how long to cool coals?

[Andrew Marr]

big smoke and grill day tomorrow. I'll have a few slabs of ribs on the WSM starting around noon tomorrow along with a couple dozen wings on my new Weber 1-touch. The wings are for lunch/ early afternoon snack. I also plan on grilling up a couple of NY strips to go along with the ribs for dinner. Anyway, I wanted to know if there will be enough time for the coals to cool down from 1pm to 5pm on the grill so I can dump a new batch in the Weber for my steaks? Is this even an issue? I'm new to charcoal and the 3 times I used my WSM I just go back to it the next day to empty out my charcoal.
thanks

 

[timothy]

Yes Andrew.
Shut your vents down right after your first session, and you should be able to save and reuse most of it for your second cook.

Tim

 

[George Curtis]

if yer really pushed for time then you need to get yerself a metal pail with lid. then you don't have to worry about it. the handle locks the lid on with the pail i have.

 

[Andrew Marr]

thanks guys for your answers.