Reusing charcoal?


 
P

Phil R.

TVWBB All-Star
I'm wondering how many people here reuse their charcoal after short cooks (i.e. chicken, tri tip, etc.)? Lately, I've been shutting all the vents (including the top one) and smothering the fire out. When I go to use the wsm again, I just give the bottom grate a good shake and lift it out with the ring still in place. Empty out the ashes in the bottom of the charcoal bowl, replace the grate/ring with the charcoal still in it, and you're good to go with about 1/2 of what you started with.

Anyone else do this?
 
Lump user and a saver here.
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If kept dry, leftover charcoal briquets are of use somewhere-- high-temp grilling, starting MM cooks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Greg Kemp:
Ok Doug...you got me. What's an MM cook?

aloha!

Greg </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Shame on you. It's the Minion Method.
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I do it all the time. That's one of the main reasons for wiring the basket to the charcoal grate -- grab the ring, shake off the ash, clean out the bottom of the cooker, top up the basket and you're ready to go again. Easy.

I use lump for grilling and dump the leftovers into the basket as well. My charcoal basket is usually about 20-40% lump.
 
I save the unused fuel all the time. When the cook is done, coals are cold, in the garage the kettle/WSM go to keep dry. I'm curious as to why someone would not want to relite it. Bad flavor, bad burn?
 
When I used Briqs I removed but reused them as
starter fuel. They tend to absorb moisture from the air when left in the ring.

Now I use lump and just shake the ring and fill it up again and relight MM .

I use Royal Oak Lump from Walmart and get very good size chunks that burn the same time after time, ( cheap lump ).
 
I reuse them all the time. Clean out the ashes and then mix them with the new ones. On short I use Kinsford. On a long one, 12-14 hr, I use a mixture of Kingsford and lump...
 
I use "Wicked Good" lump and Kingsford to get it going MM. After the cook, just plug up the GURU adapter, when cool, just shake the ring & grate combo and we're ready for the next cook.

Al
 
I reuse my charcoal. The next day I usually shake off the ash and put the left over coal into a seperate plastic bag. On the next cook I either use the used charcoal in the chimney or mix it with new charcoal in the cooker. IMO partially used charcoal starts faster than regular.

Also I was told a long time ago that charcoal absorbs moisture. Moisture creates rust and makes the leftover hard to light. The WSM body might be rust resistant but I don't think the charcoal grate is. Thats why I remove and bag my leftover coals after cooling.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Abrams:
I reuse my charcoal. The next day I usually shake off the ash and put the left over coal into a seperate plastic bag. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I did an overnighter on Wednesday. I took the pork butt off on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. and closed down all the vents. This afernoon I went out to start things up for a smoked salmon. I usually dust off the ashes and re-use as much as I can. Surprise! There were still some hot coals buried in there! I'll be mighty careful about handling "dead" coals from now on.
 
I reuse leftover charcoal, but only in my grill, not for smoking (except if I have to add more charcoal during a long smoking session).
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tony Weisse:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Abrams:
I reuse my charcoal. The next day I usually shake off the ash and put the left over coal into a seperate plastic bag. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I did an overnighter on Wednesday. I took the pork butt off on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. and closed down all the vents. This afernoon I went out to start things up for a smoked salmon. I usually dust off the ashes and re-use as much as I can. Surprise! There were still some hot coals buried in there! I'll be mighty careful about handling "dead" coals from now on. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So far, the only time I still had hot coals is when I forgot to close all the vents. I somehow left one vent open about 15%. My wife was shocked to find the WSM still hot 14 hours after my cook. I'm more carefull now. No, she didn't burn herself, it wasn't that hot.
 
I discovered that re using lump that had a lot of drippings from the meat encrusted on it when cooking direct, smoked up too much and made a nasty smell.
We won't be using dripping encrusted recycled lump anymore.

Aloha!

greg Kemp
 
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