Is Reusing Charcoal Worth it?

I've talked to a lot of people who throw away their used charcoal after making sure it is completely out. I had to know if they are wasting their money and adding to the landfill unnecessarily and devised a test to find out if using your old charcoal is worth it.

[@FYMASMD]

If it burned once, it will burn twice. As a boy going camping, grandma told use boys to go around to other campsites and gather up half burned wood for our fire. If it burned for them, it will burn for us. She said that 60+ years ago.

[@urbansteader6763]

Very interesting test! I've always closed the vents and saved it, then mixed what was left with new charcoal in a chimney starter. Was just being frugal. Thanks for doing this and keep it up! great content.

[@PoofyBuddy]

I do the same thing! I actually keep a bag of used charcoal in an old bag of Kingsford and use them on my snake for spots that I think may need a little "bridge" to keep it going, also to keep my snake upright if they fall over (I have an older used Weber that the charcoal grate is uneven)!

[@markennes5208]

@@PoofyBuddy Yep. Reuse it. If I need to use new charcoal for a particular cook, I put the used charcoal in its own bag.

[@do_notknow_much]

Same here. ...Use a third or half chimney of new charcoal and top it off with some of the old 'saved' charcoal.

[@stixxnstonerz3450]

I do the same. When I light up the chimney, I would put the old ones in first because it lights up faster, then just add new ones as needed.

[@peetsnort]

The Japanese tea ceremony has a clay snuff pot and each piece of charcoal is delicately picked up and reused. I try to emulate

[@grownupgaming]

0:40 never stop these brilliant side quests and witty remarks in every single video!!!

[@derliebej7675]

Some ideas, why the old charcoal had "more" energy: 1) New Charcoal smokes white in the beginning. So there must be something, that has to be burnt/evaporated and that process needs energy. 2) With old Charcoal you have many small pieces - new charcoal has fewer but larger pieces. More small pieces have a larger surface area, that emits infrared radiation.

[@barbeonline351]

The problem is the methodology, more likely. But first I will say I would expect the veteran charcoal to be as valuable if not more valuable on the second cook than the virgin. The methodology is with the open top. The heat loss to the atmosphere is a rogue variable. Even an imperceptible breeze could waft off copious therms. It was, what?, a 14" pot on a 22" grill? You have almost a 3:2 ratio of open space to covered. So I become suspicious what else was uncontrolled? Was the pot and kettle returned to neutral between tests? Tap water truly City Supply only? Ambient temperature the same? Direct sunlight on the setup? But for certain throwing out used coal is stupid. Value is sitting there. Why would Weber allow us to smother the fire? Not simply for temperature safety. And when you add in the environmental impact of burning coal to ashes when the cooking stopped an hour ago, well, you decide what penalty should be imposed.

[@Buford_T_Justice1]

This is the kind of hard hitting content I subbed for. Thank you!

[@GrillTopExperience]

Sometimes you just have to ask the hard questions. Thank you Sheriff Justice!

[@handcannon1388]

I agree with your findings. I always save leftover charcoal. I have found it perfectly useful for relatively short cooks (1.5 hours or less) - at any temperature. I try to keep it to a minimum when starting longer low and slow cooks for exactly the reason you stated, I don't want to refuel more than once during the cook.

[@luvyesmusici4886]

Always great subjects and information on this channel. Two things first. I found a cheap but great quality endgrain wooden cutting at Ollie’s. Two. I have generally ditched my chimney for a $25 weed burner from Harbor Freight Tools to get my cooking done sooner, than doesn’t involve using a snake method. Loved your video on the snake method and had always wondered why there was little to no smoke. Lump charcoal is great for relighting. I think it is best just to use a little more briquettes than you think you would need. I will no longer try to save money and prefer to have my wife ( she must like my cooking on the grill as she usually buys the charcoal) question me/yell at me for wasting her money. I shut my Weber Summit charcoal down unless I am really low on fuel, and let it sit for several hours outside, wheel it into the garage after making sure it is out and cold, and clean the ashes either the next day, or two. The old charcoal just doesn’t produce the heat needed for me to really sear anything, and I am tired of praying to god that my indirect cooks finish cooking trying to get the last amount of energy and heat, and that my wife doesn’t have to wait to eat too long after she gets home, and his hungry. It doesn’t matter how great and delicious something is, if you wait too long to get it to the table. Almost always plan a head from leaving your protein out in the kitchen, having your charcoal burn down, and the cook itself. Then throw in some variables that always put you 30-45 minutes late.;-) Thanks for all you do!

