I tried it for a while and didn't like dealing with the mess or storing them between cooks. Plus the used briquettes burn off a lot quicker than new leaving me with not enough coals by the middle of the cook.
With the price of charcoal going for < .30/lb now, after cooking I just open the vents full and burn them up. It helps with cleaning the grill/smoker, too since the grease gets burnt up.
Cookers:
SnS Kettle with SnS Deluxe, SS & Cast iron pans, elevated grate.
Grilla OG with upper shelf and pizza stone.
Weber Genesis SA-E-330 LP INDIGO with SS Grates, Weber Crafted frame kit, baking stone, griddle (2/3), all from Ace Hardware.
Everything Else:
SnS #3 I was their first customer.
Sous Vide equipment.
Instant read and leave-in thermometers.
Grill Grates.
Kingsford Blue Bag, Weber lighter cubes, Weber charcoal chimneys.
BBQr's Delight Hickory & Apple flavor pellets, propane torch, 12" smoke tube.
Grilla apple & hickory pellets, Royal Oak charcoal pellets.
Rubs with salt: Meat Church, Meathead's.
Rubs without salt: SnS Grills Rocky's Rub and Not Just for Beef.
Rubs home-mixed: None at this time.
Spices: Lots of 'em.
I reuse but for only short cooks. I need to get another metal bucket with lid to store them. I have one - it's about 4 or 5 gallons to store ash to make sure it is completely out before disposing of. I should add that when needed, I do use them to burn off the grease.
I recently started reusing charcoal that hasn't burned completely, keeping the larger pieces and discarding the smaller ones. I've done this cooking on my kettle, and I've done this smoking on the WSM. On the kettle, the cooks don't go longer than 90 minutes to 2 hours, including the time to light the coals and to get the grill up to temp. On the WSM, the cooks go anywhere from six to twelve hours.
We have two weber kettle grills (one LARGE and one small/average), the SnS and the Weber Smokey Mountain 18" smoker. We use both natural lump charcoal and KNB for smoking and measure our temps with a Maverick 733, thermopen and MK4. Favorite beer depends on what is cooking (alt answer is yes).
If the grill is dirty (because I failed to put a drip pan beneath a protein) I'll burn off the coals to clean the grill. Otherwise, I close the vents and save the coals. Don't (yet) have starter cubes and haven't made paraffin starters. Using the leftovers with some new coals makes staring in the chimney easier and quickly burns off the old coals leaving me with the few coals I want to put in the SnS.
I burn lump, even when I had my Weber Kettle. Lump doesn't have the binders that make briquettes useless.
With lump all I do is stir the unused lump thereby knocking off the ash from the last cook. Then all I do is light it up and get after the cook. Reused lump burns just as hot and readily as stuff fresh from the bag. No big deal.
Weber One-Touch Platinum (the discontinued 4-legged, dome hole in the middle model plus a Smokenator when smoking); ThermoWorks TW 3628 & Kintrex IRT 0421 for briskets & other long cooks; Taylor Weekend Warrior (for the lanyard, not the cooktemps) & several ThermoPens for all others. I fully embrace the Minion Method and use Kingsford classic briquettes & Cowboy hardwood charcoal exclusively. Dry woodchips, of course. Beer - Devils Backbone Vienna Lager; bourbon - ALL but Bonded is preferred.
Yup, but not obsessively. At the end of a cook, I close all the vents. About ten minutes later while whatever I cooked is sitting (or waiting to be carved while "other" food items are plated by somebody else), I go back out and brush the grill a lot then close everything up again. Next day (or next cook if it is within a couple of days), I knock off all the ash and put the leftovers in Weber CharBaskets. These coals get dumped on top of new briquettes at the next cook.
I always re use them. When I am done with a cook, I just close off the vents and let the fire die. For the next cook, I knock off the ash, add new briquettes, and get the fire started (gas assist on my performer or chimney on my WSM).
With briquettes, I will save them...but I use the saved ones to fire in the chimney...then dump on top of the fresh unlit coals to get going. Lump I always reuse...always.
Typically I reuse the coals, I knock the ash off and knock the smaller pieces throug the grate to the ash pan on the Weber!
Eat Well and Prosper! From Fargo ND, Dan
After a BGE cook, I'll shut the vents to snuff the fire. Next cook, swizzle all the ash to the bottom and clean it out. Pour in some new charcoal, lite it and cook on. Always Lump Always! I don't bother saving briquettes.
Tried reuse this week and will never again! Was doing two 4lb. chickens on the weber. I had to add during the cook which was just not worth the fuss and muss.The reused poopettes were just to pooped to pop!
I appreciate the spirit of frugality and conservation but ...
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