonest causes. After all, there are others.

Motive 4: The Incorrect Sort of Tapioca

There are lots of of species and types of tapioca in Indonesia. They differ within the space the place the basis vegetable itself grows and the tactic of manufacturing.

For instance, we’ve experimentally discovered that solely sun-dried tapioca from sure areas of Central and East Java is finest fitted to coconut charcoal. However tapioca dried in automated dryers, though costlier, doesn’t give the specified stickiness in briquettes.

Motive 5: The Lizard Incident

That is the place uncommon exotics are available. For instance, through the carbonisation of coconut shells, a lizard or a frog obtained into the kiln. Its bones had been floor up and made right into a dice of hookah charcoal. Or staff throughout their lunch break if proper within the charcoal combine tanks. Meals particles fell on the combination, and rotted away – that’s the additional flavour.

Motive Six: Overly Chemicalized Charcoal

The producer went overboard with the chemistry. Many producers of charcoal for hookah, particularly those that promote low-cost – as an alternative of correct processing, sorting coconut shells merely add chemistry: bleach and liquid glass.

In order that the ash of coconut charcoal can be lighter, and the briquette itself can be stronger. These chemical compounds, particularly liquid glass, may also give off an odour. Plus it gives you a headache.

Motive Seven: The Water Issue

Sure, water can have an effect on the odour from the briquettes too. We use solely mountain spring water in our manufacturing unit. That is simple for us, because the manufacturing unit is situated in Magelang at an altitude of 400 metres above sea degree and water comes all the way down to us from the close by mountains.

If we use faucet water, it’s too “heavy” for coconut charcoal. Such water have to be purified after which defended.

One final thing. Should you ignite coconut coal for hookah on an electrical range, then it’s mandatory to scrub it periodically. In any other case, when you get a pungent dice, all subsequent ignition would be the similar pungent, even when the coal itself is regular.

These had been the principle causes for the odor of hookah charcoal.

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