Saving Charcoal

[lschweig]

You can call me cheap, but I prefer thrifty as I hated to see the unused charcoal go up in smoke after a cook.
After a sort of scary garbage can fire after dumping the ashes the day after a cook I went to Amazon and bought a Berhrens 6 gal locking lid galvanized ash can for around $17.00 with shipping as it seemed pretty close to the size that I could dump the ashes without spilling ashes everywhere.
I finally saw that perhaps the lid would fit the charcoal basket and tested it. It fit perfectly for the PBC charcoal basket and seals the top quite well if you pay a little attention.
I previously had purchased a roll of magnetic tape from Office Max and cut it into strips to cover the rebar holes and intake vent.
Now at the end of a cook just before pulling the product I cover the intake vent with multiple strips of tape and right after I pull the product I quickly put the lid on the charcoal basket and cover the rebar holes. It takes less than a minute to do and the remaining charcoal is fairly quickly extinguished.
I look at this as getting a second use for what I had already purchased. Oh yeah, I have lots of tape left over and may drill four pieces to cover the rebar instead of using foil to help control temps.

[JeffJ]

There's nothing wrong with reusing partially spent charcoal. It just doesn't go very far. If you are able to save 30 partially burned briquettes it probably translates to 8 fewer fresh briquettes for your next cook. But, over the series of several cooks it begins to add up.

[Steve R.]

I love this about my Weber kettle. Briquettes, wood chunks, everything just stop what they are doing when I close it all the way down. I'm "thrifty" as well and I hate to waste any charcoal.

[Mr. Bones]

Sounds like a great idea; I'm always in favor of frugality, and minimizing my impact on our Host Planet! Saving $$ is important too!

8/30 comes out to purt near 27% savings, who doesn't like that??

Waste Not, Want Not

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!

That's how I was raised... my folks weathered the Great Depression, and WWII. ~S~

[lschweig]

As a followup on my last cook I saved around 75% or better of the partially used fuel.

[mayapoppa]

I have a 22" kettle that I put all of my unused PBC coals into. When lazy, I can actually just set the coal basket on the grate of the Weber and close the lid on it. Once snuffed, I usually dump into the SnS for a quicker cook.

[ssandy_561]

Great idea. Once I get my PBC I'll have to do this.

[HawkerXP]

This is what I do as well,

[Bumper]

I save up mine and then use them for quick charcoal grilling on the kettle too

[kailee56]

I know what you mean about not saving the charcoal, but I took the opposite approach. Yesterday I went meat shopping and my PBC arrived just as I got home. Game plan? Today I cooked 3 racks of ribs, then added 2 chicken halves. When the ribs were done I put on a whole chicken since I had to try the turkey hanger. When the chicken halves were done I took them out and I put on 2 flank steaks. The flank steaks and whole chicken took a long time since the coals were burning out. I just kept cracking and closing the lid to keep the temp up. Since I made enough for more than a weeks worth of meals as well as a care package for my neighbor, I don't feel bad about what charcoal was left.

Maybe next time (turkey thawing for Thanksgiving) I'll try one of the suggestions for saving charcoal. For today, however, doing my best to use all the charcoal worked though it was a bit hectic. 😅

[(Beach Brian)]

I use magnets over the rebar holes and, over the vent, a large "save the date" magnet from a friend's wedding RSVP. Coals go out as fast as they did when I used to move the basket to my weber. You can find magnets at Lowes.

[GreenBBQ]

Ive used our CoCoCabana Grill Briketts on a Weber kettle 3 times , cooking steaks , chops and bacon on a weekend meat overdose .... then the ash goes on to the garden to help the soil....The briketts are 100% sustainable made from coconut shell and palm stem and w eproduce renewable enrgy whilst we make the coals..a very broad environmental win win.