[@mitchhaunn8400]

Great review. I always reuse my old charcoal. I use half a chimney of new and put the old on the top. And you’re exactly right, the old does not smoke nearly like new coals.

[@GrillTopExperience]

Smart. The old coals are smaller and might fall through the bottom of the chimney. Great tip.

[@AzTurboMini]

​@@GrillTopExperiencehey bud. Have you thought about testing a gravity fed charcoal grill like a Masterbuilt 560? Thank you

[@jimf.625]

I’ve always reused my old charcoal but never thought of using them to add to an existing cook to reduce smoke. What a great idea. I am now going to save the old charcoal to be used to add to a cook instead of new charcoal.

[@3GTBBQ]

MY GUY! First, thanks for the experiment. Second, why in heavens name was I not subscribed? I've watched your videos for a long time. Okay, that's taken care of. Third, in response for your request on theories... yeah I agree the new charcoal has a lot of binders and stuff on it (assuming we are using KBB) that causes that white smoke when it initially burns. Used charcoal definitely does smoke way less (just like once the new charcoal gets going it stops all the nasty smoke). I always shut my vents down (kettles and WSMs), then the next day I go out, give it the good shake-aroo and then move the coals to a designated "used coal only bag". I call it my "salvage coal bag". Anywhoo, I use NEW coals when I need consistency and guaranteed performance (long cooks just need to be very precise). I use salvage coals for things that aren't so picky. Like hot dogs, brats, or general reheating purposes. It saves you a lot of money if you are grilling and smoking frequently. Anyways, I'll end with saying that I enjoy your channel and you are a good role model and inspiration for smaller channels like us.

[@monkeyb1820]

it's insane to not reuse it. It's no different than new charcoal except it's smaller. Thus for a given volume, there is less airflow with the used charcoal, so one must be aware of this. I.e. I've had problems lighting a chimney full of used b/c there just wasn't much 'air pockets' between pieces. So I'll mix in some new with the used.

[@GoldenbanjoDJ]

This is really useful! I have never saved coals. Now I 100% am. NIce one mate!

[@GrillTopExperience]

Thanks for giving it a go!

[@jackchn23]

I always use lump charcoal, and when I’m done with my cook I snuff it out and use the old stuff in a chimney to start the new stuff. Also use this as an excuse to practice your fire making skills with natural resources! I widdle down old branches, whatever I can find around the yard and try to make a “one match fire”. Then I feed the chimney with small twigs and branches. Great practice for fire making!

[@peterdarr383]

some pine needles and small pine twigs, but ONLY in the chimney, at the bottom. When you pick up the chimney you leave the pine ash behind. It's a "one match fire".

[@gacj2010]

OH man .... every time you get on that grill ...do I get hungry ....Dont you wish this guy was your neighbor.... , a great communicator and explainer

[@Mattmo73]

I always re-use my charcoal. It works really well to get a good coal bed burning for my 120g offset cooker.

[@Viewtoagrill]

Nice. I reuse charcaol from every cook. I also use new charcoal for smoking because I believe it has a longer burn.

[@obsesivegamer]

Love your videos glad you are posting

[@GrillTopExperience]

Thank you! It's been a busy summer and haven't been posting as much as I'd like.

[@BreakWindDrone]

I usually end up a half SNS full of charcoal at the end of my cook and opening the vents wide-open to let it burn. Going forward I'll save that 2.3 BMU's (Big Mac Units) for the next cook. Thank you Sir!

[@GrillTopExperience]

No, thank you! This video idea is thanks to a subscriber just like you!

