Recycling Charcoal

A recent question from one of our fellow BBQ gastronaughts was about waste charcoal disposal following a cook out and whether I had any ideas about recycling charcoal.

I have to say that for many years I have disposed of my ash in the bin and maybe picked out some of the larger unburned bits of charcoal for a future cookout but that’s about as far as it went.

When I bought my Big Green Egg things changed because one thing that I learned quickly was that it’s really important to keep your Egg clear of ash in order for it to perform the same as it did that first time you use it.

What I now do is scrape out all the ash and charcoal residue from under the firebox into an old plastic sink drainer. I then take it into the garden and shake it over the plants (in a similar action like panning for gold only a bit more vigorously) after all, the ash is carbon derived so it can only be good for the plants. In the bottom on the sieve I’m left with a load of charcoal chips.

When it comes to my next cookout I get the Egg going and when I’m ready to cook I throw on the charcoal chips on the fire because this serves to dampen down any flames but also provides some pretty good smoke too. So there you have it, recycling charcoal and smoky flavour enhancement in one easy step.

Related Pages:-

Charcoal
Big Green Egg
Primo Kamado
Kamado Cooking
Patio Furniture

Advertise On This Site

Return to Home Page from Recycling Charcoal

New! Comments