Re-using charcoal


 
Tim L.

Tim L.

TVWBB Pro
Does anyone do this? I noticed after a few go's at the wsm, there were a good amount of half used briquettes left over. I figured...why not use them to grill?

Anyhow, I'm doing just that. Used one full chimney of half spent charcoal to cook some roadside chicken and Yukons.

So far...not happy. There is so much smoke I can't see anything I'm doing (not in a good way) and there's "soot" all over the potatoes.

Not happy at all.

Thoughts???
 
Usually when I reuse charcoal, I give everything a good shaking. I use a pair of tongs or the grill brush and bat the coals around on the grate a bit. Reason being, a lot of times the charcoal has a layer of ash on them from the last cook. That ash is very light and like to rise with the heat. Try to knock all that stuff off and sweep it out of the kettle. As for the amount of smoke you're dealing with, I can't give you a definitive answer.
 
I'm wondering if your used briquettes are soaked with some fat from your last cook.If they are damp toss them out. I use charcoal left over all the time but I usually use them up on my grill. If they are briquettes I use a 50/50 mix of used and new
 
I haven't had this to happen before. Was there a lot of briq's that had not been lit the first time? What brand and how old/ long have the been sitting in your WSM?
 
i've reused coal for years and have not noticed anything bad. usually i light new coals and then put the old stuff on top of that.
 
I'll reuse Rancher, Lump or ECC but never Kingsford. Kingsford's so cheap I'll usually just let it burn out with a couple of dirty grates over it to burn off any gunk that may be on them. Never had an issue, I do however give the coals a good shake to knock off any ash.
 
Thanks guys, I really appreciate the detailed reseponses.

The coals were all Kingsfords from 2 or 3 different cooks on the WSM, and the oldest batch was perhaps 2 weeks old. None were damp and none were unlit. I dumped the coals into the chimney and gave it quite a few good shakes to get the ash off. I used exclusively re-used coals.

At the end of it all, I tasted grit on the food. Someone mentioned that the thin layer of ash rises with heat. This seems like what happened. It really ruined it for me...though I am admittedly picky. I do not think I will be trying this again.

Thanks again
 
I always reuse charcoal. I only use blue K, and, like Hayden, I just shake 'em off a little before dumping new K down on top of them.
 
I re-use. Am a lump or all-natural briquette user. Sometimes old, new, or mixed in the chimney. Sometimes only old used; sometimes new added to the pile. Not had problems as described.
 
I reuse and have never noticed any ill-effects on the cooked food. Sometimes the used is a little harder to light, but the weed burner takes care of that. Like George and Larry, I knock the ash off of the used coals and I empty the ash out of the grill before I light any charcoal.

Tim, if you are not happy with the results, then just don't do it! I have noticed that after cooking particularly fatty foods - like 75/25 beef patties - the remaining charcoal appears to be covered in grease. I don't reuse those.

Just my 2 cents, FWIW, YMMV, etc.......

Pat
 
Tim.
Was this your first time doing the RS Chicken?
The reason I ask is there is a lot of smoke after you baste or shake on the marinade. If you had your taters on at the same time, then I could see how they tasted a little gritty.
And also if you pull your lid straight up, that will cause your ashes to rise and settle on your dinner.

Tim
 
Originally posted by timothy:
Tim.
Was this your first time doing the RS Chicken?
The reason I ask is there is a lot of smoke after you baste or shake on the marinade. If you had your taters on at the same time, then I could see how they tasted a little gritty.
And also if you pull your lid straight up, that will cause your ashes to rise and settle on your dinner.

Tim
Click to expand...

Not first time doing RS, second. Last time it was simple, but very good. But yes, the smoke definitely increases when marinade is added. Taters were on at same time, and seem to have been affected. And with the Char-Griller I was using, the lid has no way to go but straight up, so yes, it might have caused the ashes to rise and settle.

Hmmmm, I just felt so sad that I messed up the yukons that Mr Jim Lampe speaks so highly of. It was a bad cook all together. Oh well, pick myself up and try again today!
 
I do exactly what Hayden does. Why waste perfectly good charcoal right?

Originally posted by Hayden McCall:
Usually when I reuse charcoal, I give everything a good shaking. I use a pair of tongs or the grill brush and bat the coals around on the grate a bit. Reason being, a lot of times the charcoal has a layer of ash on them from the last cook. That ash is very light and like to rise with the heat. Try to knock all that stuff off and sweep it out of the kettle. As for the amount of smoke you're dealing with, I can't give you a definitive answer.
Click to expand...
 
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