[@timdane6132]

still good to mixed it in the middle of your chimney. it may take a while to lit compare to fresh ones due to moisture, but as soon as it lits, they'r pretty much un noticable

[@rickcormier9160]

Interesting study. I use to throw it out, but not in the last few years. I will usually just blend it with new charcoal. One thing I have learned though, is to makes sure to clean the grill of all dust and put the used coals in a container. It may be a coincidence, but once I did not clean out my coals and a month later found mold growing. My clean grills have never done that.

[@australiannomad4137]

I *used to throw it out

[@koryweaver5868]

I know you like experimenting so here is one I would love to see. What wind gust is needed to knock over a three legged weber compared to a weber that is a square or rectangular cart.

[@testtube7404]

Thanks for sharing.

[@private2371]

Epic video!! So useful!!

[@lennyg7771]

I reuse old charcoal for smoking. I use the Sns when using the kettle. I fill the Sns three quarters of the way with fresh charcoal. Then pour the used charcoal on top. Do same thing in WSM.

[@tdtommy196]

Great experiment! But your low and slow idea needs some revamping. Whenever i am going to do a low and slow cook, i always sear a steak the day before on a full chimney of charcoal. I save the old charcoal and use it to replenish the coals on my slow and low cook. I do this for 3 reasons. 1. Using less charcoal at a time takes up less space. 2. Using less charcoal ensures that more charcoal than what you need isnt getting lit, and makes it easier to control your temps (a windy day can mess up your snake method). 3. Using the old used charcoal to replenish makes less nasty white smoke, and leaves you only with the nice blue wisps from your wood chunks. You are most likely checking your cook every hour to a couple of hours anyway, theres no point in putting more than 2 hours worth of charcoal in at a time.

[@TheMayhem15]

Great experiment man:)

[@MamaMicah]

The Weber baskets make it so easy to reuse charcoal, much like your slow n sear just shake off that ash and you’re ready to go!

[@dace938]

Cool experiment. Yes, I add to new coals.

[@DLT704]

I have never had any luck trying to reuse briquettes. They seem harder to light, don’t get near as hot and usually crumble very easy. Lump on the other hand is very reusable

[@BrianF.1969]

I never have near as mush as you have left over so I throw mine out. I do close the vents when I'm done but that's because the bigger pieces of coal are easier to remove from the grill rather then letting it all burn down and turn to dust.

[@grownupgaming]

3:07 give this man a sitcom. Mark Twain award coming soon. i love it!

[@grownupgaming]

hardly any other bbq/smoking videos have humor so i really appreciate it!

[@robwyyi]

The white smoke burnt out, makes it great to stoke a fire with. I use few Kingsford match light briquet for starter.

[@adamcoe]

I assume you're a) burning off any moisture that's in the briquettes (there will always be *some*) , as well as the binder they use to hold them together (I believe it's a form of starch). So used briquettes are much drier, as well as tons of tiny air holes from having been exposed to heat already, hence you get more heat per unit of weight as it's a much more efficient burn.

[@csmithreal]

One thing sticks out to me, perhaps along with the used charcoal maybe some of the steaks juices added to the fuel and burning power. Maybe someone else spoke about this in their comment. I'll definitely be trying to save my used charcoal instead of letting it burn out.

[@extrafly260]

I did a pork butt on the 4th of July and used the old charcoal too light the new charcoal, I lited the old charcoal in a chimney and put in the corner of the Slow and Sear and added new charcoal and had a great cook.

[@GrillTopExperience]

And a great 4th of July!

[@ralphb4012]

I've always used old coals left over from my smoker on my grill. I use fresh coals on my smoker. If needed, i add fresh coals to my old coals when using my grill.

[@goodrobby]

I am a beginner (charcoal BBQ) but I guess the used charcoal pile has already dried up during the previous BBQing session so the same weight would contain more charcoal density (versus the new charcoal pile). Hence, the used pile contained more 'energy'.

[@grassroot011]

besides the new Kingsford type had glues and other additives that create smoke and slow things down more than the real wood charcoal with no additives at all, which you don't want permeating your food.

