What is Carbonized Bamboo?

This question comes from John C. over at iFLOOR.com’s Tacoma, WA location. He mentioned many of his customers ask about carbonized bamboo and how its made. He also mentioned it can be hard for customers to find an answer to this without asking a flooring expert at a local store, so let’s tackle what gives bamboo that beautiful golden brown hue.
Q: What is Carbonized Bamboo?
A: Carbonized bamboo, which is known as caramelized bamboo in Europe and is also called fumed bamboo, is created through a unique process.
The bamboo is put through a process where it is steamed or smoked which cooks the bamboo. Chemically speaking, this causes the natural sugars inside of the bamboo to caramelize. This causes the bamboo to take on its golden brown hue, much like caramel candy.
The advantage of carbonized bamboo is that the color is found throughout the entire product. The disadvantage of this is that the sugars get crystallized in the bamboo and make it more brittle, causing the bamboo to lose about 20% of its overall hardness. Carbonized bamboo rates slightly softer than white oak on the Janka Hardness scale.