The Charcoal Factory...

Our next activity was visiting the charcoal factory owned by Mr. Lee. It was a short drive from Sepetang Inn but if you were to ask me to direct you to that place, so sorry, I can't do that. 

The mangrove tree trunks have been chopped to the exact length of 1.6 metres. Firewood is used a source of fuel. The first process is to burn the mangrove tree trunks for 12 days at 85-degree Celsius using high fire. 

The second process is to continue burning them in the kiln for another 20 days at the temperature of 185-degree Celsius, using medium fire. Holes are opened up at the sides of the kiln to release the vapour. 

The last process is to cool down the extremely hot charcoal for another 10 days. The foreman would check the completed charcoal by just smelling them. That foreman definitely has a really good sense of smell, the smell would have choked us to death. The whole process that lasted for 42 days can only make RM250. It's such hard work. 

Due to intent heat, the kiln would crack after some time. Once the cracks become too large to be covered, the kiln would be dismantled and new ones would be built. Again, another tedious matter. So, we should appreciate these people or else we would have no charcoal for our barbecue.