Using left over charcoal


 

Shawn Gardner

TVWBB Fan
Before owning a WSM I never had luck trying to use charcoal that had been partially used once before. How do you all do it? Is there a trick to relighting the partial burnt charcoal left from the previous cook?
 
Leave the leftover in the ring. Shake as much ash as possible off. Fill ring with more unlit. Put some lit on top for a Minion Method start.

I find this works really well with lump: unburned pieces stay hard and less ash to clog airflow. With briquettes, the unburned tend to crumble and there's much more ash, even with the all-natural ones.
 
I have one of those metal ash buckets with a lid to keep it dry. Leftover lump does better than briqs.

Either way make sure you shake all the loose stuff off.

I use the WSM enough to where I can do like Paul, however I sometimes use the leftovers to finish up a cook if it only has a little bit to go.
 
A few times I've had a lot of once-burnt lump and didn't add any fresh and it *is* a bit hard to get going. But even a couple of lumps of fresh stuff at the bottom of the chimney makes a big difference. If for some reason you don't want to light all new stuff that might or might not work with briqs but perhaps it's worth a shot.

With my smokey joe I find to really get the temps up to where I usually want them it's best to use all fresh stuff - I just dump any leftovers into another cooker.
 
I've reused both lump and briquettes and I don't think it's a problem. Like somebody else suggested, I just put some fresh at the bottom of the chimney and then fill in with the "once fired" on top.

This winter when it was a "freezing" 20 degrees down here, I cooked some butts overnight using a "smoking jacket" to insulate my WSM. I couldn't believe how much charcoal (K briquettes) was left after a 12 hour cook). I used that with about half a chimney of fresh lit to do another overnight cook - again with the smoking jacket - the next week. I didn't seem to suffer any ill effects.

Now, like when I was shooting skeet - I would use my reloads for everyday, but come tournament time, I broke out the fresh stuff. I certainly would do the same for any competition, if I competed (someday, another story).

Just my 2 cents worth. And, oh yeah, I'm kinda cheap so that might have something to do with it, too.

Pat
 
I use primarily briquettes. I also reuse but it depends on what kind of cook I'm doing. If I'm doing High Heat or ribs the old ashed over coals(as long as all the loose stuff is knocked off)will do. Just put plenty of fresh on top. Now if I'm doing an all nighter I'd rather start with all fresh. Don't feel like getting up in the morning and finding my WSM temp at 210.
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Like Pat Smith, I use old stuff on top of fresh stuff. Another layer of fresh stuff on top of that, use the Minion, and you should be good.
 
Same as what Pat Smith said. A few new on chimney bottom and old on top. Works fine. I cheat and use a propane torch on the bottom to start. No newspaper mess then.
 

 

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