How Long To Leave Bbq Coals Before Cooking

Putting Out a Charcoal Grill – Quickly And Safely

(You can click any of the links below to jump ahead to that step.)

The Grilling Dad Character

Shut it down
Dispose of ashes and charcoal
Clean the grill

There are two methods of putting your charcoal out. You can either be patient or you can do it quickly.

One way is not better than the other, it's a matter of preference.

You can play it safe and wait 48 hours, or you can very carefully speed up the process to a 10-15 minute job.

For me, I'm a "get it done right now" kind of guy, so I don't want to wait days for the grill to cool on its own.

As you read more below, you'll see that the quick way allows you to skip Step 2, which makes this even more simple.

Let's get started:

Step 1: Shut it Down

When you're ready to put your grill out, the first step is to close the lid, so it smothers the flames.

Close any ventilation ports in the lid and put it on the grill, allowing it to sit until it's completely cool. That takes about 48 hours.

If you're like me, that's a long time to wait.

Need to extinguish the charcoal quickly? Try this!

You can cool your grill down quickly by removing the briquettes from the grill.

Using heatproof gloves and long tongs, take the charcoal briquettes out one by one and drop them into a metal bucket of cold water.

The ash can be scooped out using a spoon or metal scoop and placed into a separate metal container.

Pro Tip >> When you're done, put your hot tongs on a non-flammable surface.

Step 2: Dispose of Ashes and Charcoal

If you opted for the quick method of putting out your charcoal grill listed above, you can skip this step.

Once the 48 hours are up (if you didn't use the water method), you can safely remove the ashes and briquettes of charcoal to dispose of them.

Get a large piece of aluminum foil ready before removing the ashes and charcoal. Carefully scoop the ash out with a metal scoop and place it in the foil.

If there are any briquettes that can be salvaged and used later, set them aside for now.

Once you have the grill free of charcoal and ash, wrap the foil up tightly and dispose of it in a metal container.

Avoid plastic containers since even the smallest hint of an ember can cause them to melt and cause problems.

Step 3: Clean the Grill

Once the grill is cleaned out of the bigger mess, you can sweep the remnants of ashes out of the grill.

Grab your grill brush and some water and get ready to scrub.

Read More >> Top 5 Best Grill Brushes (2021 Review)

Soap is optional, but if it has been a while since your grill was thoroughly cleaned, you may want to grab some.

Remove the grate and scrape it off with the grill brush, using water as needed to loosen up stuck-on food and debris.

Scrub the rest of the grill with the brush, taking care to clean around the vents carefully since build-up can obstruct ventilation during the next grilling session.

If you used soap to clean the grill, rinse it thoroughly once it's cleaned. Now you can let it dry!

Once the grill is dry, toss the salvaged charcoal into the grill (if you'll be using it again soon!) so they're ready for the next time the grill is fired up.

Close the grill and put the cover on and it's ready to go!