Reusing Partially Burned Charcoal


 
L

Lee Murrah

New member
I've seen several references to closing the top damper to kill the fire and save charcoal. In my first smoke I used a full load of charcoal and cooked a pork butt for 10 hours. I was surprised at the amount of unburned charcoal was left after I killed fire and am sure I could have gone another 4 or 5 hours. Burn time is one of the reasons I bought a WSM, and I was rewarded on my first cook. So how do you handle partially burned charcoal for reuse? I assume you should filter out the unburned pieces from the ash. Any other suggestions?
 
Remove the unburned charcoal and save for your next cook. Sometimes I will use it took on my performer since I grill more often than smoking.
 
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I will filter out the ash. If totally unburned, I re-use. If partially ashed, I give it a hard squeeze with thumb and finger. If it doesn't crumble, keep it. If it crumbles, toss it.
 
Because of how I store my WSM, I put any un- or partially burned coals in a separate container before dumping the ashes. Once I'm ready to reuse I generally put a layer of fresh coal in the chimney (mostly to keep the smaller peices from falling straight through), then the used and light it up like normal. Of course if I'm cooking in the WSM and not on a kettle, I'll just put the partials in the unlit pile of fresh and light fresh coal for a minion method burn.
 
Personally I just shake out the charcoal ring, let the unburned charcoal stay on the grate, put fresh on it and repeat. I just store the left over in the WSM for use next time.
 
Shawn Gardner said:
Personally I just shake out the charcoal ring, let the unburned charcoal stay on the grate, put fresh on it and repeat. I just store the left over in the WSM for use next time.
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x2. Once you shake the grate, and clean the fallen ashes, just leave the partially burned right there, and add new brickettes prior to the next cook. Works great!
 
Shawn Gardner said:
Personally I just shake out the charcoal ring, let the unburned charcoal stay on the grate, put fresh on it and repeat. I just store the left over in the WSM for use next time.
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X3 I added concrete anchor bolts to my charcoal ring/grate as handles and I give it a big ol' shake and the ash/small pieces fall through.
(Sometimes have to do this if temps drop and I'm adding more coals)
From there, I add fresh stuff on top and repeat. I don't always shut it down though. If the coals are pretty well burned up, I'll just let it ride and dispose of everything in a day or two. KBB is pretty cheap and don't always think it's worth 'saving'

Pic of the handles

WeberSmokeyMountain021.jpg
 
I wired the charcoal ring to my grate and just pick it up and shake it around till all of the small pieces fall out and leave the rest in the bottom of the WSM. When I use it the next time I just leave the used on the bottom and fill the ring up.
 
Chad Bman said:
X3 I added concrete anchor bolts to my charcoal ring/grate as handles and I give it a big ol' shake and the ash/small pieces fall through.
(Sometimes have to do this if temps drop and I'm adding more coals)
From there, I add fresh stuff on top and repeat. I don't always shut it down though. If the coals are pretty well burned up, I'll just let it ride and dispose of everything in a day or two. KBB is pretty cheap and don't always think it's worth 'saving'

Pic of the handles

WeberSmokeyMountain021.jpg
Click to expand...

I have the same set up with the second grate turned 90 degrees but instead of the bolts, I wired the grates to my charcoal ring. Shake, add more, repeat. Works just fine.
 
With my WSM, for which I just did a test run without any meat, and for my Performer Silver, each time I used it I cleaned it completely, sweeping out the ash, picking out the coals, placing the still burning coals in a metal bucket and the unburned coals back in the bag, wiping down the unit, covering it. Am I a bit over the edge?
 
Eugene in a word....YES.... lol relaxe enjoy your BBQ/Grilling time & i would not ever pick out the unlit coals and place them back in the bag you may just end up putting one that is slightly lit & end up with a house fire going on.
 
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Any pieces that don't fall through the grate, I save. I mix the old charcoal with new on my next cook.
 
Eugene A said:
With my WSM, for which I just did a test run without any meat, and for my Performer Silver, each time I used it I cleaned it completely, sweeping out the ash, picking out the coals, placing the still burning coals in a metal bucket and the unburned coals back in the bag, wiping down the unit, covering it. Am I a bit over the edge?
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Eugene! This is a fire waiting to happen. Do not take a coal that's been in your grill/smoker and put it back in the bag. Sure, you know what you're doing, you're not stupid, you know when a briquette is hot . . . None of that matters. What you are doing is inherently dangerous. PLEASE do not do that any more. Once out of the bag, the charcoal should only be either in the cooker or a metal container. Charcoal is kind of like a loaded gun - always assume it has the potential to ignite - because it does!
 
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