Charcoal grilling is a very interesting method of cooking. But the question is how to put out a charcoal grill after cooking. I am here to tell you about the procedure, from vent management to disposing of the ash quickly and safely, because it is important to dispose of these ashes so that you may remain safe from any danger.
Mostly charcoal grills use for barbecue cooking, and no doubt they give your food a delicious aroma and flavor. But at the same time, there is a drawback to cleaning up the grills after use. It is a difficult task.
The whole cleaning process is not only rubble and mess but also trickier. Charcoal grilling is a difficult process and also dangerous as it looks, so it is important to remain careful while cooking on the grills.
The responsibility increases when you have children and pet animals around you. Keep them away from charcoal grills to avoid any danger. When you finish your work, you should keep it out in the open so that they become cool. It will prevent burning and save you from the risk of flaring up.
Why Do I Need to Extinguish My Charcoal Grill?
When you finish grilling your food, you no longer need to keep charcoal inside. So, the grill does not cool down quickly because hot charcoals are still there. Remember that the charcoal continues to burn until you do not keep them out. They need time to stop burning. You may want answers on how to start a charcoal grill fire extinguishing, cleaning, and cooling it down. Well! Some things needed to take care of during the process.
The extinguishing charcoal grill takes time if you use a lot of charcoal. That’s why it is vital not to throw them away unattended. If you don’t pay any attention, they may prove a danger to your children, pets, unaware adults, and your property. someone can touch the coals thinking that they are not hot if you are not near the grills.
The burning from this grill can be severe. So putting down the fire and properly cooling down the coals are necessary before throwing them away. If you are not near the coals while they are still hot, your pet may smash on them and spill all the hot coals. What will happen? Of course, these lit coals on the grass or wood may start a serious fire. That’s why don’t leave them burned unintentionally.
These coals release carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into the air. These are not environmentally friendly gases, and you pollute the air and also waste the charcoals that you may use again. Whether you use the best lump wood charcoal or affordable pieces, you can use them after using them once. It would be best if you did not waste them after using them. Moreover, you can save money using them a second time.
How to Turn Off Charcoal Grill?
Putting out a charcoal grill is a relatively easy task, but it needs utmost attention. You may turn the process into a disaster if things don’t go smoothly. Here are the steps on how to extinguish charcoal after cooking:
1) Shut the grill down
You can use the heatproof oven mitts so that the excessive temperature will not reach you. These mitts will prevent the heat from getting you, and you will not feel too much hot.
After finishing grilling, take out the rack and close the lid slowly. If there are vents in your grill, close them too. It prevents the oxygen from getting into the chamber and stops the air from fueling the fire. It is easy to stop the fire and stop the coals from burning.
However, coals can take some time to cool down, considering the uncertainty of whether they are burning or cooled down. I recommend keeping it unattended for at least 48 hours. Although it may not take so much time, it is good to give time to be certain with the closed vents.
2) Remove the Left Overs
After 48 hours, your grill will be completely cool, and now you can remove all of the lumps and ashes and clean your grill. To remove the ashes, you can use a bucket to scoop them out completely.
Wrap this aluminum sheet carefully and trash it into the metal can or carrier. If you dispose of it in a plastic can, it is a big risk of burning or melting. So, avoid through it in the plastic garbage at any cost.
While transferring the trash from chamber to bin, use a pair of tongs to remain safe due to any burning coal. If you put the debris by hand, burning coal may harm you, and that’s why we emphasize for you to pick a safe procedure.
However, if you don’t wait for a long time to cool them, you can dispose of these ashes using a pair of long-handled tongs. But for this purpose, use a separate metallic container so that the other trash will not catch fire from burning lumps.
If the coals are not cool down, they will continue to burn in the metallic container. You can dip them in the water to cool them faster.
3) Avoid Water
I cannot put much focus on repeating to the people that the charcoal grill is dangerous. I will not recommend you to pour or sprinkle the water on your grills even if you see any sign of heat in the coals.
I strictly recommend waiting until the grill and coal become completely cooled down. Even you may wait for 48 hours. These coals burn at very high temperatures, and if you sprinkle the water on them, your grill can crack.
The other risk is that after pouring water on burning coals, there will be lots of steam produced and disperse the hot ash and turn it into a nasty burn. So, avoid sprinkling or pouring the water into hot coals. The best way to put out a charcoal grill is to let the things cool down slowly.
4) Clean the grill out
While cleaning the grill, use a metallic grill spatula or similar tool. You can clean the remaining ashes without any difficulty due to these tools. For cleaning up the grill, follow the steps carefully to clean your grill properly. First, pay attention to the vents and clean them because the ashes will enter this area, and if they will not clean, they may create a problem for your next grill session.
