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When you get old, you naturally get up early in the morning and go to bed early at night.
After having dinner, my mother always starts to drop off at around 9 o'clock before going to bed.
December 8, 2011 Mie, the Sato family cat. Shichikashuku, Miyagi
- Sometimes I'm surprised. - Indeed.
My late mentor of Sumiyaki (charcoal making) was enraged when I called him at 7:30pm, saying "Who calls at midnight?!"
His daughter said to him, "7:30 pm is not midnight."
Mitsuo Sato
These are finished works.
Please be careful of your equipment.
What temperature is it inside the kiln?
I haven't measured it, but according to one book, it's around 1000 degrees Celsius.
The rise in temperature differs depending on the kind of wood.
The temperature rises to about 1000 degrees Celsius with this wood, konara oak.
- When you take them out from the kiln, it sounds like metal. - Yes.
If it sounds like metal it's good charcoal.
But sometimes it makes a dull sound.
I don't think being hard or soft makes much difference in terms of the quality of the charcoal.
But anyway, a metal sound makes me happy.
Ash and powder coming out of the charcoal mix and build up inside the kiln.
When I keep the charcoal inside the kiln, I cover the kiln mouth with clay and soil.
Clay is reusable. And clay mixes with ash and charcoal powder.
- And they increase in volume. - I see.
When I run out of clay, I bring some from somewhere else.
Being used many times, the clay loses its stickiness. Then the mouth won't shut tightly.
So I add fresh clay every so often.
The clay will then come here as a part of the cycle.
That's not so significant, compared with ash and charcoal powder. Rather, it's soil.
As they are rich in potassium, they turn to potassium fertilizer.
- Some people buy them. They want them. - I see.
As is often the case, some want chips, saying they are fine with cheap ones.
Some want chips. So every part can be sold.
People think that the chips are free.
But that's not the case.
The radiation measurement room has been fully booked till the end of the year.
You cover them with extinguishing powder and let the charcoal cool gradually, don't you?
I shut the air out. If I don't put out the fire, they just turn to ashes.
- They are still burning now. - I see.
If I leave them, even now, the charcoal decreases in quantity.
The temperature goes up to some extent. But the longer I leave them, the less charcoal I have.
The carbonization has finished.
Raising the temperature, taking them out of the kiln and putting the fire out like this. This is the process of making hard charcoal.
This method is used for bincho charcoal.
I don't let the soft charcoal go completely red.
When fumes no longer come out, it means the carbonization is complete.
What I do then is just seal the mouth completely.
But can I do the same thing in a hard charcoal kiln? No.
Since a hard charcoal kiln is made of clay and many stones, there are many gaps between the stones.
Even though I try to put out the fire in the same manner, I can't.
Soft charcoal kilns are mostly made of clay.
I pat clay and make it hard. There are no gaps in a soft charcoal kiln. That's important.
Can I make hard charcoal in a soft charcoal kiln? It may be possible.
Why do you use many stones in making a hard charcoal kiln?
Because stones don't easily get warm. But once heated, it takes time for them to cool down.
I utilize the heat of the stones. After removing finished charcoal, I put new wood into the kiln instantly.
In order to carbonize new ones, it needs a source of heat.
- Stones are a better heat source than other materials. - I see.
Soft charcoal kilns cool down instantly. Using clay alone, it soon gets warm but just as easily cools down.
In preparation for making the next batch of charcoal, I have to make a fire near the kiln mouth.
I see.
If the kiln is made of stones, they retain the heat. I can easily burn the next batch of wood without having to make a fire beforehand.
When I started learning sumiyaki, I used to build a fire near the mouth right after putting wood in the kiln.
But I haven't done that recently. I put new wood into the kiln and seal the mouth. That's all.
Successive burning makes the process of making hard charcoal efficient.
As for soft charcoal, I seal the kiln mouth tightly and put out the fire.
Nobody can get inside until the fire goes out. I can't remove the charcoal until then.
So it takes time for it to cool down. It's inefficient.
In order to make a large amount of soft charcoal at one time, soft charcoal kiln is bigger.
But if it's too big, I can't reach the back of the kiln because it's hot.
So, the size of the kiln is like this.
In January, the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World is to be held in Yokohama.
I will take part.
- Will you set up a booth? - Pardon?
Will you have a booth?
No. I will take part in the event, and I'll get an \80,000 subsidy.
Shun will sing a song at the conference.
In what order do you take them out?
Well, when I remove them if I notice the flow of air isn't good, I insert thin pieces of wood.
I choose thin pieces of wood. I do it roughly.
The thick wood is there.
If I use thick wood where the air flow is bad, the temperature doesn't rise high enough when I pull the charcoal out.
I put thin pieces of wood at the points where the air flow is bad so that they burn evenly.
It's done.
I used to make a fire here as opposed to covering it with stones and clay.
The kiln is a two-tiered structure.
When I take the charcoal out, I open the mouth up to this level. When I put charcoal in, I open it to a higher level.
As this kiln is small, the size of the mouth is the same when either taking out or putting in wood.
When I take the charcoal out, it's better to have a smaller mouth because it gets less hot.
I fill the gaps between stones with clay as much as possible.
It's not good to pile stones up first and add clay later.
Because it produces many spaces and it easily crumbles.
It's finished.
Now let's do the back side.
How many kilograms of charcoal are made each time?
Well, 90kg. Or less than 100kg with this size.
Okay, now I'll start the next stage.
I am separating the charcoal from the extinguishing powder. A lot of ashes are coming out.
When I take charcoal out late in the evening and pack them the next day, I leave the ashes untouched.
If I pack them right away, I cool this place. Otherwise, the bags will melt because of the heat.
So I separate the charcoal from the ash as soon as possible.
The other day this stick broke.
This stick is from a Japanese magnolia.
I keep sticks that have a good angle and use them.
It is rare to find a straight stick.
This one curves this way or that.
So it is difficult to find a good one.
When I find a straight stick in the mountains, I keep it.
My favorite one broke.
The one that is left is too thin, it's tricky to use.
It curves slightly, so it's tricky to use.
It's hot.
A different type of screen was used in the old days. But this type has been used recently.
I gather charcoal on the screen, sift it, and put it into a bag.
- Can you touch it? - It's still hot.
- It's warm. - I see.
Try a bigger one. It's very hot.
- Yes. - It's really hot.
Left for 15 to 20 minutes, they become cool enough not to melt the bags.
I pick fractured ones up with this.
I'll have a break.
center for remembering 311 sendai mediatheque [hp1]Is this what he means here?