[@txfieros]

I usually reuse my charcoal. The only thing that sucks is that after a high heat cook my kettle takes forever to cook down probably burning up more charcoal than necessary. As you know the Weber kettle isn’t exactly air tight. The bottom vent blades don’t always ride tight against the bottom (I could take them off and bend them but what a drag. My 14 inch WSM though, cools down crazy fast….granted, it’s not running 600 degrees but within a couple hours I can handle the pit and clean it out.

[@OliverLeveritt]

I use a 3-legged cast iron Dutch oven for a charcoal snuffer. I put the hot charcoal into the pot, put the lid on and done. There's far less air in the pot and it seals well, so the charcoal is extinguished much quicker, so more left-over charcoal. I have a Bruntmor 4.5 quart cast iron Dutch oven pot with handle that I got from Amazon for $35. They make other sizes, also.

[@drivin69]

hell ya it is..

[@LuisGonzalez-nx2pn]

Have you done the same with lump charcoal?

[@nickmartin812]

Yes

[@elmin2323]

Legend thanks legend

[@redvikinghobbies]

So charcoal briquettes are made while moist to form and then dried to between 4 and 7% depending on manufacturer. Kingsford is 5%. If they didnt leave that moisture theyd fall apart instead of burn apart. So when you see the white charcoal it's actually just lime they add. It tells us the charcoals are hot. In your fireplace your wood cooks to black and then to ash. So when you see white it doesn't mean that charcoal briquette is done. It means it's lit. If you put it out by starving air it doesn't turn black again. So its ready for round two but has less moisture to start and will burn hotter. Everybody reusing is doing the right thing.

[@peetsnort]

I always use lump and snuff it when done cooking. I then reuse it for the bottom of the chimney as a starter. But it's only 50 percent efficient. Briquettes are only 10 percent

[@qcsupport2594]

Nice one! But you should use units of whoppers instead of big macs, because they are flame broiled 🤣

[@Flixan]

My wild guess is that initially you bake out the charcoal releasing lots of moisture and other contaminants leaving you with more pure carbon structure. This means there is less usable carbon structure in new charcoal for a given weight.

[@Sola_Scriptura_1.618]

That is a great hypothesis! I bet you are right about the conclusion. Nonetheless, I reuse my charcoal because I am cheap, and I hate to do extra work to throw it out. KISS - keep it simple and smart.

[@Flixan]

@@Sola_Scriptura_1.618 I agree. I have always reused my charcoal too but never put much thought into whether or not its worth it. Thanks for the experiment.

[@issombeituni]

I 100% use used charcoal when grilling for long low and slown I always use new.. I also only use B&B

[@edmorgan9163]

i always transfer my hot coals in their basket to a cheap dutch oven to snuf them out for use again . closing the vents allows too much to continue to burn

[@OliverLeveritt]

That's exactly what I do. I use a 3-legged cast iron Dutch oven for a charcoal snuffer. I put the hot charcoal into the pot, put the lid on and done. There's far less air in the pot and it seals well, so the charcoal is extinguished much quicker, so more left-over charcoal. I have a Bruntmor 4.5 quart cast iron Dutch oven pot with handle that I got from Amazon for $35. They make other sizes, also.

[@toreckman8899]

No surprise here. I blend it with new charcoal for the next grill.

[@billmadison2032]

I have a Weber with the charcoal baskets I always reuse the snuffed out charcoal

[@billmadison2032]

I think the increased energy is the fat that dripped on the charcoal

[@Conky88]

I've always reused the old charcoal. I'll take the old ones and put them on top of the new ones.

[@walleyeye]

I just started saving my coal from our backyard firepit. Gonna give that a try.

[@terenceramroop]

I would really like to hear a proper reason why someone wouldn't reuse charcoal... especially lump...

[@tonyurquhart7130]

No. 3 is consistent with the old charcoal not putting out white smoke when lit.

[@GrillTopExperience]

The nasty stuff burns off first I guess! Great point.

[@x808drifter]

You have left over charcoal???

[@ahill209]

For the same weight, the used charcoal has more surface area, so there's more area to burn vs. new briquettes. Old and new charcoal burn at the same temp because the material burning is the same. Thermodynamics 101.

[@JCSteel2112]

I shake the old coals out and put new ones in; works just fine.

