Coal From Superior Coal Company

Has anyone gotten coal from Superior this year? I just got three tons of nut, and it has no fines, nor does it seem to have pea mixed in. White ash, for whatever that means. Yes, a few pieces with iron, so it would seem my load was somewhat of a mix, but not much. Still warm out, so I have the Harman Mark II tuned way down. When we got that cold spell and I had the stove turned up more, I seemed to just get fine ash. Now that it is turned down, I'm getting "clinkers." No, not fused metal, just some big flakes of ash. The guy who delivered the coal said it was good coal. I guess that is determined by the seam it came out of. He said the Benders own Superior (See "Hard Coal: Last of the Bootleg Miners") on YouTube. (If you haven't seen the one hour twenty minute video, you are missing a lot). He said they had just opened up another slope. I've gotten their coal for fourteen years, since I got the stove, and it was usually red ash. Again, whatever that means. Only one year did I get metallurgical coal and it was a real trip keeping the stove going. Can't remember where I got it, but many years ago, we got a delivery with chunks of iron in it as well as real clinkers, as in bit coal. Been there, seen that with my coal forge.

I just got some stove coal last week and it is red ash and probably some of the best coal I've ever burned.

Interesting that it is red ash. Again, I'm really not sure there is a difference between red ash and white ash. All it means it that there is more iron in the red ash. Good coal is good coal regardless of the iron content, unless you get clinkers like you do with bit coal. The three tons we got about a month ago was definitely white ash. My buddy borrowed two buckets of nut and gave me two buckets of pea in return. The pea coal was definitely red ash and my Harman Mark II doesn't like it as much as it likes nut. Got to do with more open spaces with nut so it burns better. Never tried stove coal, as it might not keep going overnight, as in about twelve hours. The two buckets of pea were just as uniform as the three tons of nut we got. As in very uniform and, so far, I find zero fines on the bottom of the bucket when I empty it. Must be a market for the fines for the Co-Gen plants as this stuff has been screened much more than in years past. Of course, the presence of fines really doesn't bother me all that much.

There have been a bunch of posts on the use of coal ash on gravel driveways, but no mention of whether it was really fine ash, which is what I get, or more chunky stuff. I would really be interested in knowing if anyone has used the fine ash on gravel. Does it help bind the stones, or just make a mess? As far as a mess, don't use clay cat litter on your garden. That created a real mess, and stuck to my boots even when rototilled. I'd add coal ash to the garden, but really don't plant as much as I used to. I think it would raise the pH and add micros. No more planting over 900 cloves of garlic, as we now have allium leafminer and it destroyed my crop last year. But, maybe coal ash on the peas, lima beans, beets, and Romano green beans won't hurt.

I have been using fine ash on my gravel drive for years & there is a method I use that works well but I have the proper equipment--I pile all winter--spread in spring--spread some sakrete, dampen & roll the hell out of it--I have been complimented on my drive even by black-top people

I've dumped all my ash on my unpaved driveway for the past 8 or so years. I haven't stoned the area for about 10 years, so most of the visible stone has sunk. I should do that next year. The mixture of stone, ash and unburned tiny pieces of coal produces a nice surface by Summer

The chunky red ash coal ashes will fill in or cover much more so than most white ash. The Lehigh white ash bulk that I burned last Winter didn't produce much more than a little bottom ash ( fly ash). Even so, after a number of Spring rains, there was enough very fine coal pieces to leave a mostly hard surface, as usual. I went with different bulk coal this year because I could get it delivered much cheaper than Lehigh. This year's coal is red ash and very high ash. Probably the highest ash coal I have ever used. Heat output is decent, but I may have to go to more than a 24 hr. ash dump. I also may need to explore another place to dump ash by later this Winter.

This is an update on the white ash coal I got from Superior a few weeks ago. It is only in the low 40's to 50's during the day and we have yet to get a killing frost. I think the low so far was 28F. Normally, I open the draft on my Harman a full turn, but now have to only open it 3/4's of a turn. Will see once it gets much colder. Near as I can tell, I'm getting more ash than I got last year and the ash is chunky, not fine. That would seem, to me, that the coal is lower density. Really can't say anything about the volatiles. So, maybe I will try and put some of the ashes on parts of the driveway that aren't used that much and see what happens. Most of the driveway is well packed but I need to think about getting more stone next year.

Can't remember what this delivery of coal cost, but I think the driver gets either $20 or $40 a ton. Machts nichts aus (doesn't matter), as I no longer need to drive about 15 miles to Superior, get a half to three quarters of a ton, and shovel into the bucket of the skid loader and then load it in the coal shed. Yep, it takes three tons to fill the coal shed and that is a lot of driving and shoveling by hand. If anyone needs someone to deliver coal in Upper Dauphin County, PA, let me know.

Before we got the coal stove, we went through about $1500 worth of fuel oil each winter. Now, it is, I guess, about $650 in coal. Regardless, the coal stove provides nice even heat. Using the hot air furnace, it was either too cold and dry or too hot and dry. With the coal stove, 76-77F. is just nice to walk around in my underwear. 78F. is a bit too hot and 74F. a bit cool. Chalk that up to old age and more temperature sensitivity. The only advantage of forced air is AC in the summer.

The coal stove only heats the upstairs, so my shop stays around 60F., which should be a good temperature to ferment and dry my Soupie. That's a coal country rendition of Italian Soppressata. If anyone is interested in a recipe, let me know. Just send me your email address and I will respond off list. I only use industrial methods that are applicable for the hobbyist, not the scary stuff you find on the internet. Mine is made with salt, pepper, cure #2 (which inhibits Clostridium botulinum), paprika, cayenne, and a bacterial starter culture that inhibits Listeria (a soil bacteria that is probably found in home butchered venison, if not in all home butchered meat, unless you spent some time in a butcher shop and know how to keep things really clean). Yep, been there, done that. I only use vacuum packed pork butts ground through a 3/8" plate and stuffed into big beef rounds. Beef middles take too long to dry. Once dried, and not rock hard, you take the skins off, slice, and store in sunflower oil. The old timers would have used lower grades of olive oil, but sunlight degrades olive oil, which is why good olive oil should only be bought in green bottles. Hey, same with beer. Sorry to get side-tracked, but the only way I can make my Soupie is because we have the coal stove. Maybe I should have posted this on the history forum. And yes, I do have a propane heater in my shop so I can type this in my underwear.

DRBill wrote:so my shop stays around 60F., which should be a good temperature to ferment and dry my Soupie. That's a coal country rendition of Italian Soppressata. If anyone is interested in a recipe, let me know. Just send me your email address and I will respond off list. I only use industrial methods that are applicable for the hobbyist, not the scary stuff you find on the internet. Mine is made with salt, pepper, cure #2 (which inhibits Clostridium botulinum), paprika, cayenne, and a bacterial starter culture that inhibits Listeria (a soil bacteria that is probably found in home butchered venison, if not in all home butchered meat, unless you spent some time in a butcher shop and know how to keep things really clean). Yep, been there, done that. I only use vacuum packed pork butts ground through a 3/8" plate and stuffed into big beef rounds. Beef middles take too long to dry. Once dried, and not rock hard, you take the skins off, slice, and store in sunflower oil. The old timers would have used lower grades of olive oil, but sunlight degrades olive oil, which is why good olive oil should only be bought in green bottles. Hey, same with beer. Sorry to get side-tracked, but the only way I can make my Soupie is because we have the coal stove. Maybe I should have posted this on the history forum

You could always post it here: Food and Recipes or maybe here: Cookin' With Coal or both even