How to make your own coffee logs
Buying firewood for your wood burner or open fire can be pretty expensive and you probably won’t have the space to store bulk buys either. Making your own coffee logs can help use up your waste coffee grinds that would otherwise end up in the bin.
It’s hard to imagine but 6 million tonnes of used coffee grounds are sent to landfill every year. Happily here’s another great use for them DIY coffee logs which you can make at home.
(Image by @joshua_j_woroniecki on Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/photos/aoQhGskOGyU)
WHAT ARE COFFEE BEAN LOGS?
Coffee bean logs are briquette logs made from used coffee grounds. They contain a lot of energy, when dried and then burnt they produce more heat than traditional fuels such as wood. They burn hotter and for far longer than wood, which makes them perfect for heating your home and helps reduce landfill at the same time. According to Bio-Bean, they burn up to 20% hotter and longer than kiln-dried wood!
COFFEE SCENTED FIRE LOGS
Different coffee bean varieties produce different aromas, so by using a different variety or by combining several varieties you can alter the smell the coffee briquette produces when burnt.
Coffee scented fire logs are a cool concept, especially if you experiment when making your own bespoke coffee logs. Think of them as the Yankee candles of the log world…
(Image by @kat_von_wood on Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/photos/z2lWYC94eaA)
MAKING YOUR OWN COFFEE LOGS
All you need to make a coffee log for burning is the following:
- 1 Old metal bread tin
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 225g Wax block
- 500ml Molasses
- 750g Dried waste coffee grounds (we’d recommend our No. 1 Blend)
STEPS FOR MAKING YOUR OWN COFFEE LOGS
1. Firstly, preheat your oven to 120°C.
2. Spread your coffee grounds evenly on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 20 minutes or so to thoroughly dry out, remove from the oven after about 10 minutes and stir to ensure they dry evenly.
3. Remove the dried grounds and set aside.
4. Pour the molasses into the bread tin and add the wax block and place in the oven for 25-30mins until the wax completely melts.
5. Remove from the oven and mix together thoroughly and place in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
6. Remove the bread tin from the oven and add your dried coffee grounds a little at a time mixing to evenly distribute the grounds throughout the mixture. Once added ensure all of the grounds are covered in the molasses and wax liquid and set aside so that it begins to cool and solidify.
7. Finally cut a piece of aluminium foil twice the size of the bread tin, double it over so that it fits inside the bread tin and place on top of the mixture and compress evenly. Once done, place the bread tin in the freezer to fully solidify and cool completely.
8. After approximately 50 minutes remove from the freezer, take a sharp knife and work right around the sides of the solid briquette to loosen and then bang the tin on a solid surface so that release from the bread tin.
9. To make additional briquettes simply repeat the process. Once you have enough briquettes place them in your wood burner and light your fire as normal and add briquettes as required.
(Image by @thecupandtheroad on Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/photos/zBWCDZqR8Vw)
ALTERNATIVE USES FOR USED COFFEE GROUNDS
There’s a whole range of things that you can do with used coffee grounds. We’ve pulled together suggestions for some creative uses for coffee grounds from fertiliser to air fresheners there’s no limit to their use!