[@Waffls]

I always save the used charcoal. I even use an old mesh screen to sift out the ash. Why throw away money? Pieces that are too small and would fall through the grates I set aside in a bucket to toss on top of lit charcoal if I need additional fuel for those longer cooks. The larger pieces I'll put in the chimney on top of new charcoal.

[@goodenough5183]

My money is on No 3. New charcoal probably has a lot of volatile things that burn off or just evaporate/sublimates away, perhaps even a certain level of water content. Next best experiment would be to have some unburnt charcoal on the side away from the fire to bring it up to temperature without actually lighting it and them measuring how much weight it has after.

[@JonTopping]

But how do you actually stop all the coals from burning to ash? Like you had a lot that was still good, but ours goes all to ash. How do you stop the burning?

[@GrillTopExperience]

If you close all of the vents and leave the lid on, the fire will snuff out. If it doesn't you've got a leak somewhere.

[@toosas]

when using lumpwood you always save old ones

[@rightmeow58]

Re-used charcoal falls through the grate and clogs the bottom vent (imo)

[@ceez33167]

Interesting. Did the results surprise you. They kinda surprised me.

[@GrillTopExperience]

I usually have a good guess before doing a test, but this one surprised me. Thanks for the support so I can go on these adventures.

[@aiercooledengine]

Scenario #3...the volatile elements are burned off.

[@markskibo5159]

For BBQ Gods sake!!! Always use you leftover, thats whats great about Weber grills. I Sous Vide, use charcoal to just sear, I would go broke if I used new every time! Thanks anyway

[@reefslayer21]

Only time I don’t re use my coals is when I forget to choke off the vents

[@terryjones8588]

I never use charcoal in my two Webers. I use old dead tree limbs from the side of the road. Good exercise, I save money, and I smoke my hamburgers.

[@sheade_mcshyster]

Always use leftover charcoal. I'm cheap that way.

[@mitchhaunn8400]

Me too 😂

[@GrillTopExperience]

It also works if you are lazy like me!

[@pde442]

I always save used charcoal to start the fire pit…zero waste😂

[@markmontoya8717]

You basically make Coke. Just Google it, it's used to gain higher temperatures for metal work and other applications.

[@1LSWilliam]

Kid. Charcoal is formed by burning and then burning. Three times is the charm.

[@HanginInSF]

Here's my theory--you need a girlfriend 😂😂😂

[@adventureswithfrodo2721]

I really doubt you have very realistic results particularly in calculating the energy released. If you did steaks with 1600g and had 800g left. Then just use 800g and burn it out.

[@HOWIE396]

With inflation??? Save it hahaba

[@RV-ds5uf]

I always reuse charcoal cause I’m a cheap bastard and will have more money for beer!!🤷‍♂️

[@MasterKenfucius]

You can't "weigh" charcoal like that. You proved that when you saw the "smoke" coming out of the initial use. Charcoal has moisture when you start up. "Used" charcoal does not if you don't store it for a while. I know what you mean but there is no such animal as "used" charcoal anyway. Once the reaction happens the result is ash. If it's not ash then it's not used. Calling it new and old is probably more accurate.

[@toryp6652]

Lol charcoal police😂😂

[@MasterKenfucius]

@@toryp6652 It's called basic intelligence, maybe you've heard of it.

[@toryp6652]

​@MasterKenfucius.....Ken it's not that serious the guy was just giving some pointers nobody is going to die, I apologize if I hurt your feelings grill expert. Have a great life

[@danielploy9143]

It’s definitely worth reusing the coals, the less we go buy the less money the hipsters make. Maybe if we all reuse the coals it will cause the prices to lower. Actually if we all get together and boycott some products would cause them to lower their prices back down and stop the bend over.

[@Somebody2687]

Your test was flawed for a number of reasons but to be fair it would be insurmountably difficult to control the variables of this kind of experiment in any environment you likely would have access to.

[@Chris-fo8wp]

I use real lump charcoal in my Big Green Egg and usually get at least 3 or 4 cooks on a chimney if I'm cooking quick stuff... Just shut the vent and the draft, it goes out...