After this, pay attention to the lower part, especially the grates. For this, you can use a wire brush. You can wash the wires with soap for some time intervals. It is also necessary to lubricate these wires to save them from rusting. For this purpose, you can use a silicone spray. This spray act as an anti-rusting agent and helps to improve the lifetime of your charcoal grills.
5) Keep the Remaining Coals
When the lumps of coal cool down completely, place them at the bottom half of the grill for later use. Yes, you can use these coal briquettes again. But make sure that you pick them by using a pair of tongs.
How Do I Put Out Charcoal For Reuse?
You will see that after grilling, you may have a lot of leftover charcoal, and it is not good to waste them all. Instead of wasting them, you can easily reuse this charcoal and save money.
For this purpose, take water in a large container. Safely take the charcoal from the grill and place them into the water for 30 to 60 seconds. Take them out and place them on the non-flammable can or other material and allow them to dry. Once they are dry, you can put them into a container that has fireproof properties and reuse them later. So don’t through them into the garbage.
How To Put Out A Charcoal Grill Quickly?
Some people use to pour or sprinkle the water directly on the chamber, but it is very risky. The sudden imbalance in temperature may create a crack or affect the porcelain in the grill due to porcelain used in some grills.
However, it is good to wait for 48 hours or until the coal lumps completely cool down. It is very important for your safety and grill safety.
How To Put Out A Charcoal Grill Without A Lid?
You cannot put out a charcoal grill without a lid. The easy way to put out the grill is by closing its all lids. When you complete the covers and vents, the oxygen will cut off from the chamber, and the fire will not get any fuel for burning. But this cooling down the coals may take up to 2 days.
Although this method seems safe, it takes double the time of other methods. So, choose wisely between the methods depending on your needs. Don’t ever compromise the safety to finish up things quickly.
Can you Put Out Charcoal with Water?
It is also the fact that water and fire are two opposite forces. If you pour a tub of water on your coals, they will cool at once. But it doesn’t mean that you will do this.
We will not recommend you do this anyway because it is very risky. As a result, you may crack up your barbeque grill or damage it. But there are some symmetry thoughts used by different companies in this respect. Kingsford says that go ahead and use water to snuff your charcoals.
But the other company Rockwood is against pouring water on lumps. For this, they give three different reasons too:
First is that running water on your hot grill may crack your cooker due to a thermal shock or temperature imbalance
Second is, you may face a burn hazard due to the cloud of steam produced by the water and hot coal submerging
Third is that you may also wash the burning coals at the bottom of the grill
Due to this, a sludgy mess will create at the bottom of the chamber, and if this all mess hard once, you will face difficulty in removing out. As a result, you may handle stuck dampers and clogged vents, and a big clean-up job will wait for you. Cleaning the charcoal grill is a difficult task, and if you make it worse, you can use it to pour water on burning lumps.
If you want to pack up your grill and use it for a short time, you can use water to put it out. However, if you go camping and use the minimum amount of water, you can transfer the mess into an aluminum container for safe transport.
How to Put Out a Public Charcoal Grill?
Putting out a public charcoal grill is similar to using one for the charcoal grill at home. However, during a picnic with friends and family, you don’t have enough time to wait for the coals to cool down.
Addressing these issues is crucial as you don’t want to wait hours to let the coals cool down. The first approach you can use is to put water on them. It is not a good method as it can crack your grill and also make the coals not usable for later.
The second approach is to dump the coals in a high-quality trash can with a lid. It will let the coals cool down quickly, and they will not cause any damage to property or other people. However, don’t compromise the quality of trash cans as they can get damaged from hot coals.
How to Put Out a Weber Charcoal Grill?
Almost everyone who loves barbeque and cooking on grills already knows about the Weber charcoal grill. It allows the luxury of cooking on coals with an additional boost. But putting out the Weber charcoal grill is the same as we do with the regular grill?
Well, it is almost the same precautions with a slightly different approach. Here are the steps to put out the Weber grill.
Turn off the grill and cut the propane supply.
Let the excess gas leave the grill and wait for 1 or 2 minutes.
Now close the lid.
Wait for a few hours to let the grill and coals cool down while closing the lid.
Final Thoughts
No doubt you can cook flavorful food from the charcoal grills, but at the same time, it may cause a risk for you due to its heat sources. If you may not properly put everything, you will be in danger. This guide’s information will help you quickly, safely, and effectively put out the charcoal grill. So, keep in mind all of the points before using a charcoal grill.
